The head of the traditionalist
Society of St. Pius X said he has been receiving mixed messages from the
Vatican for years over if and how the group might be brought back into
full communion with the church.
Bishop Bernard Fellay, superior general of the society, claimed that top
Vatican officials told him not to be discouraged by official statements
from the Vatican, because they did not reflect Pope Benedict XVI's true
feelings.
The Vatican press office declined to comment Jan. 4 on the claims.
According to an audio recording posted on YouTube Dec. 30, the bishop
gave a nearly two-hour talk Dec. 28 at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Academy
in New Hamburg, Ontario. He spoke about the society's three years of
discussions with the Vatican over the society's future and explained how
he interpreted behind-the-scenes communications about the talks.
Apparently speaking without a text, he also called the Jewish people
"enemies of the church," saying Jewish leaders' support of the Second
Vatican Council "shows that Vatican II is their thing, not the
church's."
Those most opposed to the church granting canonical recognition to the
traditionalist society have been "the enemies of the church: the Jews,
the Masons," he said.
There was no response Jan. 4 from the society's Swiss headquarters to a request for comment.
Pope Benedict launched a series of doctrinal discussions with the SSPX
in 2009, lifting excommunications imposed on its four bishops, who were
ordained in 1988 without papal approval, and expressing his hopes they
would return to full communion with the church.
In 2011, the Vatican gave SSPX leaders a "doctrinal preamble" to sign
that outlines principles and criteria necessary to guarantee fidelity to
the church and its teaching; the Vatican said the SSPX leaders would
have to sign it to move toward full reconciliation.
But Bishop Fellay said he repeatedly told the Vatican that the contents
of the preamble -- particularly acceptance of the modern Mass and the
council as expressed in the Catechism of the Catholic Church -- were
unacceptable.
He said the only reason he continued discussions with Vatican officials
was because others "very close to the pope" had assured him that the
pope was not in agreement with hard-line official pronouncements from
the Vatican.
According to Bishop Fellay, retired Colombian Cardinal Dario Castrillon
Hoyos, then-president of the Pontifical Commission "Ecclesia Dei," the
office responsible for relations with traditionalist Catholics, had told
him in March 2009 that the society would be formally recognized.
When the bishop asked how that could be possible when recognition hinged
on accepting the teachings of Vatican II, he said the cardinal replied
that such a requirement was only "political" and "administrative" and
that, "by the way, that is not what the pope thinks."
Bishop Fellay said he continued to get similar messages from other
Vatican officials, even as the formal talks continued. The verbal and
written messages were very credible, he said, because they came from
officials who saw the pope "every day or every two days."
He said he wouldn't give names, but he did claim "the secretary of the
pope himself" was among those who told him not to worry too much about
hard-line Vatican positions.
Even if the doctrinal congregation ruled against the society, he claimed
the secretary told him, the pope "will overrule it in favor of the
society."
"So, you see, I got all of these kinds of messages which were not
fitting together," Fellay said. "I got an official thing where I clearly
have to say 'no' and I got other messages -- which are not official, of
course -- but which say, 'No, that's not what the pope wants.'"
The unofficial assurances were what kept him engaged in talks, he said,
since the Vatican's official demands, which carried the pope's approval,
"would mean the end of our relation with Rome."
The Vatican has not made the preamble public, but said it "states some
doctrinal principles and criteria for the interpretation of Catholic
doctrine necessary to guarantee fidelity" to the formal teaching of the
church, including the teaching of the Second Vatican Council, and that
it leaves room for "legitimate discussion" about "individual expressions
or formulations present in the documents of the Second Vatican Council
and the successive magisterium" of the church.
Bishop Fellay said Pope Benedict wrote to him, emphasizing that full
recognition required the society accept the magisterium as the judge of
what is tradition, accept the council as an integral part of tradition
and accept that the modern Mass is valid and licit.
Bishop Fellay said, "Even in the council there are some things we
accept," as well as reject, however, the group wishes to be free to say,
"there are errors in the council" and that "the new Mass is evil."
The group will not accept reconciliation if it means no longer being able to make such pronouncements, he said.