Blessing and Resettlement of a New Benedictine Cloister Reichenstein

The Monastery of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in Reichenstein: Saturday will see the re-settlement of a former cloister by a Society of Tradition

On the following Saturday, October 14, the consecration and settlement of the monastery of the Immaculate Heart of Mary will take place in Reichenstein. While monasteries are being closed elsewhere because of the lack of vocations, a new monastery is being moved into Monschau by traditional Benedictine monks.

Monschau is located in the Eifel south of Aachen and borders directly on the territory of the German-speaking community in Belgium (Eupen).

In 2007, the German District Superior of the Priestly Society of St. Pius X, Father Franz Schmidberger, announced the intention to found a traditional Benedictine monastery on German soil in which the sacred liturgy will be celebrated in the Immemorial Mass of All Ages. In 2008, after the purchase of the historical monastery by the St. Benedict Society, the key handover of Reichenstein to the Benedictine monks took place.

After 200 years of revival of an old monastery

Church with new monastery buildings and cloister

In the 11th century, the counts of Limburg had erected Richwinstein Castle on a hill on the upper Rur. Having ascended to dukes, they donated the castle in 1131 to the Premonstratensian Order, which had just been founded by St. Norbert of Xanten. The castle was converted into a double monastery, as was customary in the early days of the Order. When this practice was abandoned, the Premonstratensians, Choir Nuns, remained in Reichenstein. Since 1487 it was then a principal choir house. The buildings, including the monastery church, originated in their present form in the late 17th century.

When in 1794, the French revolutionaries occupied Germany on the left bank of the Rhine, the conquest of the Premonstratensian monastery also began its decline. In 1802 Napoleon Bonaparte, in the course of secularization, abolished the monastery together with many other monasteries.

After several changes of ownership, the lawyer Ernst Wilhelm Handschumacher, the Grand Officer of the Order of the Holy Sepulcher, bought the former monastery together with his wife Helma in 1973 and renovated the complex in the 1970s. It was the couple's endeavor that the buildings be returned to their original purpose.

The twelve monks who will settle the monastery next Saturday, come from the Benedictine monastery of Notre-Dame de Bellaigue, built in 2001, connected to the Society of St. Pius X. The monks speak of the "reawakening of the monastery". In 2009, Dom Matthäus Haynos, the priest of the convent in Bellaigue, was given the name of the monastery church and celebrated the first Holy Mass by a new priest of the monastery. To this end, it had been re-established with a neo-Gothic high-altar with a statue of the Immaculate.

Bellaigue is a subsidiary of the Benedictine monastery Santa Cruz in Brazil. The first four monks came to France in 1999. After ten years, 25 monks were already living in the Auvergne, so a daughter-foundation could be established. For several years, a Benedictine convent has been built, a few kilometers from Bellaigue.

For years there have been urgently needed renovations in Reichenstein, as well as modifications and new buildings. The monks will supply their own heating with 36 hectares of forest belonging to them. The construction of the new cloister was started in 2015. 2017 saw establishment of a provisional central chapel. It will serve the monastic community in the coming four years for the liturgy "in order to be able to reconstruct the monastery church into the central, worthy and sacred space of the entire monastery."

This coming Saturday, Reichenstein will be officially established as a subsidiary of the monastery of Bellaique and be populated by a monastic community.

The program

At 9.45 o'clock Terce and then consecration of the monastery.

At 10:30 am Solemn High Mass in honor of the patroness of the monastery, the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

At 12.30 pm, Sext with welcome and luncheon for the faithful gathering to celebrate this memorable day with the Benedictines.

At 2.30 pm None and then coffee and cake.

At 4 pm Vespers and Sacraments.

At 5 pm, is the establishment of the cloister with the main gate closed.

The Society of St. Benedict, which is legally responsible for the repair of the buildings, regularly informs about the developments and the progress of the construction work with the "Monastery News." They will be occupied with the young monastic community for several years, as the actual monastery with cloister must be rebuilt (see plan).

"We want to build a school for the Lord's ministry. Everything without exception is to be done in this monastery for the glory of God, so that in all God God may be glorified."

This is how Br. Bernhard OSB writes in the latest edition of the "Klosternnachrichten."

Since 1 October 2017 Holy Mass in Reichenstein has been celebrated every day on workdays, Feast Days, Saturdays and Sundays at 7:20 am and 11:15 am in the Immemorial Roman Rite.

All of the faithful are invited to blessing and settlement of the monastery on 14 October.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi 
Image: kloster-reichenstein.de (Screenshot)
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
Link to Katholisches....
AMDG

Bishop Fellay Has Signed the Filial Correction -- Just Released!

Edit: it's here.

[FSSPX] On July 16, 2017, several clerics and lay scholars addressed a correctio filialis, a filial correction, to Pope Francis. They reveal the seven heresies contained in the Apostolic Exhortation Amoris Laetitia.

