Communique on the Society of St. Pius X

Vatican City, 16 May 2012 (VIS) – Early this afternoon, the Holy See Press Office issued the following communique regarding the Society of St. Pius X:

“As reported by news agencies, today, 16 May 2012, an Ordinary Session of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith met to discuss the question of the Society of St. Pius X.

In particular, the text of the response of Bishop Bernard Fellay, received on 17 April, 2012, was examined and some observations, which will be considered in further discussions between the Holy See and the Society of St. Pius X, were formulated.

Regarding the positions taken by the other three bishops of the Society of St. Pius X, their situations will have to be dealt with separately and singularly”.

Editorial of the May 2012 issue of the monthly of the German District of the Society of Saint Pius X, Mitteilungsblatt, penned by the District Superior, and former SSPX Superior General, Father Franz Schmidberger:

Stuttgart, April 20, 2012
Dear friends and benefactors, dear faithful,
“We hold fast, with all our heart and with all our soul, to Catholic Rome, Guardian of the Catholic faith and of the traditions necessary to preserve this faith, to Eternal Rome, Mistress of wisdom and truth.”
“We refuse, on the other hand, and have always refused to follow the Rome of neo-Modernist and neo-Protestant tendencies which were clearly evident in the Second Vatican Council and, after the Council, in all the reforms which issued from it.”

In this statement of Abp. Lefebvre of his epochal declaration of 21 November 1974 are contained two inseparable fundamental principles: on one hand, the rejection of the spirit of the Council, of some of the declarations of the council and of some of the reforms that arose from the Council – and we have devoted ourselves with all our force to this task since the foundation of the Fraternity in 1970. On the other, unbreakable relations with Rome, insofar as it portrays eternal Rome. We cannot expect, however, that after the conciliar and post-conciliar collapse everything will be perfect again in the Church Militant within one day. The Church has in her bosom both saints and sinners. Amongst her human imperfections can even be counted errors, if they do not directly oppose the revealed truth. A Church Militant filled with saints only is the heresy of Jansenism, which has been condemned expressly by the Magisterium. Of course every Christian has the duty to fight sin and error, each according to his possibility and his position in the Church; however, we must always start with ourselves and align our lives with the principles of the Catholic faith.

During and after the Council, the following slogan was issued time and time again: Ecclesia semper reformanda est – the Church is always being reformed. This statement is ambiguous and was shamefully abused by those who want to reform.. It is only Catholic when we mean: the Church is always to be reformed in its members, the life of faith and morals must always be renewed, and even the discipline of the Church is sometimes to be adapted to new circumstances. But the structure of the church is God-given and cannot be altered nor “renewed” by man.

Let us then not forget in the heat of our battle the first principle of Abp. Lefebvre: the Church was founded by Christ on Peter. To him he entrusted the keys of heaven, to him he gave the mandate to feed the sheep (Mt. 16, 18ff; Jn 21, 15ff). And the field of the Church may be filled with tares, so full that one can hardly see the wheat – the Church has the promise of eternal life; the Lord is with her all the days until the end of times (Mt. 28, 20). It is His Church, not ours.
We do not have the right to dispose of her. We cannot see the Church in a too human, too political, or too diplomatic way. However much St. Athanasius, in the fourth century A.D., saved the faith in the divinity of Christ, however much he safeguarded the survival of the Church – he was but a tool of Divine Providence, with which the promise of the Church’s perpetual existence was to be accomplished.
Had he flinched from this gracious mission, God would have called upon another tool. And it is like this with Archbishop Lefebvre and the Society of Saint Pius X that he founded: the founder and his work have significantly contributed to upholding for the Church the true Holy Mass, the doubt-free sacraments, and the deposit of the faith during stormy times. And yet, the great confessor-bishop, the priests that he ordained, the bishops that he consecrated, they are but unprofitable servants (Lk 17, 10), who are in the service of Divine Providence and promise. How much grace, greatness and joy lay in this being allowed to serve! And yet, the tools do not possess the promise of eternal life, but the Church does, as the Mystical Body of the Lord. And this is why we hold fast, with all our heart, to eternal Rome, and why we want to be neither heretical, nor schismatic, but simply Catholic.

If Rome now calls us back from the exile to which it expelled us in 1975 with the abrogation of the [canonical] approval [of the Society], and even more in 1988 with the decree of excommunication, then that is an act of justice and without doubt also an act of authentic pastoral care of Pope Benedict XVI. And for that we are grateful..

With priestly benediction in the risen Lord and His most Holy Mother.
Yours,
Father Franz Schmidberger

“I am the good shepherd” who “lays down his life for the sheep”. This phrase leads us immediately “to the apex of the revelation of God as pastor of His people”…
This centre or apex is Jesus … Christ’s Easter…was a sacrificial event…
He gave man a new relationship with God: His own relationship with the Father…This, dear ordinands, is where the Good Shepherd wishes to lead us.This is where the priest is called to lead the faithful under his care: to true life, to life ‘in abundance’. At the same time, Jesus reaffirms that the characteristic of the true pastor is that of giving his life…
“the priest becomes uniquely involved in the mystery of Christ’s sacrifice, through a personal bond with Him that prolongs His salvific mission. This union, which comes about through the Sacrament of Holy Orders, requires ‘ever closer union’ through the generous response of the priest himself”…

