Can you hear it?
Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.
That is the sound of a giant time bomb getting ready to explode.
The SSPX has submitted its response to Rome and the waiting has begun. Could be days or it could be weeks, but something is about to go Kaboom!
Bishop Fellay, writing to his fellow Bishops and priests says (via Andrea Tornielli)
The bishop, according to the rumors gathered by Vatican Insider, wished to confirm to the priests of the Society that which he had already written a few days ago, recalling the two principles that guide the Lefebvrists in the relations with Rome: the first is that no concessions be asked from the Society that touch ipon the faith and that which derives from it (liturgy, sacraments, morals, and discipline). The second, that a true freedom and autonomy of action be granted to the [Society of] Saint Pius X, which would allow it to grow and develop.
What is completely uncertain at this point is what is contained within the text and within the response. What is known is what the reaction will be regardless of the text.
It is easy to predict what will happen if this comes to fruition. A certain minority (yet vocal) percentage of the SSPX hierarchy and membership will see it as an unacceptable capitulation to modernist Rome and the evil Vatican II.
On the other hand, progressives inside and outside the Church will find in it obvious proof of the Pope’s complete rejection of Vatican II and the blaring trumpets signalling a return to the pre-conciliar dark ages.
I have no idea what the text will say, although I have some educated suspicions, but I know what the reaction will be. And I know that both sides will be wrong.
I suspect that we will find in it reference to both the value and limitations of the Council and its documents. I suspect that that the SSPX will have to agree that if you squint real hard and turn your head just the right way, you can interpret some troublesome passages from the Council documents in a way consistent with Orthodoxy. And Rome will have to agree that Vatican II changes not a single doctrine that existed before the Council. That the faith taught by Popes who condemned modernism, false ecumenism, and false notions of religious liberty is still the same faith taught by the post-conciliar Church, again with a fair amount of squinting and head turning.
AND…. And this is a big AND. The SSPX needs some canonical status that will free it to grow and prosper without interference from liberal Bishops who would like to burn it to the ground. This is a must.
And if, when this happens. Kaboom!
This explosion will unleash both great and terrible things for the Church. That is how explosions can be. They destroy so that we can build.
April 16, 2012 at 5:02 pm
This is the mustard seed moment. His Holiness (Happy birthday!) spoke about there being a small, faithful remnant in the future. This is the moment that causes the Church to become the size of a mustard seed again.
April 16, 2012 at 5:49 pm
I look forward to an announcement either on the anniversary of his Pontificate in a few days, or perhaps on Pentecost if it comes later. His Holiness seems to like to make big announcements on auspicious days.
April 16, 2012 at 5:49 pm
Praying, praying, praying!
April 16, 2012 at 6:16 pm
You touched on the biggest obstacle to reconciliation, the hard heads and hard hearts of liberals within the Catholic Church and ultra-conversatives within SSPX.
April 16, 2012 at 6:53 pm
Athanasius the lithmus test for being Catholic is the loyalty to the magesterium, in this case the Pope (and we have a good one this time…I'd say one of the best, and it saddens me that he is not recognized as such simply because he's not as good at self-marketing as his predecessor). So, regardless of whether the liberals or extremists buck and whine, it will not matter. All that matter are those who obey the pope. The rest can rot (literally).
April 16, 2012 at 7:42 pm
It has been Pope Benedict XVI who realized and spoke saying that Vatican II never banned the Traditional Latin Mass. Vatican II introduced the vernacular into the liturgy but Latin remains the language of the Roman Catholic Church. and for good reason, because Latin is a DEAD language, a language that will not change or morph into something evil…because Latin speaks the TRUTH to God, to God WHO hears our every word.
April 16, 2012 at 8:17 pm
"…Athanasius the lithmus test for being Catholic…"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMNlRV6QoNg
The litmus test for being Catholic is submission to God.
The two young men in the video are being Baptized; they are leaving the kingdom of Satan and entering the Kingdom of Christ.
At 14:10 of the video the good Padre sets them for eternity; prostrate before the Blessed Sacrament.
We should be loyal to the Holy Father and the Magisterium, but first loyalty to God.
Blessed be God in all His angels and all His saints.