A website has been created for the occasion: www.correctiofilialis.org; it offers information on the diffusion of the correctio filialis.

This thoroughly documented critique is a sort of sequel to the Dubia on Amoris Laetitia (September 19, 2016) of Cardinals Walter Brandmüller, Raymond L. Burke, Joachim Meisner, and Carlo Caffarra. (The latter two passed away this year, respectively on July 5 and September 6.) They respectfully requested Pope Francis to “clarify” five unorthodox points in Amoris Laetitia.

The Dubia remained unanswered and were later followed by a request for an audiencefrom the four authors (April 25, 2017). Their request was not granted.

On June 29, 2016, 45 theologians submitted to Cardinal Angelo Sodano, dean of the College of Cardinals, another critical studyof 19 points in Amoris Laetitia. This critique also went unanswered.

In the list of the 62 signatories of the correctio filialis are the names of several persons who already signed the critique of the 45 theologians in 2016, but among the new names is that of Bishop Bernard Fellay, Superior General of the Society of St. Pius X, the only bishop who has signed the document so far, although – as the presentation of the correctio filialis explains – the list remains open.

http://fsspx.news/en/news-events/news/clerical-and-lay-scholars-send-pope-correctio-filialis-about-amoris-laetitia-32163

AMDG

10,000 Pilgrims of the Society of St. Pius X this Weekend at Fatima -- "Largest Pilgrimage in 100 Years at Fatima"

10,000 Faithful are expected at the Fatima Pilgrimage of the Society of St. Pius X this weekend, which has already generated media attention in the run-up. It is the fourth Fatima Pilgrimage of the FSSPX. The first took place in 1987 with Archbishop Lefebvre  

(Lisbon) This is not the first pilgrimage of the Priestly Society of St. Pius X to Fatima. What is new, however, is that this year's pilgrimage, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Virgin Mary, is given special attention by the Portuguese media. The international Fatima pilgrimage of the Society of Pius X will take place next weekend. Since the 11th of August a novena has been held.

Eucharistic Worship at Night - Militia Immaculatae

On Saturday, 19 August, Father Franz Schmidberger, Rector of the Priestly Seminary of Zaitzkofen, celebrates Holy Mass at 3 pm in the Shrine. Afterwards a procession with rosary to the place of the apparition Os Valinhos takes place. At 20:30 the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and a Benediction follows.

Light procession in Fatima

On Sunday, August 20, at noon, worshiping the Eucharistic blessing will end at 6:30. At 9:30 am a pontifical High Mass, will be celebrated by the General Superior of the Society of Pius X, Bishop Bernard Fellay. At 3 pm, a common rosary closes the pilgrimage.

After the rosary, the consecration of the Militia Immaculatae and its members to the Immaculate Heart of Mary takes place in the same locale. The Militia was founded in Rome on 17 October, 1917 by St. Maximilian Kolbe. That was four days after the last Marian apparition in Fatima, which Kolbe at that time still knew nothing. And it was three weeks before the Bolshevik October Revolution broke out in Russia. As if he had known it, Kolbe had with the Militia already created as an antidote to the rearing of totalitarianism and enemies of the Church. In 2000, P. Karl Stehlin (FSSPX), along with the Novus Ordo Militia, also revived Militia Immaculatae in the spirit of tradition.

"Largest pilgrimage to the 100-year celebration comes from conservative community"

The Portuguese daily Jornal de Noticias reports in its edition today that 10,000 pilgrims will come to the pilgrimage of the Society of Pius X to Fatima next weekend. The title of the article, however, is obviously formulated with bad intentions:

"10,000 pilgrims protest in Fatima against the present Church"

No Catholic undertook a pilgrimage to "protest" against something. The article itself contains more applicable information.

Even more generous space was given to the FSSPX pilgrimage by the daily newspaper Diario de Noticias. It's headed:

"Greatest pilgrimage on the 100th anniversary comes from conservative community".

The article describes the reasons for the pilgrimage and briefly describes the current situation of the relations between the Society of St. Pius X and the Holy See. A big picture in the article shows Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, the founder of the Society. The Society has already carried out three pilgrimages to Fatima in the past. The first took place in 1987. 30 years ago, Monsignor Lefebvre also participated. The other two pilgrimages followed in 1997 and 2005.

Are discussions with Rome again at the "starting point"?

The media interest could be related to expectations that Bishop Fellay made statements on the current situation that resulted from Cardinal Müller's letter to the FSSPX's Superior General. Four days later, on 30th June, the Cardinal was dismissed by Pope Francis as Prefect of the Congregation for Doctrine of and the Faith.

