Could this Rumor Be True? Please God Let It be so!
Check out what Rorate Coeli is reporting right now: http://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/
Numerous reliable sources are claiming that a decree has been submitted and possibly even signed by Pope Benedict lifting the excommunications of Archbishop Lefebvre and the four SSPX bishops. If this is in fact the case, what glorious news this is! Can you imagine the impact this action would have on the possibility of a true Restoration. Imagine, Pope Benedict XVI providing traditionalists throughout the world with the dual weapon of Summorum Pontificum and a fully integrated Society of St. Pius X.
If this is indeed the case, all that is needed for us to take our Church back form the Modernists is a many more years of a Pope Benedict pontificate, or God Willing, Archbishop Burke as the successor and first American Pope.
Viva La Papa!!
Check out what Rorate Coeli is reporting right now: http://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/
Numerous reliable sources are claiming that a decree has been submitted and possibly even signed by Pope Benedict lifting the excommunications of Archbishop Lefebvre and the four SSPX bishops. If this is in fact the case, what glorious news this is! Can you imagine the impact this action would have on the possibility of a true Restoration. Imagine, Pope Benedict XVI providing traditionalists throughout the world with the dual weapon of Summorum Pontificum and a fully integrated Society of St. Pius X.
If this is indeed the case, all that is needed for us to take our Church back form the Modernists is a many more years of a Pope Benedict pontificate, or God Willing, Archbishop Burke as the successor and first American Pope.
Viva La Papa!!
Labels: Lifting of Excommunications
posted by Confiteor at
12:45 PM
11 Comments:
I hope it happens. OTOH, Bishop Williamson continues to make life interesting for his confreres...and there will be a good number of SSPX adherents who will not go along, no matter what is offered.
Praying ever day that this is true!! As to Bishop Williamson: His theology is on target, but his PRIVATE views regarding WWII, the Jews, and the events of 9/11 are, to put it kindly...absurd. But his views on such matters have NOTHING to do with what happened in 1988, nor Canon Law.
Please, dear God, lift these unjust excommunications soon!!
I'm on the fence here, guys. I'm not sure this would be such a dandy thing. I don't like the idea that some Bishops are allowed to thumb their noses at the Pope, regardless of whether they lean right or left, so to speak. I hate the spinelessness of the American bishops as a group, and I dislike the hubris of the SSPX folks, too. Somewhere, an apology should be made, specifically to His Holiness. For once, it would be nice to avoid scandal in the Church.
I'm just sayin'.
TCN -
Bishops throughout the world have for years thumbed their nose at the pope, at the Magisterium, and at Holy Tradition. Look at bishops like Mahoney and Weakland for instance, just to name a pair. Yet, despite the scandal these bishops cause, they remain in the good graces of the Institutional Church.
So, in answer to your stated concern, I would respond by saying that any action by Pope Benedict to lift the excommunications would for the first time in fifty years show some consistency in how Rome treats traditional dissidents verses Modernist dissidents. For years, the Modernists have been permitted to run our universities and chanceries and seminaries unchecked. All the while, they laugh in the pope's face.
Anyway, this is to say nothing of the distinct difference between the Traditional bishops not in full communion with Rome verses the Modernist bishops who are in full communion with Rome. Whatever error the Lefebvrists committed in '88, was done in good faith and was motivated by a deep love for the faith and Holy Tradition. The exact opposite is the case with the Modernists who are in full communion with Rome. Their errors consist of apostasy, heresy, and scandal and they are motivated by a hatred for the Church and are committed with the desire to be loved by the world.
I would think that for a man like Pope Benedict, it must be hard for him to rationalize the difference in treatment the SSPX receives verses the Jesuits, for instance.
Lastly, if for nothing else, Christian charity commands us to pray for this unification. The longer the SSPX remains outside the Church the more and more protestant minded their adherents become. These are good traditional people, who need to be welcomed back into the Church before they are just lost due to the insanity and confusion of our times.
Prevat2:
His Grace's private opinions are expressed in sermons, SSPX publications, and other means of public expression. I'm not sure I'd want anyone like that to run amok in public, no matter how theologically and liturgically correct he might be.
Confiteor: I agree that it is not consistent, I just don't think that two wrongs make a right. It seems to me a smack-down on heresy is the more important battle, but neither do I want to dismiss the hearts that may be truly Catholic but led astray. It is an untenable position either way.
It does seem to me that the folks who adhere to SSPX do so because of things other than the Latin Mass. I do not believe it is right to dismiss Vatican II (the real thing, not this "Spirit of" crap), nor do I think the Latin Mass is unavailable any more for those who prefer it. I have come to think that most of the laity of the SSPX enjoy their status as outsiders, rebels, holier-than-thou, better than the Pope. I don't see that rift being healed by a simple lifting of the excommunication. I think these folks were looking for holiness and got fed a lot of superstition.
I sincerely hope I am wrong on this issue, but from the various writings, websites and publications, this is my opinion on the subject. It is a modern tragedy and will not easily be made right.
Seems to me based on Confiteor's comments that this whole situation is an inverted Prodigal Son story. The bad son (wayward Bishops and Clergy) stays with the father and spends and tears the house apart. The good son (SSPX Bishops) leaves and carries out the Father's true legacy.
Hopfully the Un-Prodigal son will return and set the house in order for the Father once again!
Dave,
Then the same must be said for a whole host of statements by our post-Vatican II bishops these past 40 plus years?
But Rome never seemed to have problems with them, did they??
PreVat2:
I agree that some strange stuff has come from certain bishops over the last 40 or so years (you may recall I'm in Milwaukee, so I know).
However, this is a different situation. His Holiness is trying to regularize the SSPX, and His Grace seems determined to sabotage those efforts. At best, he is a loose cannon like Fr. Coughlin, in which case Bp. Fellay needs to sternly warn him to keep his more controversial views to himself. At worst, he is either a lunatic who needs to be retired like poor Bp. Pelotte; or he is a troublemaker who ought to be jettisoned and allowed to go his own way with his adherents.
I truly hope His Grace is prudent enough and sane enough to keep a guard on his tongue from now on.
TCN -
The SSPX are for the most part not guilty of heresy. They are schismatics, there is a difference. They are more akin to our Orthodox brethren. Would you have the same concerns if Pope Benedict was in the process of bringing the Orthodox back into the fold?
Confiteor: Of course not. The line between schism and heresy is a thin one, particularly when that schism becomes an excuse to bad-mouth the other side. I have heard more vitriol and unpleasantness from SSPX folks than even from the Spirit of VII-ers. One side says we have abandoned God, the other says we narrowly define Him. Neither has a clear picture of the Truth, so far as I can see. They both create a church in their own image.
I dearly love the 1962 Missal, and I always cover my head in His Presence, but I don't think the Novus Ordo is the spawn of satan--just some if it's practitioners I suppose. I loathe the "look at me" songbooks, I yearn for the Gregorian Hymnal, and I wish folks and kids would acknowledge Him in His tabernacle, but I cannot in good conscience claim that I know more than the Pope, which is what the SSPX folks have claimed.
Yes, I think the SSPX can be a powerful force for good in the Church, but I also think they need to turn loose of some of their narrow thinking in order to embrace Holy Mother Church, just as I think the SPII clowns need to learn who Jesus is and why He matters. We all are in need of conversion in some respect, and that is why I am hesitant to dance in the streets over this decision.
Let's wait and see how the talks progress. Perhaps we can pray for Holy Guidance, and we can all agree that we all need powerful prayers.
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