*
April 16, 2012 at 9:08 pm
SSPX, liberals or whoever,… it may be profitable to one's salvation to recall:
To be Catholic is to love Christ and His Church.
To be baptized into the Faith and the community of believers in Communion with the Bishop of Rome is to be Catholic (Ubi petrus ibi ecclesia). To submit to Christ and His Church is to be Catholic. To be Catholic is to want to be more Catholic, not less. To be more Catholic one must honestly embrace the teachings of the Church (sentire cum ecclesia) and support the Church and Her mission with one's prayers and actions. Remember the five precepts of the Church?
To be Catholic is to be able to say: “I believe and profess all that the Holy Catholic Church teaches, believes and proclaims to be revealed by God.”
Obedience is the hallmark of being Catholic: obey God and obey the Church (the Magisterium) founded by Christ.
April 16, 2012 at 11:20 pm
The Holy Father is about to find out who his real friends are. Could this be the moment when the progressives in the Church provoke a schism? Even if that doesn't happen the press will spin this to say the Pope is repudiating Vatican II etc. etc. Lots of rosaries are needed in the next week or so.
April 17, 2012 at 4:32 am
"The SSPX needs some canonical status that will free it to grow and prosper without interference from liberal Bishops who would like to burn it to the ground. This is a must."
How right your are. In fact, there will be no "regularization" without it and the Holy Father certainly knows that.
If the Pope sets up a structure (ordinariate?) such that the SSPX will not be under thumb of liberal, modernist ordinaries, that will be I think an absolute master stroke by His Holiness.
Imagine, Catholic Tradition in all It's glory, being able to operate in every diocese. The unfortunate truth is that is not the case right now and hasn't been since the council.
The commander in chief of the Church Militant will once again have his special forces, as the Jesuits may have been long ago.
And you are also right about the bomb metaphor. The wailing and gnashing of teeth is going to be something to behold.
The Holy Ghost is on the job. Continue to fast, pray Rosaries, and offer Masses. God bless Pope Benedict.
April 17, 2012 at 7:17 am
"… But yet the Son of man, when he cometh, shall he find, think you, faith on earth?" [Luke 18:8] If the Novus Ordo continues as it is, we will see a remnant of the true faith at the consummation of the world. If the Novus Ordo is not of God, but which was allowed to exist as the prophetic vision by Our Lady of Fatima to test the faithfulness of God's people, then we can allude to what Gamaliel said of the Christians of his time.
April 17, 2012 at 1:52 pm
Oh, boy. This is a very difficult dilemma for both the Pope and the Society. Cardinal Ratzinger has been working with the Society since the early 1980s. For 30 years the Vatican and the Society have been in "negotiations." Pope Benedict XVI knows better than anyone what the Society represents. Why are we acting as if this is something new? The issues have remained the same since Archbishop Lefebvre wrote to Cardinal Ratzinger in 1985 regarding Religious Liberty and Ecumenism. Since this began, I have been reading and studying Vatican II, the documents, the Society, and all the people involved. It has been incredibly enlightening for me. I am anxious to see how this goes. My prediction is that the clarifications the Society has presented will not be sufficient for Rome. Therefore, reconciliation will not be possible. Rome will be reluctant to declare them "schismatic" because that will open up a whole can of worms about the True Church and Vatican II. But the Society will continue to be marginalized and those who assist at Mass in their chapels will further be stigmatized. Yet, the Society will continue and so will Rome. Pope Benedict XVI's vision of a "new church and new theology" that began in the 1960s while he was Cardinal Ratzinger will not be complete. The new "hybrid" Mass will continue in all the FSSP and ICK chapels while the Society will be stuck in the "Middle Ages." Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us.
April 17, 2012 at 2:59 pm
There was a reference to "troublesome passages in the Council documents". I have read the Council documents (not the 'spirit' of Vatican II interpretation). Can you give me an example of a troublesome passage?
We either believe that the living Magesterium of the Catholic Church is guided by the Holy Spirit, or we don't. If we do, it means that Vatican II was ordained by God and the resulting documents are error free when they address faith and morals.
If we don't, it means that the whole foundation of our faith crumbles like a house built on sand.
April 17, 2012 at 11:52 pm
Tony – it was a pastoral council – not a dogmatic one – there is a difference.