Cardinal Müller, on 26 June, informed Fellay that the Congregation for the Congregation at its General Assembly of May had decided that the Society of Pius X and every Society member would have to sign the Doctrinal Preamble as a condition for canonical recognition. Such was offered to Monsignor Fellay in September 2011 by Cardinal Levada, the Prefect of the Congregation of Doctrine and the Faith at that time. The exact wording thereof was never published. Little changes could be made, as Cardinal Levada explained to the Society (see the chronology of the conversations between the Holy See and the Pius Brotherhood ).

At the end of June, Cardinal Müller also announced that this conditio sine qua non was endorsed by Pope Francis. The sitution in August 2017 is again or still, what Monsignor Fellay already said in June 2012: one was again at the "point of departure"?

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Photo: Diario de Noticias (Screenshot)
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMDG

SSPX: The Numbers

[Katholisches] The Priestly Fraternity of St. Pius X (FSSPX) includes 635 priests, 215 seminarians and 40 pre-seminarians, 117 religious brothers and 79 oblates. The priests live in 165 priories in 32 countries and have 772 centers in 72 countries around the world.

A total of 14 districts and four autonomous houses are subordinate to the General House. Six priestly seminaries are run by the Society.

195 Sisters belong to the sister branch. 17 sisters are among the missionaries in Kenya, founded by Bishop Fellay in 2011. Four Carmel monasteries are connected to the Priestly Fraternity of St. Pius X.

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

AMDG

Bishop Schneider: "Personally Very Sad" About Rome's Letter to the SSPX -- "They Wouldn't Treat the Orthodox Like This"

(Lisbon) Just before Cardinal Gerhard Müller was dismissed on 30 June by Pope Francis as Prefect of the Congregation for Doctrine of the Faith, he sent Bishop Bernard Fellay, the Superior General of the Priestly Society of St. Pius X, a letter. In this he announced that the General Assembly of the Congregation for the Congregation, with papal approval, as a condition for a possible Church recognition of the Society, again demanded the doctrinal preamble of 2012.

On 14 July, Bishop Athanasius Schneider, Auxiliary Bishop of Astana, has asked, in the course of a lecture held in Fatima, about the abrupt turning-point in the discussions between the Society and the Holy See. The question came from a member of the Spanish-speaking Catholic news site, Adelante la Fe, who was the organizer of the event. One of the founders of Adelante la Fe is the countryman, deceased in 2015, by Pope Francis Bishop Rogelio Livieres of Ciudad del Este, whom Pope Francis had deposed without a hearing and without mentioning reasons in 2014. In a press release of the Holy See, it was said that the harmony had been restored in the Paraguayan Episcopal Conference. The following text is the title of an audio section. Bishop Schneider spoke Portuguese in Fatima:

Adelante la Fe: Recently, a letter from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith was publicly announced to the Superior General of the Society of Pius X, with which, as it seems, Rome returned to the point where the conversations under Benedict XVI. had broken down. The outcome of the current negotiations had given the impression that the problematic issues related to the Second Vatican Council in Rome might seem to be able to be the object of discussion, while now a priori a written agreement has been broached where agreement is demanded to the entire Vatican II and also to some parts of the post-conciliar Magisterium. Can you tell us something about this situation?

Msgr. Schneider: Personally, this document makes me very sad because I was one of the visitors of the Holy See who was sent to the Society of St. Pius X two years ago. There were four bishops. I was one of them. I have presented a report and proposed some solutions, and now almost everything we have done has proved to be useless. I think this is very anti-pastoral. For three years, the Holy See has encouraged visits and not followed a maximalistic path, but a pastoral way of integrating these realities of the Church, the FSSPX, pastorally to give it a chance to participate fully in the structures of the Church.

I think, therefore, that this is a very anti-pastoral gesture, and in contradiction to the whole mercy rhetoric that is being put forth - unfortunately. At the same time, on the other hand, implicitly, the entire Council is being made infallible, which is contrary to the whole tradition ... The Council is not infallible, according to its own statements, and the Popes John XIII. and Paul VI. have emphasized on numerous occasions that the Second Vatican Council had only pastoral aims. Paul VI. said many times that the Council has announced no new doctrines and that there is nothing in contradiction with the previous ones. So if nothing has been changed, then why this attitude? I see no justifiable reason for expressly declaring such a thing [expressly the recognition of the teachings of the Second Vatican Council and the post-conciliar period, as it is said in the letter of Cardinal Müller, Editor's note].

For example: Now we talk a lot of ecumenism, with particular generosity, and in the discussions with the Orthodox, the Lutherans are only required the minimum .... The minimum is required. Within the Church, however, one demands the maximum. The FSSPX, however, believes in the eternal dogmas. All dogmas. All. While the Orthodox Church, for example, denies the dogma of infallibility and of the papal primacy, and the Holy See does not even require the most indispensable.

