Vatican moves again to end SSPX schism

The Vatican has again summoned the head of a controversial schismatic
sect in a bid to bring about reconciliation with the Church.

The Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX), which is thought to have hundreds
of adherents in Ireland, rejects many of the key teachings and reforms
of the Second Vatican Council (1962-65).

Although Pope Benedict nullified the excommunication of the four
bishops in the movement in January 2009, bishops and priests of St Pius X
still live in a state of canonical irregularity.

According to a report by the respected Italian Vatican-watcher Andrea
Tornielli, Bishop Bernard Fellay, superior general of the SSPX, will
meet with Vatican officials on September 14 to discuss doctrinal issues.

The group -- founded by the Frenchman Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre --
believe that, in some places, Vatican II represents a rupture with the
Church's tradition.

Clarify

According to Mr Tornielli, the Vatican is expected to present Bishop
Fellay with a memorandum of understanding clarifying some of the
teachings of Vatican II in the hope that the SSPX will be able to end
their schism and re-enter the Church.

The proposal, which has been studied by the Vatican, would allow
Lefebvrists the establishment of an ordinariate similar to that offered
by the Pope to Anglicans who wanted to come into communion with Rome.

The SSPX provoked controversy in 2009 when Pope Benedict lifted the
excommunications and it emerged one of the bishops involved, Englishman
Richard Williamson, had earlier given an interview in which he denied
the extent and scale of the Holocaust of European Jews.

Not been informed

The Pope had not been informed of Bishop Williamson's views before
the decision to lift the excommunication was announced.

The SSPX in
Ireland is headquartered in Dun Laoghaire and has regular Masses in
Dublin, Cork, Belfast, Athlone, Newry, Tralee and Cashel.

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