Dear friends, couple of questions: (1) Where do you see Tradition in the next 10 to 20 or 30 years? How are we going to impact the Church and the world in a serious way? I mean, in terms of providing the Sacraments, keeping the Faith, increasing good vocations, conversions and evangelism of non-Catholics etc? Tradition will need many vocations to the Priesthood and Religious Life in particular. In France, as SSPX district superior Fr. Benoit mentioned recently, there is some good news for the Society, though much work remains. Father said, "More faithful and more children in our schools. It is a great expansion that was a pleasant surprise. 180 priests - the most we have ever had! (There were 100 of us 25 years ago) ... Twenty-five years ago, our priests could not have any contact with the bishops of the diocese in which they had chapels. Today, they are received upon request, like all other priests. And quite amiably. But the bishops still believe we are not “in full communion” and say so." - do you think this is a good path for the road ahead?

(2) What do you think is the ultimate solution to the crisis? Wouldn't it have to be getting a Traditional and Holy Pope in Rome at last? And if that Pope will have to come from Cardinals and Bishops, isn't there really no alternative but for the Society to continue to have to work with and try to evangelize Cardinals, Bishops and others in doctrinal discussions with mainstream Church authorities? And in this light, isn't it important for Tradition to remain united, the Faithful behind our Priests, the Priests behind our Bishops, and our Bishops representing us in Rome? Fr. Benoit mentions a possible role the Society can play in the decades ahead, "I see it taking the role of a bow-spur (lead ship in a fleet) in the conquest for Christ the King, that is to say, the Kingdom of Grace. The Society is a sort of flagship with small parallel ships that once in a while would like to outflank it on the right or the left. But the Society holds its position as a bow-spur, and the Ecclesia Dei communities and even the French bishops are aware of this, even though they do not say so. I know of some who remain attentive and even have a certain amount of good will. I have met with some and am going to meet with more. They receive us amiably, and some of them are not uninterested by the fact that, in certain conditions, we can present a solution to fill the diocese’s churches for example. The mayors who are responsible for these churches do not always want to keep up empty buildings. But the bishops do not necessarily wish to decommission them. We can be a solution. Some are considering this, and for us, this opens up future prospects."

Not sure if this conference from Oct 2016 has been posted here before, but imho His Excellency Bp. Fellay gives a good and plausible path for Tradition to work for restoration in the Church in the upcoming decades. Thoughts? http://fsspx.asia/en/content/23944 Just posting the excerpts of the last few sections below.