For example, I know the Orthodox very well, because I am among them. I know their mentality. Regarding the conversion of Russia: This is not just for me, there are others who have seen it. A secret saint, who has perished in the persecution in Kazakhstan, shares the same opinion. He said, saying that the conversion of Russia ultimately means that the Orthodox Church will unite with the pope, with Rome. That is their conversion. I believe I hope it will be so. If the Russian Orthodox Church recognizes the primacy of the Pope, it will be a miracle to recognize the dogma of the Pope's infallibility, the dogma of the Immaculate Conception that she does not recognize today, and the Holy See says: "We accept all of your Dogmas, but the Second Vatican Council is strange to us: it is only pastoral, its language is not always clear, the whole about freedom of religion, ecumenism, etc. that does not convince us very much, and some statements of the Magisterium, we are here not sure. All the rest [the dogmas] we accept.

Imagine this: if the Orthodox Church were thus to be converted, the Holy See would at once grant the ecclesiastical communion without demanding what they did not yet agree with it. I'm sure. Of course one could ask oneself: "Would they do with the Orthodox what they do with the FSSPX?" No. I consider this to be very doubtful, but Divine Providence always works, and I also believe that the time is not yet ripe. It will take place when God wants it.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi Photo: Adelante la Fe (Screenshot)

 On July 26, was LifeSiteNews published the letter from Cardinal Müller, the interpretation that the former Prefect of the CDF wanted to put the talks with the SSPX on the shelf for the time being to save the Motu proprio Summorum Pontificum. At the beginning of July, a few days after Müller's letter became known, La Croix, the daily newspaper of the French Bishops'Conference, and the New York Times, had speculated that Pope Francis was allowing the recognition of the Society of Pius X in order to reverse Summorum Pontificum. Cardinal Müller, according to this interpretation, he had overturned the pope's plans and saved Summorum Pontificum.

 Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com AMDG

SSPX Ordain New Priests in Ecône and New Seminary in Dillwyn

On June 29th, the Feast of Peter and Paul, Monsignor Alfonso de Galarreta consecrated twelve priests and six deacons in Ecône.

On July 7, 2017, Monsignor Bernard Fellay consecrated nine priests and six deacons in the United States. It was the first priestly consecration in the new seminary in Dillwyn, Virginia.

The General Superior of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Pius X recalled in his homily the great dignity of the priesthood:

The Priests

In the Holy Eucharist, our Lord gave a means to multiply Himself. There is only one Jesus, one Body, one Soul. And in each host, He is completely, fully there. He multiplies Himself through the real presence. But He hides Himself. For our Lord Jesus Christ, His species is the priest, though the man that is the priest is still present. Our Lord is the priest and the victim. There is only one priest, Jesus. Only Jesus absolves in confession. At Mass, the priest opens his mouth and says, ‘This is My body,’ and it is Jesus speaking. These words do not belong to the man; they belong to Jesus.

The only one who has the might in His words and to produce what He says is God. In Genesis, how did God create? By speaking. By His might He makes what He says a reality.
This might is given to the priest when he gives the sacraments.

When the priest speaks, the whole, infinite holiness of God comes through. The priest’s hands are consecrated – they are dedicated to give blessings. It is beyond understanding what kind of treasures God has deposited to His priests. The priest himself is an incomprehensible sign of God’s love. St. John Vianney said that if we understood what a priest is, we would die of love.

A priest is a mediator, a key, one that reunites God and man after they have been separated by sin. The priest repairs the damage caused by sin. When God chooses a priest, He chooses a victim. It is hard to understand. Our human nature does not like it. But a vocation is a call to be a sacrifice.

Every Mass is a sacred sign of an invisible sacrifice. In a Mass, our Lord Himself perpetuates the sacrifice of Calvary. This sacrifice is consummated with the Communion of the priest. The priest is obliged daily to make this sacrifice. In each sacrifice, we priests offer ourselves. Each priest should say, ‘I am immolated with the sacrifice on the Cross. I am dead with Jesus.’ That is the priest that will cleanse sin from the world. To be a priest is something serious. Modern men want to get rid of sin; they have no sense of sin. They want to get rid of mortification and death. But Our Lady said souls will go to hell because no one makes sacrifices for them. A sacrifice hurts.

Charity, which is love, is difficult to really understand. It is gentle and kind and good, yes. Those God loves the most – look at what He requests of them. Who does God love more than the Blessed Virgin Mary? And we know what God had planned for her.

Link to German District Website...

Link to SSPX USA....

AMDG

Cardinal Müller and Cardinal Marx Join Forces Against the SSPX in Germany

[Katholisches] We document here a letter from Reinhard Cardinal Max, expressly forbidding the marriages conducted by priests belonging to the Priestly Society of St. Pius X.

