Doctrinal dialog to start
soon with Lefebvrians
VATICAN CITY, Sept. 14 (Translated from ASCA) - The Vatican team which will carry on a doctrinal dialog with the Lefebvrians is ready for the discussions expected to begin shortly.
Heading the team is Mons. Guido Pozzo, named by Pope Benedict XVI last summer to be Secretary-General of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei (PCED), now attached to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
The PCED was established by John Paul II in 1988 to be the Vatican liaison with traditionalist groups including the Lefebvrians' FSSPX, and handled all the preliminary negotiations that led to Pope Benedict's revoking the ecommunication of their bishops.
With the principal effort of reconciliation now focused on clarifying doctrinal aspects of Vatican-II that the Lefebvrians question, the Pope placed the PCED under the CDF umbrella. It also coincided with the retirement of Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos, who led the PCED fromm the beginning but who turned 80 earlier this year.
The other theologians on the Vatican team are the Swiss Dominican Charles Morerod, who is the new secretary of the International Theological Commission (also under the CDF); German Jesuit Karl Josef Becker who taught theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University; and the Vicar-General of Opus Dei, Fernando Ocariz Brana. All three priests are also consultants of the CDF.
Heading the FSSPX team is Spanish Mons. Alfonso de Galarreta, one of the four bishops whose excommunication was lifted.
ASCA goes on to report briefly about statements made last week by the Archbishop of Vienna, Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn, who laid down a hard line to the FSSPX. [Schoenborn is a member of the CDF but not of Ecclesia Dei].
Schoenborn told a German newspaper that the talks with the FSSPX would start 'in a few days' and that FSSPX would be 'told clearly' that there are certain elements of Vatican-II that are non-negotiable, namely, relations with the Jews, ecumenism, inter-religious dialog, and religious freedom.
He said the only reason for the Pope's efforts to try and bring back the FSPPX to full communion with Rome was "his desire to achieve unity in the Church".
[DUH!!!]
[Isn't it ironic how the Archbishop of Vienna is so prompt to take a hard line against the Lefebvrians but does everything he can to pander to his ultra-liberal constituency and fellow bishops in Austria, not to mention priests who flaunt having mistresses and children? Perhaps he will be more convincing if he can show that he can lay down the orthodox line with his own people, rather than lecturing the Lefebvrians.
Also, he thinks of the coming talks in terms of 'negotiation', when Mons. Fellay of the FSSPX has made it very clear that the Lefebvrians are not looking for any compromises, only for clarity.
I think the Lefebvrians deserve, at the very least,the same respect that Schoenborn shows the Austrian youth groups whom he continues to encourage in their circus Masses, and the modern artists whose blasphemous works he is willing to host in his own Cathedral's museum!
I certainly pray the Pope is not blind to this situation just because Schoenborn has been one of his 'favorites'. How can he then lay down the law with other bishops if he allows Schoenborn to get away with these questionable practices?
In any case, let us ask the Holy Spirit to shine his light on these upcoming discussions and the men who will carry them on. I hope they do it without publicity - from either side - until they have something definite to report.]
P.S.
If Le Figaro is to be trusted, Cardinal Schoenborn may not be all that wired into what's happening at the Vatican, at least in relation to the dialog with the FSSPX:
Talks won't start
till mid-October
by Jean-Marie Guénois
Translated from
Sept. 14, 2009
The discussions between Rome and the FSSPX will not start 'before mid-October', suthoritative sources indicated in both Rome and Econe (FSSPX headquarters in Switzerland).
It won't be 'in a few days', as the Archbishop of Vienna, Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn, made known this weekend.
The composition of the two delegations to the dialog commission - a project of Benedict XVI in an effort to bring back the traditionalist gorup into full communion with the Church of ROme - has not been officially announced.
In any case, the discussions, which will focus on the interpretation of certain Vatican-II documents, will be strictly confidential.
They constitute a crucial step in the reconciliation sought by the Pope who, last January, lifted the excommunication of the four FSSPX bishops who were consecrated in 1988 by the late Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, founder of the FSSPX.
[One of the four bishops, Richard Williamson, has been 'inactivated' by the FSSPX because of negationist statements he made about teh Holocaust.]
9/15/2009
P.S.
Now, the word comes directly from Fr. Lombardi:
Fr. Lombardi confirms
talks to begin after Oct. 15
Translated from
the Italian service of
Setp. 15 (RV) - The doctrinal discussions between the Vatican and the FSSPX will get under way in the second half of October, Fr. Federico Lombardi confirmed today.
Responding to newsmen's questions, the Vatican Press Director also confirmed the names of the theologians who will represent the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in the discussions: Charles Morerod, Swiss Dominican; Karl Josef Becker, German Jesit; and Fernando Ocariz Brana, Spanish vicar-general of Opus Dei.
[The report then refers to statements about the talks made by Cardinal Schoenborn to a German newspaper, without mentioning that he said the talks would start 'in a few days'.
The Archbishop of Vienna was clearly wrong about the date, on top of having spoken out of turn. It is not his place to speak about this sensitive issue, even if, and especially not if, he had a direct involvement in the talks, which he clearly does not. I cannot imagine the Holy Father authorizing him to say anything hostile as he did, on the very eve of the talks which took Benedict XVI four years to pave the way!
Considering his appalling record as a pastor in the past 2-3 years, it's hard to believe now that this is a man who was (probably still is, by his supporters) widely considered papabile!
When was the last time you remember reading something positive about him? Sure, he organized the papal visit to Austria very well (except for those egg-splatter robes he approved for the Mariaell Mass!), but after the Pope left, things turned even worse for the Church in Austria.
And everytime he's been in the news lately, it is for some outrage of omission or commission, of which those interested may find a whole file with pictures on the Catholic Conservation blog.
Again, I ask: Is the Pope aware of all this? Has anyone called his attention to it?
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 13/02/2010 16:29]