All of a sudden their attitude has changed. I think that they are forced—this is a kind of conclusion from what Abp. Pozzo told me—they are forced by the catastrophic situation, the absolutely universal confusion, even in Rome. They are forced to make concessions. They can no longer hold their positions; there is no purpose to it any more. It makes me think about the words of Cardinal Müller in 2014. He told us: “You are obliging the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to devote precious time to you, when there are enormous problems in the Church.” That is interesting, but that is precisely what we are showing them! All of a sudden they are admitting that there are enormous problems.
And they tell each other: This Society is not such a huge problem. But they are annoyed because we tell them: “You are the problem.” They no longer know how to take us, and they make concessions. Where will it all lead? We will soon see. But I think that presently the situation is so catastrophic that it is causing an extremely interesting reaction. On several levels. On the level of the dialogue, all the bishops sent by Rome with whom we have had doctrinal discussions for the past two years told us that the points under discussion—always the same ones—are “open questions”. They all said this, the cardinals included. “Open questions”, meaning that you can debate them.
Therefore they are no longer obligatory. And these discussions are bearing fruit. We do not see them yet, because it is at the level of theological reflection. And that takes a lot of time, certainly. There is some stammering that goes in the direction that I have pointed out. Some passages written by Abp. Pozzo can be interpreted as though he wanted to use these discussions to try to correct the aim in the Church. But he does not dare to say it too loud, precisely because there is a majority that is walking in the other direction.
Unexpected support
Moreover, with what the pope is doing, there have been protests by cardinals on moral questions, on the question of marriage, on the question of communion for divorced-and-remarried persons. A certain number of them have clearly and openly said that they refuse, declaring: “No, that will not be done.” Then there are the African bishops, who have clearly said that there is no question of giving communion to divorced-and-remarried persons. This is a reaction that is saying no to the supreme authority. Which we have been doing for fifty years.
This is becoming extremely interesting. We are no longer the only ones. Then some people say: “Careful! Careful! If you make an agreement, afterwards they will silence you.” But that is passé! That’s over! There are others who are talking. We are no longer the only ones. We no longer have a monopoly on protests. They are not very numerous, but this number is increasing. And then, from time to time, I receive letters. Like this one: I will read it to you in English because it is an image:
“Stick to your guns. Always stick to your guns.” This means: Keep your hands on your revolvers. Hold them firmly. In other words: “Defend yourselves. Always. And refuse to compromise in these matters that do not really pertain to the substance of the faith: religious liberty, ecuмenism, dialogue with non-Christian religions. There are many of us in the hierarchy who think and believe in what you are doing about these questions.” It is a bishop who wrote that to me. He does not write “I”, he writes that there are many of “us”. He wrote other things too that I dare not read to you, they are so laudatory, but here is the gist: “We need voices that tell us the limits of our freedom in those areas.” He says that the Church, which teaches the truth, is now lost in the gray areas, in vagueness. “Come to our aid.” And also: “Do not let go of anything, continue like this, we need it!” This is new! There was nothing like this before! The bishops used to tell us: obviously there are problems, but at the end of the day.... And here they are telling us: “Resist, we need it!” Actually they do not speak too loud because they know very well that if they do, they will be cutting off their own heads.
But they are working silently, they are working to reestablish the old Mass, like one archbishop who told me: “I have a generation of priests that is lost. You can’t do anything with them. What do I do, then? I take care of the young ones.” And he gave me two criteria: priestly formation in theology it is the Summa of Saint Thomas, and in spirituality, in liturgy, it is the old Mass. I am not telling you their names because we do not want to burn out these prelates, but there are several of them.
I discover some, just like that, by surprise, and there are a certain number of them! And these are young bishops! And some of them were appointed by Pope Francis! He is not just appointing bad ones! He is all mixed up, like his whole attitude, which has also increased the general confusion. But it is extremely interesting to see that there is this movement, and I am certain that it will no longer stop. Why? Because these bishops see where the truth is, and they will not give in. They are annoyed, they are cornered, because they are in the system, but they will no longer give in. Just like these priests who have discovered the old Mass, they will do all that they can, they are annoyed, cornered, but they will keep it. These are skirmishes that have been won.
Continue the fight with supernatural means
There are still major battles ahead of us. But in the midst of a disaster that is truly desperate, enough to make you lose your faith, we must not despair! This Church is God’s Church; she has been transformed into an incredible, unprecedented battlefield, but we see—and this is exactly our story, the story of the forty years of our Society—we see how much the good Lord is with us. How much He supports us, how much He blesses us, through all the miseries and misfortunes that we may experience, that others may subject us to. Despite everything the good Lord is there: above these human miseries there is this faith and this work of faith that is growing.
Despite everything we are making our way discreetly, gently, in our everyday work. And I invite you to continue. Obviously these are extremely serious situations. And you too have the obligation to hold fast to the docuмents that are sound and holy [sains et saints]. All these Encyclicals of the popes until the Council. This is nourishment that protects you against the insane things that are poured out everywhere today. It is incredible, the stupid things that people can say. And on all sides. Humanly speaking, one may wonder how to escape this situation. But it is not a question of a human battle! And our means are supernatural means!
And really, if the Society continues, it is because it is founded on these supernatural means and, above all, as you well know, on the Mass and also on the Blessed Virgin. These two elements are, so to speak, the treasures that Abp. Lefebvre gave us. The Mass, the priesthood, with all the influence of Our Lord, what we call His social Kingship, and then the Blessed Virgin. And quite simply, if we continue that way, we are right. We must not worry, the good Lord is here. And He shows it every day.
Therefore it is necessary to continue. Do not become preoccupied all the time with these questions: “Will there be an agreement or not?” I myself know nothing about it. We will see! We will not give in, that I know, with the grace of God. May He come to our aid! But little by little we see that work that is being accomplished over time, this crisis is awakening the little remnant. Let us pray for this intention. And to conclude, a big thank-you to Abp. Lefebvre! We have to be very grateful to him and not forget him. And thanks also to all who support this work, to you, too, dear faithful.