To the
Honorable
Members of the Permanent Council of
the German Bishops' Conference
__________________________________

To the
Highly Honorable Members of
the German Bishops' Conference
and the Vicars General

___________________________________

Most honorable gentlemen,

The Cardinal Prefect of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, Cardinal Gerhard Müller had addressed my letter of May 11, 2017,  delivered to the consideration Permanent Council in which I expressed my concern about the possibility of granting authority to the priests of the Priestly Brotherhood of St. Pius X. on (on June 1, 2017). It expresses in its reply an understanding of our concern about the "still ongoing ecclesiastical illegality of the Society of St. Pius and the situation which has not yet been clarified" and stresses that it is "in the competence of the respective local ordinarius" to whom it grants the authority to conclude a marriage. He explained that the decisions taken by Pope Francis in favor of the pastoral needs of believers are determined by the consideration that the Priestly Fraternity is on its way to full communion.

Since we are able to meet the pastoral needs of the faithful who request a marriage in the liturgy of the Vetus ordo (extraordinary rite), by applying our guidelines for the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum for the German dioceses of 2007, the Permanent Council of 19 June, 2017 reaffirmed its decision of April.

In order to promote uniform handling in the German (Arch) dioceses, the Permanent Council has decided to make a corresponding text proposal available to members of the Permanent Council for publication in the Official Journal ( Annex ).

In this way, in agreement with the Cardinal Prefect, we take appropriate account both of the pastoral requirements and the church circumstances.

Oremus pro invicem.
Yours sincerely,
Reinhard Cardinal Marx

Annex to the letter of the chairman of the German Bishops' Conference (PA V 3044)

In agreement with the Cardinal Prefect of the Pontifical Commission, Ecclesia Dei, the Permanent Council of 19 / June decided:

Appeals from the faithful requesting a marriage in the liturgy of the Vetus ordo (ritus extraordinarius) are to be passed on to the respective ordinaries. This will ensure that the request is taken into account and that a priest is entrusted, according to the guidelines for the Summorum Pontificum of 2017. The marriage preparation, the preparation of the marriage protocol and the registration of the marriage are carried out according to the ecclesiastical provisions. There is no provision for granting power to priests belonging to the Priestly Fraternity of St. Pius X.
Link to Katholisches...
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMDG

SSPX Ordinations Recognized as Licit and Valid by Rome

The Society was authorized to carry out priest ordinations without the consent of the local bishop. The consecration is therefore not only valid, but also allowed, says Bernhard Fellay, the superior of the FSSPX.

Vatican (kath.net/CWN/jg) The Bishops of the Priestly Society of St. Pius X (FSSPX) may consecrate priests with the consent of the Vatican. This was announced in an interview by Bernard Fellay, the FSSPX Superior General.

He had received a letter from Rome last year. He had been told that his Society priests could be consecrated without the consent of the local bishop. The priestly ordinations of the Society were therefore not only valid, but also allowed, Fellay added.

This is another step in the approach between the Society and the Vatican, said the Superior General. Under Pope Benedict XVI And Pope Francis, relations have improved. Benedict XVI Lifted the excommunication of the Society in 2009. The confessions and nuptials of the FSSPX have been recognized under Pope Francis. In October 2016 Bernard Fellay was received at the Vatican.

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMDG

Cardinal Müller Acknowledges Pope's Unjust Dismissal of His Men -- SSPX Reconciliation Needs More Time -- Dismisses the Dubia as "Ideological"

A "deeper reconciliation is needed, not just the signing of a document" - deaconess ordination "impossible".

Vatican City (kath.net/ KAP)  According to Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller, an agreement between the traditionalist Society of St. Pius X and the Vatican is not yet within reach."This takes time," said the Prefect of the Roman Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, according to Catholic broadcaster EWTN. What is needed is a "deeper reconciliation, not just the signing of a document." Those who wish to be Catholic must accept, among other things, the councils and other ecclesiastical doctrine as well as the "hierarchical communion with the local bishop, the communion of all bishops and the Holy Father". [Apparently, they will be expected to check their reason. Really, considering that most of the world's bishops don't respect the Councils, how can they expect that level of obedience to the SSPX?]

On the question about the liturgical form in the course of the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965), Müller said that it was a Catholic concept that the pope and synods had the right and the duty to redesign the "external form of the liturgy". "The substance of the liturgy is given by revelation and can not be changed by anyone," he added. The interview was published on Thursday as a video on the Internet; On Saturday written extracts appeared in social networks.

With regard to a study commission on deaconesses in the history of the Church set up by Pope Francis, Müller said that the pope did not refer to the three-level Catholic consecration of the deacon, priest and bishop. It was about women who had worked in the early church as assistants in the baptism of women or in charitable tasks.

The Cardinal concluded that a diaconal consecration is "impossible". "This will not happen," says Müller. Moreover, this is not necessary either. Today, women in the church are in higher positions of responsibility than the deaconesses of antiquity.

