The week ahead is going to be crucial for relations between Rome and the Society of St. Pius X.
Cardinals and bishop members of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith will discuss the response to the doctrinal preamble sent last 17 April by the Fraternity’s superior, Bishop Bernard Fellay.
This is a delicate moment, particularly after the publication on the Web of the letters exchanged between Fellay and three other Lefebvrian bishops, which Vatican Insider reported on last Thursday.
Fellay has been leading negotiations with the Holy See and is prepared to accept Benedict XVI’s proposal; the three bishops, however, are not.
But the words used by Mgr. Fellay in his response to his fellow brothers Tissyer de Mallerais, de Gallareta and Williamson, illustrate the decisive role Benedict XVI has played in the process.
“The Pope – Fellay wrote in the confidential letter he sent in response to the criticisms – told us that the eagerness to legalise our status for the good of the Church was at the heart of his pontificate; he also said he knew it would be easier for him and for us to leave the situation as it is at the moment. The willingness he has expressed is therefore determined and fair.”
We are not in a position to know how and when this willingness on the part of the Pope, this distressed appeal was sent to the leader of the Fraternity.
It is highly likely, however, that it played a determining role in the change of attitude expressed by Fellay himself over the past few months. This element also helps see the next important step - which is the Feria Quarta meeting - in the right light.
During this meeting, cardinals and bishops of the former Holy Office will examine Fellay’s proposed modifications to the doctrinal preamble, before signing it.
Everything will then have to be approved by Benedict XVI.
And there is a good chance that a positive answer is just around the corner, though many members of the Fraternity and individuals in the Holy See would like the opposite.
Whatever decision is made, it will certainly have consequences: there is already an internal rift within the Society of St. Pius X.
Besides the confidential letters that were splashed across the Web, one need only read the comments and editorials published in the Lefebvrian press to see that things are far from rosy in the Fraternity.
“I cannot exclude the possibility of a split,” Fellay admitted in an interview with Catholic News Service.
An internal reaction against a “yes” answer from the Pope is also to be expected. They would accuse him of wiping out the Second Vatican Council by accepting the Society of St. Pius X’s return to full communion with the Catholic Church.
The tone and content of Fellay’s letter are certainly different from those used by him in the past.
But they are a sign that he and his followers have taken on board the Pope’s efforts, his concern for the unity of the Church, his call for reconciliation and his interpretation of the Council.