... Twenty-five years ago, our priests could not have any contact with the bishops of the diocese in which they had chapels. Today, they are received upon request, like all other priests. And quite amiably. But the bishops still believe we are not “in full communion” and say so." - do you think this is a good path for the road ahead?

Why is it so important to you that SSPX priests should be liked and accepted by diocesan bishops?

Of course we have to stand for Tradition, Mr. G, and the SSPX continues to do that. Fr. Pagliarani recently asked Rome for renewed doctrinal discussions, which have done much good already: "“Therefore, everything impels the Society to resume theological discussions with the awareness that the Good Lord does not necessarily ask the Society to convince its interlocutors [i.e. that is up to God's Grace, but the SSPX is doing its part], but rather to bear unconditional witness to the Faith in the sight of the Church.” https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/doctrine-remains-problem-in-relations-sspx-affirms-after-vatican-meeting-32527

Meg, Archbishop Lefebvre asked, "Is an angel from Heaven going to bring us a Pope? This is absurd!" There is no alternative to working for the Church and speaking to Cardinals and Bishops. Archbishop Lefebvre did the same many times. Yes, the SSPX will try to bring them over to Tradition gradually - and many of the Bishops that Bp. Fellay spoke of in the OP link are coming closer to Tradition - but also that may not happen overnight in every case. Please tell me, Meg, otherwise, how you hope to get a Traditional Pope someday?

"I go to Rome five or six times a year to plead with the cardinals, the Pope himself, to return to Tradition and to give back to the Church her Catholic spirit. I quote again from St. Pius X: "Who are the friends of the people? The true friends of the people are neither the revolutionaries nor the innovators but rather the traditionalists." Those are the words of St. Pius X to the French bishops. The true friends of the people are neither revolutionaries nor the innovators - and it was precisely the innovators who condemned St. Pius X - but rather the traditionalists. We want to be in the same spirit of St. Pius X whom for this reason I have chosen as patron of our Society, which is recognized by the Church. My Society, in fact, was officially recognized ten years ago by Rome and by the Bishop of Fribourg in Switzerland in which diocese it was founded." http://www.sspxasia.com/Docuмents/Archbishop-Lefebvre/Apologia/Vol_three/Chapter_21.htm

"In any case, there was not a single year that did not see the Archbishop coming to Rome at least once, but usually, often.
Besides his meetings at the Holy Office (whenever they were granted him), Archbishop Lefebvre never hesitated, especially in delicate moments, to consult Roman personalities, such as Cardinals Palazzini and Oddi, but also the Salesian Don Dario Composta, the Conventual Padre Coccia, and others whose names we must withhold by discretion. In the first years of John Paul II’s pontificate, many meetings took place in the Holy Office, under the aegis of Cardinal Seper." https://www.sspxasia.com/Newsletters/2005/Jul-Dec/Archbishop_Lefebvre_and_Rome.htm

A Traditional Pope can come only from Cardinals and Bishops, unless the Pope himself converts; but Cardinals and Bishops can be converted to Tradition only if the SSPX continues to have relations with them, which therefore is necessary. Where do you disagree?

Also, SSPX Bishops have a right to have ordinary jurisdiction. Yet, by the nature of the Papacy, only the Pope can grant that. "As a result of the Pope’s act, during the Holy Year, we will have ordinary jurisdiction." https://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2015/11/interview-sspx-superior-general-bp.html And now, that has been granted indefinitely. Why is that a bad thing, again? Yes, I agree with Mr. G sometimes it would be nice to see Bishops and Priests of the Society speak out more forcefully against some of the nonsense coming from Rome. But it's still possible at the same time to continue working for restoration in the Church with full canonical status. 

