{"id":6412,"date":"2013-02-01T12:28:14","date_gmt":"2013-02-01T12:28:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cimdev8.com\/?p=6412"},"modified":"2013-02-01T12:28:14","modified_gmt":"2013-02-01T12:28:14","slug":"fellay-talk-sparks-controversy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/insidethevatican.com\/news\/fellay-talk-sparks-controversy\/","title":{"rendered":"Fellay Talk Sparks Controversy"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bishop Bernard Fellay, SSPX head, says Vatican sent \u201cmixed messages\u201d during reconciliation talks<\/h3>\n
\"fellay-TRADIZIONAL\"

Bishop Fellay is pictured near an image of St. Pius X at the society\u2019s headquarters in Menzingen, Switzerland, last year (CNS photo)<\/p><\/div>\n

The head of the traditionalist Society of St. Pius X said he has been receiving mixed messages from the Vatican for years over whether and how the group might be brought back into full communion with the Church.<\/p>\n

Bishop Bernard Fellay, superior general of the Society, claimed that top Vatican officials told him not to be discouraged by official statements from the Vatican, because they did not reflect Pope Benedict XVI\u2019s true feelings.<\/p>\n

According to an audio recording posted on YouTube December 30 (see below), the bishop gave a nearly two-hour talk December 28 at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Academy in New Hamburg, Ontario, Canada. He spoke about the Society\u2019s three years of discussions with the Vatican over the Society\u2019s future and explained how he interpreted behind-the-scenes communications about the talks.<\/p>\n

Apparently speaking without a text, he also called the Jewish people \u201cenemies of the Church,\u201d saying Jewish leaders\u2019 support of the Second Vatican Council \u201cshows that Vatican II is their thing, not the Church\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those most opposed to the Church granting canonical recognition to the traditionalist society have been \u201cthe enemies of the Church: the Jews, the Masons,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Pope Benedict launched a series of doctrinal discussions with the SSPX in 2009, lifting excommunications imposed on its four bishops, who were ordained in 1988 without papal approval, and expressing his hopes they would return to full communion with the Church.<\/p>\n

In 2011, the Vatican gave SSPX leaders a \u201cdoctrinal preamble\u201d to sign that outlines principles and criteria necessary to guarantee fidelity to the Church and its teaching; the Vatican said the SSPX leaders would have to sign it to move toward full reconciliation.<\/p>\n

But Bishop Fellay said he repeatedly told the Vatican that the contents of the preamble \u2014 particularly acceptance of the modern Mass and the Council as expressed in the Catechism of the Catholic Church \u2014 were unacceptable. He said the only reason he continued discussions with Vatican officials was because others \u201cvery close to the Pope\u201d had assured him that the Pope was not in agreement with hard-line official pronouncements from the Vatican. According to Fellay, retired Colombian Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos, then-president of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, the office responsible for relations with traditionalist Catholics, had told him in March 2009 that the society would be formally recognized.<\/p>\n

When the bishop asked how that could be possible when recognition hinged on accepting the teachings of Vatican II, he said the cardinal replied that such a requirement was only \u201cpolitical\u201d and \u201cadministrative\u201d and that, \u201cby the way, that is not what the Pope thinks.\u201d Fellay said he continued to get similar messages from other Vatican officials, even as the formal talks continued. The verbal and written messages were very credible, he said, because they came from officials who saw the Pope \u201cevery day or every two days.\u201d He said he wouldn\u2019t give names, but he did claim \u201cthe secretary of the Pope himself\u201d was among those who told him not to worry too much about hard-line Vatican positions. Even if the doctrinal congregation ruled against the Society, he claimed the secretary told him, the Pope \u201cwill overrule it in favor of the society.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, you see, I got all of these kinds of messages which were not fitting together,\u201d Fellay said. \u201cI got an official thing where I clearly have to say \u2018no\u2019 and I got other messages \u2014 which are not official, of course \u2014but which say, \u2018No, that\u2019s not what the Pope wants.\u2019\u201d The unofficial assurances were what kept him engaged in talks, he said, since the Vatican\u2019s official demands, which carried the Pope\u2019s approval, \u201cwould mean the end of our relation with Rome.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bishop Fellay said Pope Benedict wrote to him, emphasizing that full recognition required that the society accept the magisterium as the judge of what is tradition, accept the Council as an integral part of tradition and accept that the modern Mass is valid and licit.<\/p>\n

Bishop Fellay said, \u201cEven in the Council there are some things we accept\u201d as well as reject; however, the group wishes to be free to say, \u201cThere are errors in the Council\u201d and that \u201cthe new Mass is evil.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reacting to Fellay\u2019s comments, the Pope\u2019s spokesman, Father Federico Lombardi, said the Church remains committed to deepening its relations with Jews and finds it \u201cabsolutely unacceptable\u201d to consider the Jewish people as enemies.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is absolutely unacceptable, impossible, to define the Jews as enemies of the Church,\u201d Lombardi said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe word \u2018enemies\u2019 used here by Bishop Fellay is of course a religious concept and refers to any group or religious sect which opposes the mission of the Catholic Church and her efforts to fulfill it: the salvation of souls,\u201d the Society\u2019s US branch said in a press release on its website January 5. It said \u201cthis religious context\u201d is based on Jesus telling the Pharisees in the Gospel of St. Matthew: \u201cWhoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBy referring to the Jews, Bishop Fellay\u2019s comment was aimed at the leaders of Jewish organizations, and not the Jewish people,\u201d the statement said, adding that any accusations of the Society being anti-Semitic were false and an example of \u201chate speech made in an attempt to silence its message.\u201d<\/p>\n