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| Bishop Bernard Fellay |
Bishop Bernard Fellay, the superior of the Society of St. Pius X (SPPX), has acknowledged that the traditionalist group has made no major progress toward reconciliation with the Holy See, despite intensive talks last year. In an April 15 message to SSPX members, Bishop Fellay said that the group’s relations with the Vatican today are essentially unchanged. He said that negotiations with the Holy See in 2012 put the traditionalist group in a “delicate position,” referring to serious divisions among members about the wisdom of proceeding with the talks. Bishop Fellay charged that “lack of clarity” on the part of Vatican officials complicated the situation. However, the SSPX leader said that the confusion ended when it became clear that reconciliation would require the SSPX to recognize the validity of Vatican II teachings and liturgical reforms. The group “could not and we never can” accept that condition, he said.
I hope Pope Francis will crack down on these folks. They need to OBEY.
ReplyDeleteAccording to Vatican II, the Church no longer "is" the Catholic Church. According to Vatican II, the Church "subsists in" the Catholic Church, ipso ergo (it therefore follows), the Vatican Novus Ordo Church gave up its right to "crack down" on anybody. According to Vatican II, a soul is not required to be Catholic or even Christian, so how can the Church that occupies the Vatican make anybody "OBEY"?
DeleteAre you writing in code? :) Otherwise I will need to go back to school, because I can't follow you.
DeleteObey who? God or man.
DeleteHow can the Pope crack down on these folks? They are not in communion with the Catholic Church any more than the Church of England or the Baptist Church at the end of my street.
ReplyDeleteWhy is this bishop wearing red gloves?
ReplyDeleteBenedict would love those!
DeleteThe gloves are known as episcopal gloves. They are part of the traditional vestments of a Catholic bishop. All bishops can still wear them for mass, but they have largely fallen out of use in recent years.
DeleteThe gloves are red in this case because that is the liturgical color of the day, but if the liturgical color of the day were different the gloves could also be white/gold, green, or violet.
You can read more about episcopal gloves in this Wikipedia article:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Episcopal_gloves
As an Orthodox Christian priest I am very interested in all of this. I have always been interested in the relations between Orthodoxy and Rome. From our perspective, a lot of this makes no sense. The Society is out of communion with the Holy See, and that is enough for me. Understand me, I am no fan of the Ordinary form of the Mass. From what I have witnessed, it lacks reverence and mystery. And in Orthodoxy, we love mystery. The Traditional Mass, what you call the Extraordinary Mass, is beautiful and filled with mystery. Its origins go back before the schism between East and West. In the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese, there are what are called Western Rite parishes that celebrate the ancient Roman Rite in the vernacular, much to the delight of those who come from Western liturgical backgrounds and feel a connection with the Church through her Western liturgical practices. Also, this is all very fascinating to watch from "the outside" as the issues of have no bearing on the Orthodox Church. We very much honor our "sister" Church of Rome as "first among equals", but not as it later became as one who wished to dominate the whole Church. This goes back to the Great Schism of 1054. In our opinion and view, the bishop of Rome must take the place of "first among equals" as during the first millennium, and not as the "Supreme Pontiff" and one who has universal jurisdiction over the whole church. Christ alone is the head of the Church.
ReplyDeleteAsking your prayers I remain,
+Fr Stephen