Isn’t it wonderful to know that if the Holy Spirit ever needs a day off, there are so many who can cover for Him?
There is a chapter of the superiors of the Society and other leaders. I believe it’s scheduled for October 11. To the best of my knowledge, it will be a two-day affair.
As I understand it, at this chapter, the Superior General will hear what they have to say. At the end of the day, as in any secular institute, it is the Superior General who makes the final call. The rest have to choose to follow him or break off.
The Society is in a unique canonical state. It is not an institute of consecrated life. Therefore, it does not have a rule by which it must govern itself. In secular societies of apostolic life, the ruling comes from the top down.
In institutes of consecrated life, be they religious orders or religious congregations, the ruling is the other way around. It’s from the bottom up. The governed, the rule and the founders dictate the parameters of the superior’s authority. Religious superiors cannot change direction for a community without the consent of the community. The community cannot consent to anything that is prohibited by the founder and the rule. Even if the founders die, they continue to govern from the grave, because the community must govern itself according to the structure established by him.
In a secular society of apostolic life, as is the SSPX, the founder has no such canonical or moral authority. That’s why it’s called secular. They don’t vow obedience to the founder. They promise obedience to the superior general in office at the time; but it’s a promise, not a vow.
At this point, Bishop Fellay is the canonical authority. The final decision falls on him. The plus or minus side, depending on how you feel about his decision, is that because the SSPX is secular, the members have no moral obligation to remain, as is the case with religious.
Bishop Fellay will put the facts on the table, listen to what the others have to say and then he has to decide their future. He can go with their suggestions or he can overrule them. They cannot bind him, since they do not have a religious rule that governs them. They are not a definitory. In a religious community, the chapter is definitory. It has the power to bind the religious superior according to the rule.
After Bishop Fellay decides, they have to decide to follow him or not to do so. His decision only affects those who are juridical members of the SSPX, not the laity. The laity has not voice in his decision, just as it has no say in the internal decisions of religious institutes. I’m not sure why so many lay people are speculating about this or trying to influence the Bishop’s decision.
What will he decide? Only God knows. We won’t know for a while. Any speculation is a waste of grey matter.
Fraternally,
Br. JR, OSF