XS: Of course we have to stand for Tradition, Mr. G, and the SSPX continues to do that. Fr. Pagliarani recently asked Rome for renewed doctrinal discussions, which have done much good already:

The previous doctrinal discussions, ending in 2011, produced absolutely nothing. How can you possibly think that they have done much good already? What good? Examples please.

Meg sums it up pretty well:

+ABL said repeatedly that Rome is occupied by a Modernist sect. And yet you want to be liked by Modernists, as if being liked and accepted by them somehow makes you more Catholic.

Actually, ABL used stronger language, if I remember correctly. “Modernists” sounds almost tame. ABL referred to them as “anti-Christs”and “apostates”
‘
And, XM, what about Bishhop Williamson? +Fellay and his people kicked the good bishop out of the Society for allegeded disobedience, I guess. Don’t you think, maybe, they ought to mend the fences with +W and his traditionalist priests and bishops before singing ballads of love to Francis and various Vatican prelates, who toss to them an occasional rose from the balconies of the various Roman dicasteries?

Of course we have to stand for Tradition, Mr. G, and the SSPX continues to do that. Fr. Pagliarani recently asked Rome for renewed doctrinal discussions, which have done much good ( 1)already: "“Therefore, everything impels the Society to resume theological discussions with the awareness that the Good Lord does not necessarily ask the Society to convince its interlocutors [i.e. that is up to God's Grace, but the SSPX is doing its part], but rather to bear unconditional witness to the Faith in the sight of the Church.” (2)https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/doctrine-remains-problem-in-relations-sspx-affirms-after-vatican-meeting-32527

Meg, Archbishop Lefebvre asked, "Is an angel from Heaven going to bring us a Pope? This is absurd!" There is no alternative to working for the Church and speaking to Cardinals and Bishops. Archbishop Lefebvre did the same many times. Yes, the SSPX will try to bring them over to Tradition gradually - and many of the Bishops that Bp. Fellay spoke of in the OP link are coming closer to Tradition - but also that may not happen overnight in every case. Please tell me, Meg, otherwise, how you hope to get a Traditional Pope someday?

"I go to Rome five or six times a year to plead with the cardinals, the Pope himself, to return to Tradition and to give back to the Church her Catholic spirit. I quote again from St. Pius X: "Who are the friends of the people? The true friends of the people are neither the revolutionaries nor the innovators but rather the traditionalists." Those are the words of St. Pius X to the French bishops. The true friends of the people are neither revolutionaries nor the innovators - and it was precisely the innovators who condemned St. Pius X - but rather the traditionalists. We want to be in the same spirit of St. Pius X whom for this reason I have chosen as patron of our Society, which is recognized by the Church. My Society, in fact, was officially recognized ten years ago by Rome and by the Bishop of Fribourg in Switzerland in which diocese it was founded." http://www.sspxasia.com/Docuмents/Archbishop-Lefebvre/Apologia/Vol_three/Chapter_21.htm

"In any case, there was not a single year that did not see the Archbishop coming to Rome at least once, but usually, often.
Besides his meetings at the Holy Office (whenever they were granted him), Archbishop Lefebvre never hesitated, especially in delicate moments, to consult Roman personalities, such as Cardinals Palazzini and Oddi, but also the Salesian Don Dario Composta, the Conventual Padre Coccia, and others whose names we must withhold by discretion. In the first years of John Paul II’s pontificate, many meetings took place in the Holy Office, under the aegis of Cardinal Seper." https://www.sspxasia.com/Newsletters/2005/Jul-Dec/Archbishop_Lefebvre_and_Rome.htm

A Traditional Pope can come only from Cardinals and Bishops, unless the Pope himself converts; but Cardinals and Bishops can be converted to Tradition only if the SSPX continues to have relations with them, which therefore is necessary. Where do you disagree?

