From Vatican Information Service:
Vatican City, 14 June 2012 (VIS) – “On the afternoon of Wednesday 13 June, Cardinal William Levada, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and president of the Pontifical Commission ‘Ecclesia Dei’, met with Bishop Bernard Fellay, superior general of the Society of St. Pius X who was accompanied by an assistant. Also present at the encounter were Archbishop Luis Ladaria S.J., secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and Msgr. Guido Pozzo, secretary of the Pontifical Commission ‘Ecclesia Dei'”, according to a communique released today by the Holy See Press Office.
“The purpose of the meeting was to present the Holy See’s evaluation of the text submitted in April by the Society of St. Pius X in response to the Doctrinal Preamble which the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith had presented to the Society on 14 September 2011. The subsequent discussion offered an opportunity the provide the appropriate explanations and clarifications. For his part, Bishop Fellay illustrated the current situation of the Society of St. Pius X and promised to make his response known within a reasonable lapse of time.
“Also during the meeting, a draft document was submitted proposing a Personal Prelature as the most appropriate instrument for any future canonical recognition of the Society.
“As was stated in the communique released on 16 May 2012, the situation of the other three bishops of the Society of St. Pius X will be dealt with separately and singularly.
“At the end of the meeting the hope was expressed that this additional opportunity for reflection would also contribute to reaching full communion between the Society of St. Pius X and the Apostolic See”.
If an agreement is reached, it seems unlikely that all of the Society would follow Bishop Fellay back into the Catholic Church.
Last month the other three Society bishops issued a letter warning that any deal with the Vatican would mean the Society would “cease to oppose the universal apostasy of our time.” They also dismissed Pope Benedict as a “subjectivist.”
Vatican negotiations with each of the Society’s bishops are now being handled “separately and singularly,” the communique said.
It concluded by expressing the hope that “this additional opportunity for reflection” would help bring about “full communion between the Society of St. Pius X and the Apostolic See.”
For more about the possible split(s) within the SSPX, see Michael J. Miller’s CWR article, “The SSPX and the Electronic Grapevine” (May 16, 2012).
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