Unusually open criticism was exercised by the Cardinal on the alleged dismissal by the Pope of three members of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. The move had become known at the end of 2016 and was said to be against Müller's wishes. He said in the interview that this story was true. He wanted "a better treatment of our staff at the Holy See." One should not only talk about the social doctrine, but also respect it, according to the Cardinal.

Müller put the staff changes in the arena of the "old courtly etiquette," which Francis himself has criticized. Employees could only be dismissed if they made a mistake or did not fulfill the requirements of legal faith, integrity, and material competence. 

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

AMDG

Guido Pozzo: "Lefebvrians" Have to Sign Doctrinal Declaration

(Rome) In an interview with Rome Reports, Archbishop Guido Pozzo, the Secretary of the Pontifical Commission, Ecclesia Dei, spoke of the canonical recognition of the Priestly Society of St. Pius X. There is "no date for reconciliation with the Lefebvrians", but the spirit is "constructive," according to Rome reports, referring to the Archbishop.

Monsignor Pozzo said:

"The reconciliation will occur when Monsignor Fellay formally adheres to the doctrinal declaration that the Holy See presented to him. This is also the necessary condition to then proceed to the institutional regularization with the creation of a personal prelature. I have noticed that there is not a controversial spirit but constructive. The different points of view or opinions we have on some issues do not necessarily need to lead to division, but to a mutual enrichment. I have realized that it is a priority for them to overcome this fracture with the Holy See. For them, it's a priority over other concerns."

Prior to the establishment of the new Personal Prelature, the Vatican would consult the bishops' conferences of the countries in which the Society currently operates. Archbishop Pozzo stated that the "key to reconciliation" was a better understanding of the Second Vatican Council. The misinterpretations that some theologians, intellectuals, and media have promoted would have led to breaches like with the Lefebvrians.

The Archbishop also recalled the criticism of Pope Benedict XVI. at a "hermeneutics of rupture". It was a false interpretation to see the Council as symbolic of a break with the doctrine of the Church which preceded it. This misinterpretation produces a "climate of conflict, confusion and uncertainty" about the interpretation of the Council, which is also the "root of the criticism and difficulties raised by the Priestly Fraternity of St. Pius X," said Pozzo.

AMDG

Bishop of Frejus-Toulon Opens Churches to SSPX

(Paris) The bishop of Frejus-Toulon, Mgsr. Dominique Rey, issued a decree on May 4, 2017, which allows priests of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Pius X to hold funerals in all churches and chapels of the diocese.

The French bishop, who is known as a friend of the tradition, cited the letter of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei on the occasion for his decree. The Commission had announced last March 27 that Pope Francis officially acknowledged the blessings made by priests of the Society in addition to the Sacrament of Penance.

"Each priest who is a member of the FSSPX, has, from the date of the signing of this decree in the territory of our Diocese of Frejus-Toulon, the necessary authority to accept the marriage promise between the bride and groom who turn to a FSSPX priest for their marriage."

The canonical validity and recognition is valid when the marriage takes place in a church or chapel of the Society before a priest, and the episcopal office is informed in advance. A separate form for these notifications has been attached to the decree. The vows are recorded in the marriage register of the Society, the copy of which is sent annually to the diocese's office.

According to the decree, the funeral ceremony can be celebrated by a priest of the Society in every church or chapel of the diocese. The priest of the FSSPX has to arrange the day and time with the local pastor and inform the Chancellery. In this case, the marriage will be entered in the parish register of the parish in which it was witnessed.
Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: Diocese of Frejus-Toulon (screenshot)
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMDG

House Vaticanist Puts the Brake on Reconciliation with SSPX

(Rome) Andrea Tornielli, a regular visitor to the Domus Sanctæ Marthæ, where Pope Francis lives, put the brakes in an article by Vatican Insider on the report by another publication, close to Pope Francis, Il Faro di Roma, which had reported on Monday, 10 April, that Pope Francis would announce the recognition of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Pius X as a personal prelature on 13th May in Fatima. Was it only a Vatican test balloon to test the reactions?

This is quite conceivable, but there is still movement behind the scenes. The report by Faro was strengthened by a reference to the website of the Sacred Heart of Jesus' Seminary of the Society in Zaitzkofen. First, it was said:

"Perhaps the Society will be established as a personal prelate until June [June 2018] by Rome."

The sentence was later deleted from the report. Apparently, it had not been published with the consent of the administration, or the publication of such a hypothesis had at the time been regarded as inappropriate.

Tornielli's first-hand information

When the report of a possible announcement of the canonical recognition of the Society, in connection with the 100th anniversary of the first Marian apparition in Fatima, was taken over by numerous media, Andrea Tornielli had hit the brake on the evening of the 12th of April. Tornielli is considered to be a house and court vaticanista of the pope. The content of his report can not be exactly interpreted. The fact of his intervention, on the other hand, is probably due to the wish of Pope Francis.

