To the Italian Daily Libero of January 25:
**(…) We are in Menzingen, at the very heart of Switzerland, in the General House. Outside, we can see the snow, and we might feel we are in a Nativity scene. And here on the table we have the decree of the Holy See revoking (your) excommunication. How do you feel about it? **
I feel joy and satisfaction, which are not the feelings of someone who considers himself victorious. What the Society of Saint Pius X has been doing since its foundations, and which it will always continue to do, it has done and will do only for the good of the Church. Even the bishops’ consecrations of 1988 were performed for that same purpose: for the good of the Church and for our survival. Archbishop had to, I say it again, he had to, ensure continuity. We are nothing more than a little life-boat on a tempestuous sea. We have always been at the service of the Church and we always will be. The revocation of the excommunication, together with the Motu Proprio of Pope Benedict XVI concerning the traditional Mass, is an important signal, a truly important signal for our little life-boat. This is why I speak of joy and of satisfaction. (…)
**- In the decree it is said that the Holy Father trusts in your commitment “to spare no effort to go further in the necessary discussions with the Authorities of the Holy See concerning the issues still pending.” What does this mean? **
It means that, like all the sons of the Church, we are invited to discuss issues which we consider as crucial for the Faith and for the very life of the Church. I think that by this move they at least acknowledge that our criticisms of these past forty years are to be taken seriously. We ask for nothing but to be able to explain ourselves. The fact that the will of the Holy Father goes in this direction is really a great comfort for us. What matters is to understand that, even when we express severe criticisms, we are never against the Church we are never against the papacy. And how could we ever be so? We were often accused of being “Lefebvrite”, but we are not “Lefebvrite.” Even though it remains for us a glorious title. We are Catholics. The first man who was no “Lefebvrite” was our founder, Archbishop Lefebvre. When this becomes clear, our positions will be better understood. It will still require time, but I think that little by little, it will be clear that all we do is a work of the Church.
**- Is the revocation of the excommunication the fruit of negotiations and of an agreement, or is it a unilateral act made by the Holy See? **
We have requested the freedom of celebrating the old Mass and the revocation of the excommunication. But what has taken place now is not the fruit of negotiations or of an agreement. It is a gratuitous and unilateral gesture which shows that Rome really wishes us well. It wishes a real good for us. For a long time, we had the impression that Rome did not want to open any discussion. Later, everything changed and we owe this to the pope.
**- Why did Benedict XVI want so strongly to make this gesture? Do you realize in what a predicament he has placed himself by the revocation of the excommunication? **
I certainly do! And I believe that he is fully aware of the most diverse and most rabid reactions. Besides, on several occasions, before and after his election to the papacy, he spoke of the crisis of the Church in words that were not at all ambiguous. When I spoke of his fatherlike gentleness (during the private audience in August 2005, Ed.) I meant that in him you felt at the same time the awareness of the age in which we live, the firm will to remedy it and an attentiveness to all of his sons. Consequently, the more or less violent reactions to what he does may make him suffer but they will certainly not force him to change his mind. And you have there also the motive for this decision.
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- In this perspective, could we sum up the news by saying that Tradition is no longer excommunicated? **
Yes, even if it will take time before this concept becomes a common idea in the Catholic world. Up to now, in many circles we have been considered and treated worse than if we were the devil. All we did and said had perforce to be something evil. I do not think the situation can change overnight. But today there is an act from the Holy See which authorizes us to say that Tradition is not excommunicated.
**- How does it feel when you are excommunicated? **
We feel sorrow for the ill-use of this sign of infamy as a pragmatic tool. As far as our situation was concerned, I must say that we never felt schismatic. We always considered ourselves as belonging to the Church, and the news we are now talking about proves that we were right.
**- At this juncture, we wonder why such a situation lasted so long. And especially what could be the nature of the issues that the document of the Holy See, just like yourself, says must still be discussed. **
To put it in a nutshell, at a given time, we saw, in the Church, that a new path was being taken, a path which was leading to big problems. We did nothing else than think, teach, and practice what the Church had always done up to that time: neither more nor less. We did not invent anything. We followed Tradition point by point. And today, Tradition is no longer excommunicated.
(Excerpts - Interview conducted by Alessandro Gnocchi and Mario Palmaro)
