ARTICLES

Continental Rift

Will the Pope Close the Deal on an SSPX Reunion?

By Joe Marti

For traditional-minded Catholics who prefer and attend Mass as it was celebrated before the Novus Ordo arrived at the end of the sixties, the Vatican signaled in March that some loosening of the restrictions that limit its use may come in the future. While many Catholics who attend Latin Masses do so under the aegis of Pope John Paul II's Ecclesia Dei Commission, some adhere to the Society of Saint Pius X, a group singled out by the pope and some bishops as a schismatic movement. Since 1988, Rome and the society have been in a stalemate over who more rightly holds the reins of tradition and authenticity, and as the end of Pope John Paul II's pontificate draws nearer, it is becoming clear that he is interested in healing the rift caused in the first days of his pontificate over the society. Evidence for this lies in recent actions, including appointing Josef Cardinal Ratzinger and Dario Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos as leaders of the Ecclesia Dei Commission, an organization whose purpose is to conduct relations between the Holy See and traditional Catholics who prefer the "Tridentine" or "Latin" Mass. Society priest, Father Daniel Cooper leads the Saint Aloysius Gonzaga Retreat Center in Los Gatos. He says he enjoys "about 250 parishioners on Sunday." He also travels to Carson City and Bakersfield, and goes as far as Alaska once a month. Saint Michael's Church near Sacramento also draws Pius X members to its Mass.

According to Bill Jasper, the church he attends -- St. Michael's in Carmichael -- has two Masses on Sunday and more than 300 people attend. He said, "I think most people are pleased that there is some motion from Rome. Judging from what has been going on, there have been disingenuous actions from Vatican officials for the last several decades."

The softening of relations are also due in part to the showing the society members displayed during the Jubilee 2000 celebration in Rome last year. An estimated 5000 people stood with them, making them the largest single group attending the event, and their conduct while there impressed many of the cardinals, including Cardinal Ratzinger. Their pilgrimage to is now seen as the act that opened the line of communication between the two factions.

Things have not always run so smoothly. The Society of Saint Pius X started in the good graces of the Church, being officially recognized by the Bishop of Lausanne, Geneva, and Fribourg, Bishop François Charrière on November 1, 1970. On June 10, 1971, Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre announced the refusal to adopt the Novus Ordo Missæ, which had been promulgated the year before. Several years later, on June 30, 1988, Archbishop Lefebvre, with the assistance of Bishop De Castro-Mayer of Brazil, consecrated four bishops, against the expressed wishes of the Pope. In his statement of July 2, 1988, Pope John Paul II stated that the excommunication that had taken place on June 30 was that "envisaged by Canon Law." Currently there are 46 priests serving the Society in the United States; they maintain 26 schools and have 60 seminarians in their houses of formation.

Society members deny that they are in schism or excommunicated, seeing as they do that the consecration of the bishops was done "of necessity" and therefore was neither a schismatic nor excommunicable act. On the other hand, Rome has purposely remained somewhat vague on the subject of excommunication, so as to leave the door open for the return of its "wayward" flock. As of this point, the pope has not placed the mark of excommunication on anyone personally involved with the Society with the exception of Archbishop Lefebvre. However, even that claim is questioned by members of the society.

For now, the situation is heating up almost daily as Catholics on both sides of the issue are becoming optimistic that the rift will be healed very soon. On March 28, it was reported by the Milan newspaper Il Foglio that "the Pope and cardinals spoke about the possibility of rescinding the 1988 excommunication of the Lefebvrist movement." This is one of the conditions that the Society has demanded if they are to return in full communion, and the society would score a major coup to have the excommunication lifted. To some members of the society, it would validate their claim that they never left the Church to begin with. According to Father Cooper the excommunications ought to be lifted, "even though we don't accept them as valid."

Despite the enthusiasm over the possible 'return' of the society, some adherents to the Latin Mass are taking a more cautious approach and are hesitant to believe that everyone's wants and needs will be satisfied soon. Among them is Damien Van der Putten, a 24-year-old carpenter from San Jose. When asked to gauge his feelings on the reunification, he replied, "I don't think it will happen with this pope. He knows the third secret [of Fatima] that says the Church will lose its faith, and he still pushes [ecumenism] full force. Still, I do hope, because I look for beautiful things. But it won't happen because we get what we deserve." In addition, Bishop Bernard Fellary of the Society was recently quoted as saying, "I might hope a solution could be found in a year, but no doubt it might take twenty years."

Bill Jasper added, "Most of the faithful are going to hope that no agreements are cut unless there are some hard and fast concessions made by Rome to ensure that some anti traditionalists will not subvert the faith. I think most people in the society hope that the negotiations are conducted in good faith, but they are very wary of them."

Another voice echoing concern is that of Father John Rizzo of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter, an order devoted to the traditional Latin Rite Mass under the pope's commission. He was initially ordained a society priest by Archbishop Lefebvre in 1985 and left to join the fraternity in 1991. Until last year, he celebrated Mass at Immaculate Conception in Sacramento. Commenting from Melbourne, Australia, Father Rizzo pointed to some logistical problems facing a reconciliation. He said, "I fear that SSPX will get across some sort of "triumphalism" and say to their people, 'See, we were right all along, Rome has come to us.'"

One of the main obstacles that adherents to the Latin Mass face, namely uncooperative bishops, may be circumvented by granting the society a 'personal prelature', which means that the society would answer only to the Holy Father. Personal prelature has also been granted in the past to such groups as Opus Dei.

Nevertheless, Father Cooper remains unsure about the future or the possibility of a personal prelature, saying the "talks have been stalled because Rome won't agree to our first request." The first request, according to him, is that the traditional Mass be freed up throughout the world without restriction, so that any priest may say it at any time in any place. In short, something resembling a personal prelature. Father Cooper said, "The Society of Saint Pius X will not be put under the authority of the local bishop and be shut out."

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