“The Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX) has never left the Church,” said Bishop Bernard Tissier de Mallerais.
“It is in the heart of the Church. There where the authentic preaching of the faith is, there is the Church. This project of 'officialization' of the SSPX leaves me indifferent.”
“We have no need of it, and the Church has no need of it,” he continued. “We are already on the pinnacle, as a sign of contradiction, that attracts those noble souls, that attract lots of young priests, despite our pariah status. One would wish to place our lamp under the bushel for our integration in the conciliar world. This status that is proposed to us, of a personal prelature, analogous to that of Opus Dei, is a status for a state of peace. But we are currently in a state of war in the Church. It would be a contradiction to wish to ‘regularize the war.’”
Bishop Tissier de Mallerais added:
The irregularity is not ours. It is that of Rome. A Modernist Rome. A Liberal Rome that has renounced Christ the King. A Rome that had been condemned in advance by all Popes up until the eve of the [Second Vatican] Council …
It is certain that Benedict XVI has made some gestures in favor of Tradition. Especially by declaring that the Traditional Mass has never been suppressed and, in second place, by suppressing the so-called excommunication that had been declared regarding us following our episcopal consecration by Abp. Lefebvre.
These two positive gestures drew bitter complaints from the episcopates towards Benedict XVI. But Pope Benedict XVI, while he is Pope, remains Modernist.
“It is true that the Pope is very pleasant,” the bishop continued. “He is a kind, polite, thoughtful man, a man who is discreet, but possesses natural authority, of man of decisiveness, who has solved many problems in the Church with his personal energy. For instance, problems of morality in this or that priestly institute. But he is imbued with the Council.”
Bishop Tissier de Mallerais made his remarks on June 1; they have been published in the new (June 15) issue of Rivarol.