April 15th is an unpleasant day in the United States and we await its arrival with dread. But in Rome and in Écône, Switzerland and around the world thousands upon thousands look upon the 15th with fear and hope all mixed together. April 15th is the deadline. And if you are smart, you should be paying attention too.
By April 15th the Society of Saint Pius X will give their response to a “Doctrinal Preamble” outlining “certain doctrinal principles and criteria for the interpretation of Catholic doctrine … (while also) leaving 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.”
The Holy See and the SSPX have been in discussion for a few years and have been going back and forth on this document for months and it all comes down to the 15th.
If they refuse to sign, it may well lead to a permanent schism which would be a disaster for all the souls involved, the Pope, and the Church as a whole.
If they do sign, it opens the door to regularization of the Society and an end to …
Actually, if they do sign, it is not an end to anything. It’s a beginning of, well hold on to your hats. It’s gonna a be a bumpy ride.
If they do sign ..
April 13, 2012 at 1:35 pm
We'll be discussing this on live radio Monday evening: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/up-close/2012/04/17/the-sspx-and-rome
April 13, 2012 at 2:27 pm
I would like to know how the diocese of Richmond, Va can make communion in the hand the preferred and ONLY manner of communion reception taught to first communicants. And why do publishers like "Our Sunday Visitor" publish materials that only contain images of people receiving in the hand? NO pics of anyone receiving on the tongue. All this, while the Holy Father distributes solely on the tongue. I know either way is permitted in the U.S., but it's wrong for the bishops and publishers to pressure people into favoring the hand. I wish this blog would do post dedicated to this issue.
April 14, 2012 at 5:38 am
There are few things I hate more in life than air turbulence, but in this instance, I humbly beseech Heaven for a bumpy ride.
April 14, 2012 at 2:00 pm
I too welcome the bumpy ride. It will shake loose some dead-weight.
April 14, 2012 at 2:49 pm
C'mon SSPX! Think of the nutty National Catholic Reporter will throw if you sign. That alone is worth seeing.
April 14, 2012 at 9:57 pm
I just read that they have rejected it because…wait for it… The USCCB is defending religious liberty, which is a *Protestant* concept.
Awesome.
April 15, 2012 at 1:59 pm
I love the comments at the think very, very concerned that you insulted a bishop when Williamson is under excommunication for – accepting the title of bishop inappropriately from the SSPX.
April 15, 2012 at 6:32 pm
SSPX is a pack of fascists, heretics, and schismatics. They need to anathematized.
A General Council should be called by the bishops to find Benedict's replacement.
April 16, 2012 at 3:08 pm
While it is true that the Society is not in Communion with Rome, they have many legitimate complaints the post Vatican II abuses in many churches (with the encouragement of many priests and bishops). It is also widely known that many in the media and even in the Catholic circles do NOT want this group reunited at all because they dislike their devotion to Sacred Tradition. If they do reconcile it will be the Pope's big success of his papacy because even Paul VI and John Paul II could not do anything.