That’s the part I found extremely painful. I can’t speak for him but I felt that it was basically going to be the party line. This is one of the concessions he has to make and this is how it is going to be framed.
Well you do whaddya gotta do (Brooklyn accent)
I have never met Bp. Fellay but I sense in him a similar quality that Abp Lefebvre(still can’t spell his name right) possessed.
I met the Abp way back in 1980 in Idaho. Up to that time he was the Holiest man I had ever met. Back then I didn’t even know what the SSPX was or what troubles they had been through.
All I knew was that the Mass was powerful and reverent.
And what does that say to you?
Wait a minute, let’s look at this very carefully. It is true that he has changed his rhetoric. But is that a bad thing?
He is saying the same thing that the Holy Father and the Sacred Congregation for the Faith say. This is where every bishop should be. In reality, he’s leading by example.
Of course it’s hard for him. If one listens carefully, in between the lines, he is saying that they wrongly understood what was happening. They blamed the Council and now they realize that the problem is not the Council, but the incorrect interpretation and application of the Council. It takes a very big man and a humble man to say, “We were wrong. We judged the Council instead of the fools who ran with it and changed it.”
You mention party line. At the end of the day, in Catholicism, party line is always defined by the pope. Therefore, it’s Catholic Line. He said that as his concluding remark. He has said over the last week, several times, that he wished he had more time to think about these things, but it comes directly from the pope that this has to be settled NOW.
The Vatican has also said as much, not in so many words. One gets the impression that whatever happened at those talks, did not please the Holy Father and he has decided, “This is what the SSPX will believe and profess or they’re history.” This message was very clear in the cover letter that went with the Preamble asking Bishop Fellay to explain some points. The letter did not offer more dialogue. The letter said that if the SSPX did not accept the preamble, it would lead to a schism and it put the moral weight of that schism directly on Bishop Fellay’s shoulders.
Here we have a rather young bishop who is being told by his pope that he has to tow the line now or assume responsibility for a schism. That’s a heavy responsibility. I wouldn’t want it. But if the pope binds me to it, I cannot unbind myself.
If the pope says that you either accept this agreement or your’e in schism, there is no legal way around that. You can fight an excommunication and you may even prove that it was invalid or unjust. But you can’t find a decree of schism. Once the pope decrees that you’re in schism, you have no rights inside the Catholic Church. If you have no rights, you can’t appeal. You lost your right to appeal This is what happened to the East.
The Church at that time decided to wait a few generations before it reopened the dialogue with the East. I don’t think that Bishop Fellay wants to wait a few generations. He knows that if he waits a few generations, the SSPX will not be a society, it will be a sui iuris Church and that’s not the mission that Archbishop Fellay gave to the Society. They were not found their own Church. A schism would force them to start their own Church or to disband. Both would be very tragic for them and for the Christian world.
I get the impression that you want him to fight. As he says himself, there is a time when you have to know when to duck. This is one of them. Pope Benedict is not pulling punches or offering to continue this conversation. Nor does it appear that the current state of the SSPX continues to be an option. It seems that it’s either come into full communion with the Holy See or become a separate Church, rather than remain inside the Catholic Church in an irregular status. Bishop Fellay said that in his letter. “Rome will no longer tolerate this.” He said it because that’s what he was told.
If Rome is bluffing, it’s putting on a very good performance. It looks very serious. At some point, all of us Catholics have to bow to papal authority, unless he commands us to violate the commandments, there is no justifiable disobedience.
My heart and prayers go out to him. I would not want to be in his position, between a pope and the opposition. They never dreamed that they would find themselves in this position. I have to hand it to the Holy Father. He’s been very generous and fair, but he has also been very clear to the SSPX and to those who don’t want the SSPX back. His message is clear. This is his call to make and his making it. He’s not paying much attention to anyone on either side who is unhappy. That takes a lot of courage and conviction that you’re doing the right thing.
Fraternally,
Br. JR, FFV
I will try & watch it tonight.
Seems like a good thing to me.