Tornielli emphasized in his article that "Pope Francis took two important steps in favor of the traditionalist group by thinking in both cases of the faithful who follow the Society."

Tornielli continued:

"Some sources have spoken of a possible acceleration, and the announcement of an imminent action of the granting of a personal prelature during the trip, which the Pope will undertake to Fatima on the 12th and 13th of May, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the Marian apparitions, which have influenced the history of the 20th century."

But then the brakeman follows with some background information:

"However, the situation has not changed since a few months ago. The General Assembly of the Society, Bishop Bernard Fellay, has not yet signed the modified and simplified doctrinal statement, which contains a professio fidei, considered by the Congregation of the Faith and the Pontifical Commission, Ecclesia Dei, as a necessary step before the legal process, the full return of the [Priestly Society] St. Pius X to communion. "

Tornielli then provides basic indications of a Vatican roadmap:

"The pope and the Vatican dicasteries are in no hurry and do not want to push Fellay, knowing that he has to make the bill with differences of opinion within the Society. It is also foreseeable that the Holy See, before setting up the Personal Prelature, will adequately inform the affected bishops' conferences of those countries in which the Lefebvrians are present and effective.

"The time is not yet ripe"

Tornielli emphasizes that the "followers of the Society have a special veneration for the Mother of Fatima," and a pilgrimage of the Society to Fatima will take place on the occasion of the 100th Anniversary of the Virgin Mary's apparition.

"But the time, as important sources of Oltretevere [Vatican] inform, is not yet ripe."
A somewhat cryptic piece of information, which is not explained in more detail, why and on what page is "the time not yet ripe". Tornielli explains why in Fatima on 13th May there will be no announcement on the Society with the canonization of the seer children, Francisco and Jacinta Marto, and the centennial of the Marian apparitions, would be "pushed into the background."

The return of the Lefebvrians to the full communion," Tornielli said, "would be a message with a worldwide response since it would finally seal the end of the break-up in 1988." This rupture was already "partially restored," according to the papal house vativanista, in the decision of Pope Benedict XVI, "to abolish the excommunication of those who had received episcopal ordination."

Since 2012, when once - at that time still under Pope Benedict XVI. - after an imminent reconciliation, it is known that there are opposing positions in the Vatican and in the World Church, concerning a reconciliation with the Society. The different reports of media, which are close to the pope, seem to confirm a certain tug-of-war. The fact is that the voice of Andrea Tornielli is doubtless more important than that of Faro di Roma. Tornielli's report, with some concrete details on an intended procedure, confirms that he referred to his information, if not from the first hand, at least from the direct circle around the pope. The fact is that there are also parts in the Vatican, as already in 2012, who are working towards a recognition of the Society.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: MiL
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMDG

Swedish TV Documntary: SSPX Resistance is Hiding Sexual Predators

Edit: this is a documentary by SVT, Swedish TV. They make no bones about their hatred of the Catholic Church, but the claims made about two deviant priests are undoubtedly true. We figured we'd post this here, since you're likely to hear about it elsewhere sooner or later.

The first part of the documentary is a lacrymose revisiting of their sensational hit piece on Bishop Williamson which caused a firestorm of controversy as Pope Benedict XVI attempted to reconcile with the Society in 2009. These Swedish secularists don't hide their essential hostility to the Catholic Faith, especially as it's embodied by the Society.

Fortunately, the journalist, Ali Fegan, admits that the accused priests Father P. and Father M. were exiled to a monastery, which they subsequently left, (if they ever went)  to join Bishop Williamson's "Resistance" where they appear to have made a clean slate of their past sins and Father P., at least, who has admitted to his sins, is now doing parish work where he has access to young boys.

It's unfortunate that the SSPX took so long to finally get a handle on this problem with respect to these two priests. Don't they know that such monsters are irredeemable and should be condemned to prison?

We also have to ask: When are they going to do a story about the rampant sexual abuse in their own back yard with respect to their immigrant population? Or how Swedish elites engage in sex tourism? At least the Society dealt with their problem and sought help from the CDF.

The video can be accessed here:

https://www.svtplay.se/video/13177559/uppdrag-granskning/uppdrag-granskning-sasong-16-avsnitt-13-2?start=auto

AMDG

Vatican Official Confirms Agreement with SSPX

Edit: it's comical to see Lawler embrace ideas he's always been resistant to. Some day I'd love to see him kiss Bishop Fellay's ring.

March 20, 2017

[Catholic Culture] The secretary of the Ecclesia Dei commission has confirmed that the Vatican is close to an agreement with the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) that would regularize the status of the traditionalist group.

