CFN Postscript: November 8, 2012 No Rome/SSPX Accord?

[Alan]

Postscript: November 8, 2012

Since the publication of this report in CFN, there have been a few more developments.

 

1) On October 24, the SSPX expelled Bishop Richard Williamson. On the same day, Fr. Andreas Steiner, SSPX Media Spokesman in Germany, is reported to have said: “The decision [to expel Bishop Wiliamson] will certainly facilitate the talks.” I confess I find this to be a curious statement. It invites the question: if the present impasse is truly on a doctrinal level with Pope Benedict insisting the SSPX accept all of the Council and the licitness of the New Mass, how does the expulsion of Bishop Williamson change this in any way? With Bishop Williamson gone, will Pope Benedict now suddenly reverse himself and say the SSPX does not have to accept all of Vatican II, does not have to accept the 'goodness and licitness' of the New Mass?

2) The Vatican’s Ecclesia Dei Commission announced on October 27 that work will continue with the SSPX in the hope of reaching some sort of Agreement. This appears yet the latest rendition of what Bishop Fellay earlier outlined as Rome's farcical reaction to the SSPX doctrinal discussions: we disagree, let's “let’s get together” anyway. Yet if it is true that Pope Benedict insists on SSPX accepting all of the Council, and if Bishop Fellay remains steadfast in refusing to accept all of the Council, how can any Accord be reached without one side or the other caving in? Especially when Bishop Fellay insists in the Adelaide Conference and in his recent talk in Kansas City that the SSPX will not give way on Vatican II? In fact, the United States' SSPX website noted yesterday that the Ecclesia Dei announcement appears to be an attempt to "put pressure on the Superior General, Bishop Fellay, to accept the CDF's document of June 13, which he has rejected three times over."

3) As I posted last week, we must remember the Vatican power of Romanita: “If you can out wait all, you can rule all.” May the SSPX continue to resist, and may they remain steadfast in their refusal of any compromise with the disastrous Second Vatican Council, which the modernist Cardinal Suenens celebrated as “the French Revolution in the Church.” - JV

 

CFN

[Dawn Marie]

*ADDENDUM: CFN received the following note from Father Edward MacDonald, SSPX, in South Africa: "I asked Bishop Fellay about this [Father Steiner's comment] during his visit to Roodepoort, South Africa for Confirmations in mid-November. Bishop Fellay said that Fr. Steiner is not a spokesman for the SSPX and that Fr. Steiner does not know about the negotiations. This report should be disregarded."