Wednesday, February 23, 2011

SSPX vs The Vatican

So, what is your take on the talks between the Vatican and the Society of St. Pius X? Will anything come of those talks? Is each "side" coming to the talks from different angles; so never the twain shall meet?

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Absolute power corrupts. The leaders of the Society of St. Pius X don't want to give up their power. If they unite with Rome, they're no longer the top guys. This is why the Society will probably never be back in union with Rome. They're kind of like the Tea Party version of a Catholic.

Kneeling Nick said...

The talks will only be helpful if a document is published that clarifies the areas of disagreement and states the position of each party. Only then can people decide who is being true to the Catholic Faith.

Anonymous said...

this is one of the reasons why i'm opposed to liturgy. it's very divisive to the community of believers. this is why i always instruct my ccd students to embrace community and forget liturgy. we are church! not some old theatrically pious practices that do nothing for the faithful. we celebrate! we believe!

standing maryanna said...

Dear Anon: Always the provocative one! (chuckle)

Mark said...

In my view SSPX should sort out its own internal issues. It's my impression that their leadership is calling for something like a repudiation of the Vatican II Council by the Pope - I think it is safe to say that this is not going to happen.

As Ralph M. McInerny argues in his book "What went wrong with Vatican II", the documents of this council (and may I add, their perceived ambiguities) need to be understood and implemented in the light of authentic Tradition and Magisterium, and those interpretations that are not based on this foundation, are bound to be false. SSPX leadership seems to cling to a more inflexible position on this main issue. SSPX leadership should also make it more clear that bigotry is not welcome within their ranks.

Then there is the factor of time. Experience shows that groups outside the Church are subject to increasing fragmentation - there are currently about forty thousand different groups and denominations that call themselves Christian. SSPX is not immune from this process.

Lastly, healthy and vibrant Traditional Catholicism is growing within the Church, thanks to fraternities such as the FSSP, plus the generosity of our last two popes. FSSP's patient, humble, and intelligent Catholic Traditionalism, is producing undeniable results.