Bp. Fellay, The Three & the SSPX Deal — by Fr. Cekada

[Benno]

Maybe Bishop Fellay is the the only good apple of the four? Just putting it out there... (I know, most here will say he's the bad apple)

[VinnyF]

Querite

Letter of the Three Bishops

When I first heard about them, I found it really hard to believe they were authentic.  It did not seem like something the three bishops would do .. that is, write a joint letter as opposed to individual private letters that would be much less prone to a leak. However, after speaking to some folks who would know, I now believe they are authentic.

It has caused a lot of anxiety among the clergy, not so much in the content, but in the fact that it has become public and has made a spectacle of something so delicate and important.  And, absent any information to the contrary, Bp Williamson will probably get the credit for the leak, assuming the same sort of thing happened as with his “leaked” communication with Bp Fellay last year.

That said, I was moved by Bp Fellay’s justification of moving forward.

To read your letter, one seriously wonders if you still believe that the visible Church whose seat is at Rome is indeed the Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ, a Church horribly disfigured, to be sure, a planta pedis usque ad verticem capitis, but a Church that in spite of all still has as its head Our Lord Jesus Christ. One gets the impression that you have been so scandalized that you no longer accept that it can still be the true Church. For you, it would seem to be a question whether Benedict XVI is still the legitimate pope. And if he is, there is a question as to whether Jesus Christ can still speak through him. If the pope expresses a legitimate will concerning us which is good and which does not order anything contrary to the commandments of God, have we the right to neglect or to dismiss this will? Otherwise, on what principle do you base your actions? Do you not believe that if Our Lord commands us, He will also give us the means to carry on our work?

In essence, if you don’t believe that Benedict is the pope, you have no horse in this race. If you do, then you must believe that Christ may still speak through him and that he is the Vicar of Christ’s church.  So if the SSPX wants to be successful in its mission to restore the faith, it may best do that using some of the tools that church may provide a canonically recognized Society, while holding firm to the weapons it has always used to combat modernism.  If the “deal” leads to a compromise of the faith, then we need to go where the true faith is, wherever that may be.

[Old Salt]

Maybe Bishop Fellay is the the only good apple of the four? Just putting it out there... (I know, most here will say he's the bad apple)

Bishop Fellay is definitely the most goodly of the four Society bishops.

He truly wants what is best for the Church and the Society will be fully regularised, soon, through the Holy Ghost and the power of the BVM working though Bishop Fellay.

[Benno]

Wow. Someone hear believes it.

Sometimes when I check on here I think it's a sede forum.

Am I allowed to say that now that Bishop Fellay has called them out, or am I still supposed to respect their opinion? 

[ggreg]

If you think this is a sede forum then what do you make of CathInfo or AngelQueen?

We are on average the most liberal Trads there are on the internet matey.

[Phillipus Iacobus]

Sometimes when I check on here I think it's a sede forum.

Uhh really? I guess a "soft-line" really is becoming more common than even 2008-9

[Walty]

We are on average the most liberal Trads there are on the internet matey.

This is definitely true.

[Old Salt]

If you think this is a sede forum then what do you make of CathInfo or AngelQueen?

We are on average the most liberal Trads there are on the internet matey.

The commenters are more liberal on "Rorate Caeli".

[James02]

Maybe Bishop Fellay is the the only good apple of the four? Just putting it out there...

The SSPX is faced with 3 choices.  First, is the sede option.  No discussion on that, it is obvious what that entails.

The second is open schism.  Up to now the SSPX has had a good argument that they were sent into exile.  They didn't leave.  They were kicked out.  So it is a reasonable argument that they were not schismatic.  You may disagree, but it is at least a reasonable argument.  But now things have changed.  The Pope has evidently called them back.  He has lifted the excommunications, and I'll assume he is setting up a structure where the SSPX can continue in its mission to provide the Traditional sacraments without being molested.  To deny this is to embrace schism, that is, to separate yourself from the authority of the Pope.  Now there are PRACTICAL reasons to be cautious.  But to separate yourself from the Pope no matter what is schism.  And even separating yourself over PRACTICAL reasons is arguably schism.

The third option is to confess that the Church is the Church, and the Pope is the Pope.  That is the option Bishop Fellay has chosen, and that makes him a "good apple".

However, Bishop Fellay does not have clean hands in this, and I see some justice.  While he has been the ruler of the SSPX, he has allowed the official policy of the SSPX to state that the faithful should avoid FSSP Masses due to mythical sermons preaching how wonderful Vat. II is.  So if the laity is on vacation, and there is an FSSP chapel nearby, the official policy of the SSPX, even today, is that this person should avoid the sacraments.  If the laity that attend the SSPX Masses had followed this, then they would also have avoided the Pontifical High Mass that was given by Bishop Slattery in D.C.  That is how absurd it is, and yet Fellay allowed it.

So now he is going to go back to the laity who attend the SSPX Mass and tell them that he now wants to be reintegrated into the official structure.  Is it any surprise that he will face rebellion.  I agree it must be done to avoid schism, but I am not surprised at the rebellion.

[ggreg]

If you think this is a sede forum then what do you make of CathInfo or AngelQueen?

We are on average the most liberal Trads there are on the internet matey.

The commenters are more liberal on "Rorate Caeli".

That is a blog, not a forum.