The Holy See has made another reconciliatory gesture toward the Society
of St. Pius X; the Vice President of Ecclesia Dei, Augustin Di Noia, to
whom Benedict XVI entrusted the Church’s scorching dossier on the
Lefebvrians, has written to Bernard Fellay.
The letter was addressed to
all priests in the Fraternity and pointed out a path towards resuming a
dialogue which had been interrupted last June.
Readers will
recall that after years of doctrinal debates, in June 2012, the
Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith delivered a doctrinal
preamble approved by Ratzinger to the Lefebvrian superior.
The signing
of this preamble was the condition for an agreement being reached
between the Catholic Church and the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) and
would have fulfilled the canonical requirements that would have brought
the Fraternity back into full communion with Rome. The Holy See was
expecting a response within weeks. But a response never came.
The
Lefebvrians examined the Vatican proposal and there were pre-existing
internal tensions which led to the expulsion of Richard Williamson, one
of the four bishops ordained by Mgr. Lefebvre in 1988. Williamson had
unfortunately become famous for his denial of the Holocaust and the
killing of Jews in gas chambers.
The path taken, however, seemed to have
been interrupted and the statements made by both parties did not appear
conciliatory: the new Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of
the Faith, Gerhard Muller, strongly criticised the Lefebvrian position,
while the debate is still going over Fellay’s controversial statements
regarding “the Church’s enemies,” who apparently opposed an agreement
with Rome – the Lefebvrian bishop included the “Jews” among them Di
Noia’s gesture is new.
The American Dominican archbishop is a
prepared theologian and a realist. In the letter he sent to Fellay
before Christmas, asking the superior of the SSPX to send it on to all
the Fraternity’s priests, Di Noia proposed a method for resuming
dialogue, in a final attempt to break the deadlock and banish the
problems which appear objectively difficult to overcome.
According
to authoritative French Vatican correspondent Jean Marie Guenois, it
was Benedict XVI’s idea to send the letter which he apparently re-read
and authorised. The letter, Guenois informs, speaks of the strong need
to “overcome” existing “tensions”.
The eight-page document
touches on three key points: the current state of relations, the spirit
of these relations and a method for resuming the interrupted dialogue
between the Church and the SSPX. In terms of the interpretation of the
Second Ecumenical Vatican Council, one of the most controversial points
in the dialogue, Di Noia considers relations still “open” and “full of
hope”, despite some recent declarations by the Lefebvrians.
This
is probably the first time the Vice President of Ecclesia Dei officially
and with such authority recognised the existence of a fundamental
impasse in relations with the SSPX and the lack of progress made
regarding the interpretation of the Council.