The Lefebvrists will meet on October 7-8 in Albano Laziale, to respond to the Pope. If the "schism" is healed before October 27, the Jews could desert the Assisi meeting scheduled for this date
The Lefebvrists are to hold a "conclave" to answer the Pope. The superiors of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X will meet on October7 and 8 at Albano Laziale to discuss the doctrinal preamble, the acceptance of which is held by the Vatican to be "the essential foundation for the attainment of full reconciliation with the Apostolic See."
After the summit that was held two weeks ago in the offices of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the head of the traditionalists, Bernard Fellay convened in the small Latium town the fraternity's top brass to analyze the document delivered by the Vatican delegation.
This delegation was composed of the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and president of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, Cardinal William Levada, the Secretary of the Congregation, Jesuit prelate Luis Ladaria and the Secretary of the Commission Ecclesia Dei, Monsignor Guido Pozzo.
The closed-door meeting of the superiors of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Pius X will take place at Albano Laziale, (a suburb of Rome some 25km distant, bordering Castel Gandolfo), in the headquarters of this Italian disctrict in the Alban hills.
Fellay's mission is: to convince even the hardest and most uncompromising soul of the Society of St. Pius X that a definitive "pax" with Rome is not only possible but is also the only viable solution if they do not want to arrive at definitive isolation.
Meanwhile, in the Curia, there are fears of repercussions on the interreligious meeting in Assisi, should the signature that will mark the end of the Lefebvrist schism occur before October 27, the date of the much-awaited interreligious meeting in Assisi between Benedict and the other spiritual leaders of the planet.
The Jews may boycott in protest of the return of the Lefebvrists, who are opposed to dialogue between the Church and the "elder brothers", as can be intuited from the criticisms levelled against the Holy See (regarding "grace" for the schismatic traditionalists, the Good Friday prayer for the Conversion of the Jews and the process of beatification of Pius XII) by representatives of the Jewish community whom the Pope received Thursday on the margins of the historic visit to the Bundestag in Berlin.
Last July, following four priestly ordinations carried out in the German town of Zaitzkofen by Bishop Bernard Tissier of Mallerais, one of the four bishops of the SSPX, Fr. Federico Lombardi, director of the Vatican press office, had intervened to emphasize that the ordinations in question were unlawful.
"As long as the Fraternity (St. Pius X) has no canonical status in the Church, its ministers, too, do not exercise legitimate ministries in the Church," Fr. Lombardi pointed out at that time by calling to mind the letter addressed by Pope Benedict XVI to the Bishops of the Catholic Church about the lifting of the excommunication of the four bishops consecrated by Archbishop Lefebvre, of March 10, 2009.
"As long as the issues concerning doctrine are not clarified, the Society has no canonical status in the Church," and its ministers "do not legitimately exercise any ministry in the Church," Fr. Lombardi said, then pointing out that the ordinations were "illegitimate."
Present at the September 14 meeting at the Vatican, on the part of the Lefebvrists, were the Superior General of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Pius X, Bishop Bernard Fellay, and the first and second Assistant General of the Fraternity, Niklaus Pfluger and Alain-Marc Nély.
It was an encounter of great importance after eight meetings of a joint study commission composed of experts from the fraternity and the from Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, who were able to clarify their respective positions and motivations.
The Holy See assures that it has "taken account" of the “concerns presented by the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X regarding the custody of the integrity of Catholic faith before Vatican II's hermeneutic of rupture with Tradition, which Pope Benedict XVI mentioned in the Address to the Roman Curia (22-XII-2005)”.
The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith identifies as a fundamental basis for the attainment of full reconciliation with the Apostolic See acceptance of the text of the doctrinal preamble that sets out some doctrinal principles and criteria of interpretation of Catholic doctrine, necessary to ensure fidelity to the Magisterium of the Church and the "sentire cum Ecclesia"(thinking with the mind of the Church).
The document, however, leaves "for legitimate discussion the study and theological explanation of individual expressions or statements in the documents of Vatican II and the Magisterium."
On September 14 some elements were proposed of a canonical solution for the Priestly Fraternity of St. Pius X, to follow upon a possible and hoped-for reconciliation. The text (which will be evaluated and discussed by the superiors of the Lefebvrists in the "conclave" at the Albano Laziale on October 7-8) summarizes the process followed to achieve the return of the fraternity to full communion with the Catholic Church.
"Following the petition addressed by the Superior General of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X on December 15, 2008 to His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI, the Holy Father had decided to revoke the excommunication of the four bishops consecrated by Archbishop Lefebvre, and at the same time, to open doctrinal talks with said Fraternity, in order to clarify doctrinal issues and arrive at overcoming the existing gap," the Vatican document reads.
"In compliance with the provisions of the Holy Father, a joint study committee, composed of experts from the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X and experts from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, met in eight meetings."
These talks, which aimed at expounding and investigating the essential doctrinal difficulties regarding the controversial issues, have achieved the objective of clarifying their positions and reasons.
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