New man summoned to rein in traditionalists
by Robert McClory on Jul. 02, 2012
NCR Today
The Holy Father's determination to bring traditionalist Catholics back into union with Rome appears to have no limits. The Vatican's latest overture of reunion to the Society of St. Pius X was rejected in mid-June. The society's superior general, Bishop Bernard Fellay, said he could not sign the offer, which was labeled "clearly unacceptable." This comes after three years of negotiations between the Vatican and the society, whose ongoing problem is Vatican II itself, especially its positions on liturgy, religious freedom, ecumenism and anti-Semitism. Its members seek a firm, unmoving, authoritarian church.
So what does Pope Benedict XVI do in the face of the umpteenth turn-down by this breakaway group? He has appointed Bishop Joseph Augustine Di Noia, secretary for the Congregation for Worship, to a new post as vice president of the Pontifical Commission "Ecclesia Dei" to keep working for a solution. The step was taken, said a Vatican statement, because of Benedict's "pastoral solicitude for traditionalist Catholics in union with the Holy See and his strong desire for the reconciliation of traditionalist communities not in union."
Di Noia was upbeat about the potential for solution.
"It is possible," he said, "to have theological disagreements while remaining in communion with the see of Peter. Part of what we're saying is that when you read the documents of Vatican II, you can't read them from the point of view of some liberal bishops who may have been participants at the council. You have to read them at face value. Given that the Holy Spirit is guiding the church, the documents cannot be in discontinuity with tradition." Uh oh!
http://ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/new-man-summoned-rein-traditionalists
= new reply since forum marked as read