Receive the offer of the holy people for the Eucharistic sacrifice. Understand what you do, imitate what you administer; conform your life to the mystery of the cross of Christ the Lord.These words, underline the fact that, for priests, celebrating Mass every day does not mean merely undertaking a ritual function, but accomplishing a mission which involves all of existence, in communion with the risen Christ Who continues to enact the redeeming sacrifice in His Church…
Eucharistic and sacrificial aspects are inseparable from the pastoral aspect, of which they are the nucleus of truth and salvific strength upon which the effectiveness of all activity depends. …
The preaching, works and other activities which the Church carries out with her many initiatives would lose their salvific fruitfulness if the celebration of Christ’s sacrifice were lacking.
This celebration is entrusted to ordained priests. … for priests, celebrating Mass every day does not mean merely undertaking a ritual function...
Dear ordinands may this Word of God illuminate your lives. And when the weight of the cross becomes more burdensome, know that that is the most precious moment, for you and for the people entrusted to your care…”

Fr. P. Jannsen, is only filling in for Fr. Meuli TEMPORARILY until the end of this year 2012.
He is away the first 3 weeks of June. It is unknown at this stage what will happen as regards Masses & Perpetual Adoration.
Please check this site at the time.

Fr. Meuli will never be able to resume his old schedule but may be able to offer holy Mass from time to time.
Please check with the Trad. Masss Centre for details.

It is unknown at this time who will replace Fr. P. Jannsen

People from around the world have also found their way to the once abandoned Titirangi Church, since it was reopened. Part of it was used for a Toy Library before Fr. Meuli re-opened it & decided he could no longer offer the Novus Ordo [New Order] Mass as it was then named.

Fr. Meuli recently valiantly re-commenced offering Holy Mass Wednesday 10AM, but this cannot be counted upon as he struggles with increasingly declining health.

The priest, filling in for Fr Meuli since his collapse in January, already has 2 other jobs as well. Our profound gratitude goes to him for his hard labours.
Your prayerful support is requested.

2012-04-18 Vatican Radio
The Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei has published the following communication concerning the Society of St. Pius X:
“The text of the response of Bishop Bernard Fellay, Superior General of the Priestly Society of Saint Pius X, as had been requested at the meeting of 16 March 2012, was received by the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith on 17 April 2012. The text will be examined by the Dicastery and then submitted to the judgement of the Holy Father.
Fr. Federico Lombardi, head of the Vatican Press Office, said that, with the latest response, “steps forward have been taken, that is to say, that the response, the new response, is rather encouraging. But there are still developments that will be made, and examined, and decisions which should be taken in the next few weeks.”

EDSNZ will report all updates as soon as acquired.

The response of the Society of Saint Pius X has arrived in the Vatican and it is positive: according to the informal information gathered by Vatican Insider, Bishop Bernard Fellay would have signed the doctrinal preamble that the Holy See had proposed last September as a condition to reach full communion and canonical regularization.

An official confirmation of the received response should take place in the next few hours. From what has been learned, the text of the preamble sent by Fellay proposed some non-substantial modifications regarding the version delivered by the Vatican authorities: as it may be recalled, the same Ecclesia Dei Commission had not willed to make the document (of [only] two, yet complex, pages) public, precisely because the possibility remained of introducing eventual small modifications which would not, nonetheless, distort its meaning.

The preamble contains, subtantially, the “professio fidei”, the profession of faith [Rorate note 1] required of those who are put in charge of an ecclesiastical position. And it thus establishes a “religious submission of will and intellect” be given to the teachings that the Pope and the College of Bishops “enunciate when they exercise their authentic Magisterium”, even if not proclaimed and defined in a dogmatic sense, as in the case of the greater part of the magisterial documents. The Holy See has mentioned repeatedly to her partners in the Society of Saint Pius X that signing the doctrinal preamble would not mean putting and end “to the legitimate discussion, study, and theological explanations of specific expressions or formulations present in the documents of the Second Vatican Council.”

http://www.creativeminorityreport.com/2012/04/tornielli-sspx-signed.html

SSPX has sent new response to Holy See on ‘doctrinal preamble’
April 13, 2012

The Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) has reportedly sent the Vatican a new response to a proposed “doctrinal preamble” that could form the basis for reconciliation between the traditionalist group and the Holy See.

In March, Bishop Bernard Fellay met with Cardinal William Levada, the prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), to discuss an earlier SSPX response to the “doctrinal preamble.” Cardinal Levada informed the SSPX leader that the response was inadequate, and asked for a “clarification” of the SSPX position by April 15.

According to a spokesman, Bishop Fellay has now made that clarification. The spokesman said that the SSPX would not have any further public comment on the matter until the Vatican responds.

The Vatican made it clear in September that the SSPX would be asked to accept the “doctrinal preamble” as a condition for reconciliation with the Holy See. Although the contents of the document have not been made public, the Vatican was asking for an acknowledgment from the SSPX that the teachings of Vatican II are valid.

In a first response to the “doctrinal preamble,” SSPX officials said that they could not accept the document as it was written, and suggested some amendments. In March the Vatican revealed that Bishop Fellay has been advised that “the position he expressed is not sufficient to overcome the doctrinal problems which lie at the foundation of the rift between the Holy See and the Society of St. Pius X.” The Vatican said that it as urgently seeking a more favorable response “to avoid an ecclesiastical rupture of painful and incalculable consequences.”

(Catholic World News)

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