Moderator: In the interests of accuracy, truth, and dispelling any possible rumors, I have updated this Original Post with the latest concrete information, below. Note that the last section has a quote from DICI.org, the official SSPX news organ.
http://rorate-caeli.blogspot.com/2014/05/rorate-exclusive-pope-francis-received.html?m=1UPDATE (05/11/14): I.Media reports that Bishop Fellay came to the Vatican with Frs. Niklaus Pfluger and Alain-Marc Nély (respectively the First and Second Assistants to the Superior General of the SSPX). On this occasion, the two assistants of the Superior General of the SSPX were present at the daily Mass celebrated by Pope Francis at St. Martha House. Afterwards Bishop Fellay dined with Abp. Guido Pozzo and Abp. Augustine Di Noia (respectively the Secretary of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei and the Adjunct Secretary of the CDF) at the refectory of the same House. At the end of the meal, Bishop Fellay briefly met the Holy Father.
Vatican Insider has another account, with further details -- and an acknowledgment of Rorate's initial report.
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(Original post 5/10/14):
Rorate has learned and can exclusively confirm that Bishop Bernard Fellay, the Superior General of the Society of Saint Pius X (Fraternité Sacerdotale Saint-Pie X - FSSPX / SSPX), was received by Pope Francis in the Domus Sanctae Marthae sometime in the past few months. In order to protect our sources, we cannot detail the date and persons involved in the meeting, but only generally locate it in time - if the current pontificate so far can be divided into two halves, the meeting took place in the second half.
We can also add as part of this exclusive information that it was not a merely fortuitous event - that is to say, many off-the-record meetings with His Holiness have taken place since his election precisely because his being at Saint Martha's House make him much more accessible and available than many previous pontiffs. No, that was not the case at all - the pope was previously duly informed and duly met Bishop Fellay. The meeting was apparently short and cordial.
The Pope has a true interest in resolving this situation, it seems to be understood by our sources.
http://vaticaninsider.lastampa.it/en/news/detail/articolo/francesco-francis-francisco-fellay-34011/Traditionalist blog “Rorate Caeli” revealed that “sometime in the past few months” Francis received the Superior of the Society of St. Pius X in St. Martha’s House
ANDREA TORNIELLI
VATICAN CITY
Yesterday, traditionalist website Rorate Caeli revealed that “sometime in the past few months” Bishop Bernard Fellay, the Superior General of the Society of St. Pius X, was received BY Pope Francis in St. Martha’s House. No information was given regarding the sources and circuмstances surrounding their encounter.
Authoritative religious news blog Il Sismografo, edited by Luis Badilla, reported the news yesterday evening.
Readers will recall that the Holy See’s relations with the fraternity have remained frozen since 2012, when the former Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Levada, delivered a preamble - approved by Pope Benedict XVI – asking the traditionalist group to sign it, as a condition for entering into full communion with the Roman Catholic Church and gaining legal status with the establishment of a “personal prelacy”. Although the fraternity’s excommunication was lifted in January 2009, disagreements remained over certain doctrinal points and so the status of the Lefebvrian hierarchy and its priests is still irregular. Not only have the leaders of the Society of St. