Time to pray for SSPX

Bishop Fellay the superior of SSPX asked for the excommunication of his society to be removed and for Sumorum Pontificum, or the allowing of the Tridentine Mass without requiring the bishop's approval. Now, in return, Pope Benedict is asking that Vatican II be accepted by the Society. This is a big sticking point. We need to pray. Read about it at Catholic News Service.

I am no fan of Vatican II but the more I learn about it, the more I realize how the disastrous implementation of the "Spirit of Vatican II" had NOTHING to do with the Council's intentions.

I was enlightened by Anne Roche Muggeridge's (daughter of British journalist Malcolm Muggeridge)book "The Desolate City" which explained the intentions of the Council was NOT to abolish the Latin Mass, just include more of the vernacular, but the liberals who had been waiting for a chance to destroy the Church seized the opportunity, and ran roughshod over poor ailing Pope Paul VI who declared, "The smoke of Satan has entered the Church". He did have the strength to write the prophetic "Humanae Vitae" but by then the inmates were in charge of the asylum and it was roundly rejected. No wonder that those who knew him in the Vatican called him, "Paolo Sesto, mesto" (Paul the Sixth, the sad).
You know, maybe this is the year of St Paul for a reason other than the 2,000th anniversary of his conversion to Christianity. Maybe Pope Paul is in there too.

Small tradtional religious order rejoins Rome

I pray that this is just the first part of a wave of reconciliations. Their superior said,
" Our community now truly rejoices in undisputed and peaceful posession of Communion with the Holy See because our priests are now in canonical good standing.We are very grateful to our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI for issuing, last July, the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum which called us to come into undisputed and peaceful Communion with him."
It's evidence of Pope Benedict's tireless work. I once heard a traditional minded priest say, "If anyone can bring SSPX back, it'll be Pope Benedict, he speaks their language. " Keep praying, there are souls at stake.
HT St. Louis Catholic

Prayer Intention: Will Society of St. Pius X be reunited with Rome?

The Italian daily Il Giornale reports that Pope Benedict XVI (bio - news) has approved an offer to the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) that could heal the breach between the Holy See and the traditionalist group.
The Vatican’s offer requires a response from the SSPX by June 28, Il Giornale says. The offer was apparently explained by Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos (bio - news), the president of the Ecclesia Dei Commission, during a recent meeting with Bishop Bernard Fellay, the superior general of the SSPX.
As one commenter mentioned, this will require great prayer. I attended a Mass at my local SSPX chapel as I do about once a year, and the pastor was railing against any recognition of Vatican II or the Novus Ordo Mass. He was siding with Bishop Williamson who is the hardliner against reconciliation, and those Catholics, who, like me, and the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, who love the Traditional Mass but stay loyal to Rome. I see a split happening in the SSPX if we don't cover this in prayer for the next three days. What a shame that would be!
I am attending a Latin High Mass at 11AM this Saturday at St Matthew's Church in Dix Hills, Long Island, NY . My daughter's schola will be singing, and I invite all my readers in the area to join us and pray that we receive good news that day about the reconciliation with our brethren in the SSPX.
Read entire story here.
HT NOR

SSPX decides not to reunite with Rome

This is sad news, particularly on the heels of the triumphant Papal visit to the US. I am particularly sad for those friends of mine who became involved in the Society of St Pius X because of their love for the traditonal Latin Mass. Now there are more opportunities for attending this Mass, and a reform of the Novus Ordo Mass, yet still their hearts are hardened.
If they don't recognize an ally in Pope Benedict, then there is no pope who will please them.
They will be in my prayers.
HT Spirit Daily

Has SSPX hurt the Latin Mass?

