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9-14-2011
VATICAN
CITY, 14 SEP 2011 (VIS) - At midday today the Holy See
Press Office released the following communiqué
concerning the position of the Society of St. Pius X:
On 14
September at the offices of the Congregation for the
Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal William Joseph Levada,
prefect of the congregation and president of the
Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei; Archbishop
Luis Francisco Ladaria Ferrer S.J., secretary of the
congregation, and Msgr. Guido Pozzo, secretary of the
pontifical commission, met with Bishop Bernard Fellay,
superior general of the Society of St. Pius X, who was
accompanied by Fr. Niklaus Pfluger and Fr. Alain-Marc
Nely, respectively first and second assistant general to
the society.
Following the appeal of 15 December 2008, addressed by
the superior general of the Society of St. Pius X to His
Holiness Pope Benedict XVI, the Holy Father decided to
remove the excommunication against the four bishops
consecrated by Archbishop Lefebvre. At the same time, he
approved the opening of discussions with the society in
order to clarify doctrinal problems and to heal the
existing rift.
In
order to put the Holy Father's instructions into effect,
a joint study commission was set up, composed of experts
from the Society of St. Pius X and from the Congregation
for the Doctrine of the Faith who met in Rome on eight
occasions between October 2009 and April 2011. Their
discussions, which aimed to identify and study the
essential doctrinal difficulties in the controversial
issues, had the result of clarifying the positions of
the two sides and their respective motivations.
While
bearing in mind the concerns and demands presented by
the Society of St. Pius X about protecting the integrity
of the Catholic faith against Vatican Council II's
"hermeneutic of rupture" with Tradition (a theme
addressed by Pope Benedict XVI in his address to the
Roman Curia on 22 December 2005), the Congregation for
the Doctrine of the Faith maintains that the fundamental
basis for achieving full reconciliation with the
Apostolic See is the acceptance of the text of the
Doctrinal Preamble, which was handed over during a
meeting on 14 September 2011. The Preamble defines
certain doctrinal principles and criteria for the
interpretation Catholic doctrine, which are necessary to
ensure faithfulness to the Church Magisterium and "sentire
cum Ecclesia". At the same time, it leaves open to
legitimate discussion the examination and theological
explanation of individual expressions and formulations
contained in the documents of Vatican Council II and
later Magisterium.
At the
same meeting, certain suggestions were made for a
canonical solution to the position of the Society of St.
Pius X, with a view to achieving the desired
reconciliation.
[End
of Vatican Press Release]
In addition to the publication of the Holy See's
press release, Bishop Fellay, Superior General
of the Priestly Society St. Pius X, will voice
his thoughts during an
exclusive interview which will appear later
today on DICI.
read on dici >
Source: Holy See Press Office Bulletin, September 14,
2011 | DICI
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