Archbishop Guido Pozzo told the German newspaper Die Tagespost that the Vatican will ask the SSPX to endorse a formal declaration, resolving some remaining doctrinal issues. However, confirming what SSPX leaders have said, the Archbishop Pozzo acknowledged that the SSPX would be allowed to continue raising questions about some teachings of Vatican II. Over the years, the archbishop observed, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has answered a number of questions about conciliar documents, and “I do not see why this work of clarification and answers to doubts and reservations... could not be carried forward.”

Archbishop Pozzo said that, in interpreting the documents of Vatican II, one clear principle would be continuity: that if an understanding of the Council’s message involves a break with the constant teaching of the Church, “this intepretation must be rejected as false or inadequate.”

The archbishop suggested that the cause of reconciliation for the SSPX should be confided to the care of Our Lady of Fatima, as the Church approaches the 100th anniversary of the apparitions.

http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=31058

AMDG

Society of Saint Pius X "On Their Way Home " - the Prelature Headquarters to be on Esquiline Hill?

(Rome) The agreement between the Holy See and the Priestly Fraternity of St. Pius X is final. The role of Pope Francis is decisive. This is reported by the Vaticanist Matteo Matzuzzi in today's edition of Il Foglio.

"The rift between the Priestly Society of St. Pius X (Lefebvrian) and the Holy See is immediately about to be repaired," says Matzuzzi. Evidence that the "complex negotiations" are moving towards a "positive solution" are the intentions of the Society to buy the Santa Maria Immacolata building complex on the Esquiline, one of the seven hills of Rome. The complex is located close to the Lateran. The large neo-gothic church was built for an order at the end of the 19th century. This included other buildings that were used as a school in recent years.

The study center is to be built near the Lateran

According to Il Foglio, there will be a study center of the Society and additionally the General House of Personal Prelature, as soon as the Society is recognized as such by the Holy See.

The approach by Pope Francis himself has accelerated. In January on the 17-20 Bernard Fellay, the Superior General of the Society, was quartered in Santa Marta in the Vatican. With him, Monsignor Alfonso de Galarreta and the Assistant General, Father Alain Nely, had come to Rome. At the talks, the Superior of the Sisters of the Society also took part. Father Nely is commissioned to complete the purchase at Esquiline.

The Society has had contacts, as Monsignor Fellay confirms, in Argentina with the then primate, Jorge Mario Bergoglio. "He has known us for a long time." If there were problems with a local bishop, one had turned to the primate. He said: "You are, of course, Catholic and not schismatic. I'll help you." He did.

That has to do with the laws of Argentina. The Latin country gives Catholic priests a residence permit only if there is an official confirmation from local church representatives that the priests are officially recognized. In this respect, in a single case (individual cases), there were interventions by Archbishop Bergoglio, who issued this confirmation for the Argentine state.

The fact that things had not already come to an agreement with Rome in 2012 led Matzuzzi to the resistance of the French part in the Society. Had it been up to the German District, the Society would already have "returned to communion with Rome".

"Fellay now seems ready to go to end the standoff, even at the cost of painful losses among his faithful and priests," says Matzuzzi.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image:
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMDG

Live Streaming From the Chapel of the Sacred Heart Seminary of the Priestly Society of St. Pius X

The Sacred Heart of Jesus Seminary of the Priestly Fraternity St. Pius X  now transmits Holy Mass and the daily Breviary Prayers as an MP3 stream to the Internet.

Between the prayer times, there will be  pre-recorded lectures. For a rough orientation when and what is downloaded, the pages help:  Mass times and life in the seminaryy of the seminary web page.

It would be helpful if a program of the channel were on the home page of the seminary.

The address of the MP3 tag is: http://horbau.no-ip.org:8000/rhj .

Picture: Private / Text: LS

The talks will be in German.

Link...

AMDG

Ecclesia Dei Confirms the Deal is Near

Edit: we don't make any bones about it, this is something we wanted to happen. It was opposed by all the right people, and should have happened shortly before Benedict resigned when the deal was mysteriously and arbitrarily altered. The Society is getting the deal it had initially hoped for, but some people will have to stick a finger in the wound to know this deal has come back from the dead, no doubt, and a few more will have to see it in action.

[Rorate] From Andrea Tornielli, who has been one of the unofficial spokesman for Pope Francis in his pontificate, in an article this morning for La Stampa:

"We are working at this moment in the completion of some aspects of the canonical frame, which will be the Personal Prelature." Archbishop Guido Pozzo, Secretary of the Ecclesia Dei commission, charged with dialogue with the Society of Saint Pius X, confirms [SSPX Superior-General Fellay's words] to Vatican Insider that the stage of full communion with the Lefebvrians is near. The accomplishment of the agreement is now in plain sight, even if some time is still needed.