Also, SSPX Bishops have a right to have ordinary jurisdiction. Yet, by the nature of the Papacy, only the Pope can grant that. "As a result of the Pope’s act, during the Holy Year, we will have ordinary jurisdiction." https://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2015/11/interview-sspx-superior-general-bp.html And now, that has been granted indefinitely. Why is that a bad thing, again? Yes, I agree with Mr. G sometimes it would be nice to see Bishops and Priests of the Society speak out more forcefully against some of the nonsense coming from Rome. But it's still possible at the same time to continue working for restoration in the Church with full canonical status. (3)

Thanks for your reply, if I have some more time I will respond to some of the other points you bring up.
1. I am not aware of any results coming from the recent doctrinal discussions, do you have any resources for that statement? I would suggest that the SSPX make the discussions public and release the previous discussions. Let us see what each side actually has to say. And while we are at it, release the GREC discussions. 
2. Yes (partly true), if that is what you (Fr. Paglirani) are doing, let us see the discussions. Stating Truth is fine and should be done, but at the same time, the SSPX needs to make the condemnations of the heresies and ɧoɱosɛҳųαƖ infiltration clear. Truth and error can not co-exist in the Catholic Church. As Bishop Fellay once said back in the day, we will not want to be in the liturgical zoo which is what will happen in the Prelature. Actually it will not be a zoo but a wild-animal park, the animals are not caged but they can only go so far, and the zoo keepers still have all the control but the visitors to the park are given the appearance that the animals are free.
3. The SSPX has full Canonical Status but they need to insist on the Vatican hierarchy to admit that the SSPX always had the regular status but that it was unjustly taken away. The SSPX was wrong to accept the marriage agreement and should have said "thanks for the effort, but we demand that you admit all previous marriages are valid before we cooperate, not just those going forward". [there are other problems with the marriage agreement that I will have to mention later]. Also, it was wrong for the SSPX to ask the lifting of the 4 bishops excommunication when they know full well that there were 6 bishops! Has anyone heard of when the SSPX plans on asking for the nullification of Archbishop Lefebvre and De Castro Meyer? Nope, me either. (I wrote to Bishop Fellay and he could not answer!) Also, the SSPX must not accept any agreement no matter how good it may appear, especially if the agreement does not specifically say, at the minimum, that ALL Catholics has the right to the Traditional Mass and Sacraments (not just those in the Prelature). And it must be followed by action, not just words like the Moto Propio.

Meg:

The Neo-SSPX care much more for the Modernists in Rome and elsewhere than they do for those who are loyal to +ABL, who have been kicked out of the SSPX.

 
Yes. And I’m afraid the same charge can be leveled at some sspx members who post on CI. They seem to have little sympathy for those who have been kicked out of sspx, including, alas, Bishop Williamson himself.

Yes. And I’m afraid the same charge can be leveled at some sspx members who post on CI. They seem to have little sympathy for those who have been kicked out of sspx, including, alas, Bishop Williamson himself.

This is a huge issue.

Some like John McFarland insist that the SSPX hasn't changed, +Fellay did nothing wrong, etc.

But a gaping hole in their assertion: what about all the GOOD PRIESTS AND BISHOPS who are no longer with the SSPX? That is a huge part of the reason I support the Resistance. Someone needs to support these most faithful priests and bishops.
You can't tell me all those priests/bishops are misbehaved, disobedient, bad Catholics, etc. Sorry. I don't buy it. It might pass muster on CNN for good propaganda or Fake News, but it's just not highly likely!

It's easy to throw stones at +Williamson as being rebellious, disobedient, etc. because it's easy for most people to believe that: after all, he has a strong personality and isn't known for compromising. However, when you scratch the surface, you see that he actually had a long line of OBEDIENCE to Bishop Fellay, plus a huge record of perfect obedience in the SSPX for decades. Why would he change his basic personality in his 70's?

Generally old people don't change much. Just saying.

Very true.

Anyone with an average IQ and rudimentary reading comprehension can see that +W hasn't changed at all. Like +ABL, it's those around him who changed. What was formerly dogma or truth has become unacceptable.