". . . Alas, Bishop Fellay has such a track-record for adapting his words to his audience that quotes like these by no means disprove his intention to sell out the Archbishop’s Society. His astonishing ability to move the mental furniture around in his mind deserves an “Eleison Comments” all on its own, . . ."
--Bishop Williamson
Indeed, truer words have never been spoken!
What came to mind immediately was Fr. Daniel Themann's rather pitiful/laughable "defense" of Part III, Paragraph 7 of Bishop Fellay's April 15, 2012 doctrinal declaration that reads:
"We declare that we recognize the validity of the sacrifice of the Mass and the Sacraments celebrated with the intention to do what the Church does according to the rites indicated in the typical editions of the Roman Missal and the Sacramentary Rituals legitimately promulgated by Popes Paul VI and John Paul II." (Source: The Recusant; my emphasis added)
Any reasonable person would take the statement for what it plainly says: that the SSPX recognizes the legitimacy of the New Mass.
AND that the SSPX recognizes that the Newmass was promulgated ----
but it wasn't. The Newmass was never promulgated nor could it have been,
and the promoters knew that, but they lied and ACTED as IF it had been
promulgated, with the question of legitimacy a foregone conclusion, even
while it was an ERRONEOUS conclusion.
Well, not according to Fr. Themann, apparently. He counters . . .
"The accusation is that the SSPX has accepted that the New Mass is a 'legitimate form of Mass.' But in the context in which this docuмent was issued (i.e., the constant insistence that we will never accept the New Mass and the goal of correcting the misconception that we do not really recognize the authority of popes since Vatican II), this statement merely means that the Society recognizes that Paul VI and John Paul II had the right to promulgate liturgical rites. Hence, it is not a judgment on the Novus Ordo itself." (Source: Regina Coeli Report, The SSPX Falsely Accused: Resistance to What?, p. 8, "Critique #3"; my emphasis added)
"Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive."Really?
Why, I don't even know where to begin!!!
So, if I'm reading this right, the following statements have a dynamic equivalence if understood under the "proper context"?
"We declare that we recognize the validity of the sacrifice of the Mass and the Sacraments . . . according to the rites indicated in the typical editions of the Roman Missal and the Sacramentary Rituals legitimately promulgated by Popes Paul VI and John Paul II."
. . . equals . . .
" . . . the Society recognizes that Paul VI and John Paul II had the right to promulgate liturgical rites. Hence, it is not a judgment on the Novus Ordo itself"
Aaaaah! The false distinction sneaks right in under the radar!
Yes, the popes have the right to promulgate LEGITIMATE liturgical rites,
that is, those that have GROWN ORGANICALLY out of the RECEIVED AND
APPROVED rites of Apostolic Tradition --- but they do NOT have ANY right
to promulgate liturgical rites (like the NovusOrdo is) that have been
entirely MADE UP by a bunch of heretics, apostates and even pagans,
without regard to what has been received and approved by traditional
praxis and observation, from what has been handed down to us from our
forebearers in the Faith.
This is a clear, disturbing example of the serial "mental gymnastics" that Bishop Fellay and his frantic puppets engage in at an institutional level to somehow "explain away" their clear betrayal of Archbishop Lefebvre, the Society, the faithful, . . . but above all God!
The wise words of Bishop Williamson above speak to this sad, disgusting practice.
Why not just come out and say it right in the first place . . . that the SSPX was merely trying to recognize that Popes Paul VI and John Paul II had the right to promulgate liturgical rites?
In parentheses, Fr. Themann states that it's because:
1. We don't want to be branded as folks who "will never accept the New Mass"; and because . . .
2. We want to correct the "misconception" that we don't "really recognize the authority of the popes since Vatican II."
My response:
1. So we are planning on accepting the New Mass at some point down the line?
Good!
2. Modernist/Masonic Rome already knows precisely what we believe in. But, they nevertheless hurl the false accusations at us to put us on the defensive so that gullible fools just might fall for this age-old rhetorical trick, soften up their position, and finally fall into its palms begging for forgiveness! It's all rather simple: the perpetrator (Rome) hurls accusations at the victim (SSPX), the victim eventually buys into the repeated attacks and returns to the perpetrator begging for forgiveness. This dynamic is as sick as it is true with where Menzingen is taking the SSPX!
Okay, but you're missing the point of #2, and it's weakness. Catholics
recognize the authority of the popes since Vat.II (at least the non-sedes
do) --- BUT, we should not erroneously allow them authority to do that
for which they have no legitimate authority to do -- namely, to promulgate
illegitimate liturgical rites, OR, to even so much as (like Paul VI did)
act AS IF they are promulgating an illegitimate liturgical rite.
We're stuck on whether the so-called promulgation was legitimate or not,
and then whether the Newmass is licit or not -- BOTH OF WHICH ARE A
WASTE OF TIME, MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING!
The REAL issue is that the Newmass is an ILLEGITIMATE LITURGICAL RITE
in the first place, REGARDLESS OF HOW it's promoted.
AND, as such, it is
no more the STUFF of legitimate promulgation than a WOMAN is the stuff
of a legitimate ordination!!
That is to say, the NovusOrdo liturgy is NOT VALID
MATTER for papal promulgation of a liturgical rite!!!! By the way, I can see Fr. Themann and his puppet masters care more about image and "diplomacy" RATHER THAN THE TRUTH!!!
My friends, this crisis is deep indeed.
The crisis is deep, but once you see through the fog of their obfuscation,
the depth becomes rather shallow indeed.
Just imagine how shallow it will be once the real Third Secret is released!
It will suddenly turn into no more than a tiny puddle on the sidewalk.
-- Which is precisely why the Modernists refuse to let it out of its prison cell.
But they can't keep it there forever. The truth will come out.