Patrick Archbold has a thoughtful and respectful post at Creative Minority Report about the Society of St. Pius X and the resurgence of the Latin Mass, particularly here on Long Island. In it, he gives credit where it is due, to Monsignor Pereda, whose loyalty to the Latin Mass AND the bishop have recently borne rich fruit in our diocese. And earned him some rather uncharitable criticism from SSPX members.
The more time I spend with members of this group (my daughters attend art classes at the local SSPX church) the more I agree with a commenter, that SSPX are like Anglicans who pick and choose what parts of the Church they want, and suffer from the corrosive effects of pride. Some of them DO think they are more Catholic than the pope, especially Pope John Paul II.
That being said, I love them as brothers in Christ, and pray for their full unity with Rome. A priest friend, now in residence with SSPX, told me when Pope Benedict was elected, "He is the one who will be able to bring SSPX back into the Church".
I certainly hope so, my dear friend Mary who died over two years from cancer, offered her sufferings up for this very intention.
Rorarte Caeli describes the diocese of Rockville Center, the seventh largest in the nation, as one with an exceptionally high interest in the Latin Mass, yet sadly with a number of completely schismatic Latin Mass chapels. I never realized this made us unique. Perhaps it's because, for many years we were one of the most liberal dioceses in the USA with rampant liturgical abuse, heretical teachings in catechism and the Pastoral Formation Institute, and clericalism which protected both for decades.
The 40 years of living in the desert are coming to a close,as we saw recently at the High Mass in Uniondale, thankfully, and as a sign of this, Bishop Murphy will be replacing our tabernacle to the center of the reredos in our parish this Sunday at the noon mass. Deo gratias.
If you live on Long Island, and love tradition, come and give Bishop Murphy support, there are countless tabernacles here which still need to come home to the center of their churches.
We have only begun the restoration. It's time to stop complaining and join in.

Bishop Fellay, leader of Society of St. Pius X optimistic about reunion with Rome

According to my sources, the SSPX the religious order founded by the late Archbishop Marcel LeFevre, who refused to adopt the Novus Ordo Mass, had outlined the steps for reconciliation with Rome as threefold.
1. Show good faith by declaring that the Traditional Mass was never done away with, and has always been valid, by granting permission for any priest to say it. Done 7/7/2007
2. Clarify and reaffirm the Church's teaching of "no salvation outside the Catholic Church". Done 7/10/2007
3. Lift the excommunication of Archbishop LeFevre, which the Holy Father as Head of the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith imposed in 1988, at the behest of Pope John Paul II. Coming soon?

According to Bishop Fellay, there has been 'a great leap forward' in negotiations about the 1 million member congregation's return to full communion with Rome, refering to steps one and two.
"Bishop Fellay indicated some optimism about the prospects for another conciliatory move by the Vatican: the lifting of a decree of excommunications levied against the bishops of the SSPX, who were ordained by the late Archbishop Lefebvre without the required approval from Rome. The SSPX has listed the removal of the excommunciation decree, along with universal approval of the Latin Mass, as a condition for reconciliation with the Holy See. Bishop Fellay said that officials in Rome have told him that the effort to lift the excommunications would now be "less difficult than the motu proprio."

This is great news for me, who has many friends who, when frustrated by the bishop's location of the Indult Mass, and refusal to grant an Traditional Mass for the funeral of a diocesan priest, joined the Society a few years ago. We conduct a homeschool Co-op of classes in their chapel, which is only 20 minutes from my home, when no parish on Long Island would give us space, but I explained to the affable pastor, that I could not join the chapel for Sunday Mass until they 'signed with Rome'.
A very dear friend of mine, Mary, died a painful death from breast cancer, while offering up her suffering for this reconciliation. She would smile when she had a painful procedure scheduled, and say, "Letcia, they're going to make progress this week, I got a lot of suffering ahead of me!" Please pray that the Society who treasures the beautiful Tridentine Mass, rejoins fully with Rome, and share this with us. Then, I can attend Mass every Sunday, near home, in a chapel which needs no conversion.
Catholic World News

Society of St. Pius X not yet ready to reconcile with Rome

'In a statement July 7, excommunicated Bishop Bernard Fellay, head of the Swiss-based society, said the papal decision had created a "favorable climate" to consider the doctrinal issues more calmly.'
"The Society of St. Pius X rejoices to see the church thus regain her liturgical tradition and give the possibility of a free access to the treasure of the traditional Mass for the glory of God, the good of the church and the salvation of souls, to the priests and faithful who had so far been deprived of it," the statement said.
The society expressed "its deep gratitude to the sovereign pontiff for this great spiritual benefit."The statement went on to say that the Vatican should withdraw excommunication decrees against the society's leadership to allow further progress in their dialogue.'
Catholic News Service