Catholic World News News Feature
Rome losing interest in reconciliation with SSPX? June 05, 2006
The Vatican has shown a declining interest in restoring normal ties with Lefebvrists, according to the head of the traditionalist Society of St. Pius X (SSPX).
Bishop Bernard Fellay, speaking to the French newspaper Le Figaro during an annual pilgrimage from Chartres to Paris, said that he thought "the enthusiasm for the reconciliation that the Pope wants has abated." He conceded, however, that Vatican officials might be waiting for the outcome of this summer's chapter general, at which the SSPX will elect its leader, before reviving active discussions.
Rumors about Vatican plans to regularize the status of the SSPX circulated freely earlier this year. The topic was reportedly on the agenda for the consistory of the College of Cardinals on March 24. But any plan for reconciliation will have to overcome considerable opposition, both within the Roman Curia and within the ranks of the traditionalist group.
In a homily preached to participants in the SSPX pilgrimage, Bishop Fellay illustrated the extent of Lefebvrist disaffection from Rome, saying that the modern Church leadership was engaged in "suicide" because Catholicism had renounced its missionary spirit.
