“The attitude of the official Church is what changed; we did not”, Lefebvrians say

The Lefebvrian Superior, Mgr. Bernard Fellay has issued a statement on talks with Rome, announcing that “full acceptance of the Council is no longer a condition”.

“Everything is in God's hands. He knows how to manage everything, even delays, for the good of those who love Him.” 

In a long interview published in the official DICI bulletin the Superior of the Society of St. Pius X, Bishop Bernard Fellay discusses the current situation regarding the dialogue between the Lefebvrians and Rome. 

A solution to this issue was expected in the past few weeks. 

“There are some who say that the pope will deal with this matter at Castel Gandolfo in July,” Fellay said.

Regarding the doctrinal dialogue and canonical solution, Fellay stated that a new piece of information has emerged: “Rome no longer makes total acceptance of Vatican II a prerequisite for the canonical solution.  Today, in Rome, some people regard a different understanding of the Council as something that is not decisive for the future of the Church, since the Church is more than the Council. ”

“The attitude of the official Church is what changed;  we did not. We were not the ones who asked for an agreement;  the pope is the one who wants to recognize us. Indeed, the Pope wants to do so, even if a final agreement has not yet been reached from a doctrinal point of view, because there are some “terribly important problems in the Church today."

In terms of the different attitudes towards the Council, Fellay made some important statements in relation to an alleged change in the line of the thought of the Vatican leadership. 

“The official authorities do not want to acknowledge the errors of the Council.  They will never say so explicitly.  Nevertheless, if you read between the lines, you can see that they hope to remedy some of these errors.” The bishop referred to “the new concept of the priesthood” as an example, claiming that "with the Council there was a new concept of the priesthood and that it demolished the role of the priest."

 
“Today we see very clearly - Fellay said - that the Roman authorities are trying to rehabilitate the true concept of the priest. We observed this already during the Year of the Priest that took place in 2010-2011.  Now, the Feast of the Sacred Heart is becoming the day consecrated to the sanctification of priests.  For this occasion, a letter was published and an examination of conscience for priests was composed.  One might think that they went to Ecône to find this examination of conscience, it is so much along the lines of pre-conciliar spirituality.  This examination presents the traditional image of the priest, and also of his role in the Church."

In the Superior’s eyes, “that does not do away with all the problems, and there are still serious difficulties in the Church," such as “ecumenism, Assisi [and] religious liberty” but “the context is changing….” 

Vis-à-vis the problems which Lefebvrians still consider to be of a “doctrinal” nature, Fellay pointed out that the changes introduced by the Second Vatican Council supposedly did not lead to any further developments in the Church, to the vocations or to religious practice. Instead, there seems to be a “silent apostasy”. 

So, “if we want to make the treasure of Tradition fruitful for the good of souls, we must speak and act.  We need this twofold freedom of speech and action.” 

This was one way of saying  “if a canonical recognition were to come about, the doctrinal difficulties would still be emphasized by us [the Lefebvrians], but together with a lesson taught by the facts themselves, tangible signs of the vitality of Tradition.  ”

In relation to the interpretation of the Second Vatican Council, the Bishop reiterated the line taken by Mgr. Lefebvre, that is, reading the Council in the light of Tradition: “what agrees with Tradition, we accept;  what is doubtful, we understand as Tradition has always taught it; what is opposed, we reject.”
  

With regards to the opposition within the Fraternity, Fellay explained that “one of the great dangers is to end up inventing an idea of the Church that appears ideal, but is in fact not found in the real history of the Church,” because one need only look at its past to realise that “often, and almost always, we see that there are widespread errors in the Church. Now the reforming saints did not leave the Church in order to combat these errors. Our Lord taught us that there would always be weeds until the end of time.” 

And so, the Fraternity must also deal with a “close combat in the service of the truth,” from within the ecclesiastical body.

The Lefebvrian Superior also said he did not share the opinions of those who claim that Vatican leaders are trying to set a trap for the Society of St. Pius X: “Personally, I am convinced that that is not the case. In our Society we distrust Rome because we have experienced too many disappointments;  that is why some think that this could be a trap.” 

Fellay said he was certain of this and confirmed he has had “direct dealings” “with [the Pope’s] close collaborators.”

In relation to the positions of the other three bishops who are strongly opposed to the agreement between Lefebvrians and the Vatican, Fellay showed himself a possibilist, stating: “I do not rule out the possibility of a development in their position.” 

As far as the issue of a canonical solution and the relations of the Fraternity’s bodies with diocesan bishops go, he stated that “if a personal prelature were granted to us, our situation would not be the same. In order to understand better what would happen, we must reflect that our status would be much more similar to that of a military ordinariate, because we would have ordinary jurisdiction over the faithful. Thus we would be like a sort of diocese, the jurisdiction of which extends to all its faithful regardless of their territorial situation. All the chapels, churches, priories, schools, and works of the Society and of the affiliated religious Congregations would be recognized with a real autonomy for their ministry.”
 

The words pronounced by the Fraternity’s Superior clearly show what the position of the Lefebvrians is and their intention to enter into full communion with Rome. 

They do not, however, hide the existing obstacles in terms of the interpretation of the Council. 

The decision now lies in the hands of Benedict XVI. 

Whatever this is, the arguments look to continue.