What precisely has the Pope done?

This morning's bulletin from the Holy See's press office contains the news that the Pope has lifted the excommunications of four bishops of the Society of St Pius X. Now, I'm worried about how the media - and in particular the Irish media - are going to report this event. I fear that all too easily this will be used as a stick with which to beat the Pope and that most journalists lack the background to explain the precise significance of this event. So, I'm writing a brief post to explain what precisely the Pope has done and what the background to this event is.

Basically the Society of Pius X is a society of priests who are not in full communion with the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church as a whole. It was founded by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre because of his resistance - and the dissatisfaction of many clergy and laity - concerning the liturgical changes which came into effect after the Second Vatican Council and various elements of the Council's teaching - especially on the subject of religious liberty. It operated for some years outside the normal structures of the Catholic Church in what might be described as being, at best, a canonical grey area. In 1988, without papal permission, Archbishop Lefebrve ordained 4 men as bishops. This was a very serious crime under Canon Law, so he, an assisting bishop and the 4 men who were ordained bishops were excommunicated.
Archbishop Lefebrve has since died, as has the bishop who assisted him. The 4 men he ordained bishops (Bishop Fellay being their leader) were, until this morning, still excommunicated.

However, in recent years there has been an attempt to reconcile the SSPX to the Church. There have been behind the scenes discussions and communications. In order to facilitate this process of reconciliation, the Pope has lifted the sentence of excommunication placed on the 4 SSPX bishops. He has removed the punishment they incurred for allowing themselves to be ordained bishops without permission. This is an act of mercy and a gesture aimed at healing wounds and encouraging reconciliation.
However, that does not mean that all is well with these bishops and the clergy of the SSPX. Whilst no longer excommunicated, these bishops are still not proper Catholic bishops in union with Rome. They lack the necessary permission to act as bishops, and the priests who work under them do not have the necessary permissions to act as priests. The division between the SSPX and Rome has not been healed, and it is still a very serious matter for a Catholic to receive the sacraments from a member of the SSPX in all but emergency situations. SSPX clergy do not have the necessary permission from Rome or from local bishops to carry out their work anywhere in the world. The Pope lifting the excommunications does not mean that the separation between the SSPX and Rome has ended. However, it is a move which seems to promise a sincere effort on Rome's behalf to bring the SSPX back into the tent of the Church. The ball is now very much in the SSPX's court in terms of how they will respond to this gesture.

It should especially be noted that the lifting of the excommunication does not mean that the Pope agrees with anything or everything that the SSPX bishops might say. In a singularly infelicitous episode, one of the SSPX bishops seems to have denied the holocaust recently. Do not let anyone try and convince you that the Pope endorses these views. Sometimes it is necessary to extend mercy to people whom we do not approve of - in this case, for the sake of the souls of the SSPX clergy and the people who attend their chapels, the Pope has been very brave in persisting with this act of mercy even though it threatens to be a PR disaster.

What next? There are a whole host of things that need to be sorted out between the Roman Curia and the SSPX. Fortunately, other smaller communities with an attachment to the older form of the liturgy have been received back into the Church in recent times. Aside from the liturgical issue, the question of the interpretation of Vatican II and its teaching on religious liberty is something that will need to be agreed between Rome and the SSPX. I suspect that even if the proposed discussions are successful, not all of the clergy and faithful who are attached to the SSPX will be happy to reconcile with Rome. Some hold opinions which flatly contradict the teaching of the Church and they may not be willing to abandon these opinions. However, I think that we should all be praying that this process of reconciliation goes smoothly and that we will be able to welcome many back into full communion with the Holy Father. We should also pray that those hostile to the Church and those hostile to the Holy Father within the Church will not take advantage of an act of Papal mercy in order to further their own agendas.

As usual, American blogger Amy Welborn covers this issue very well.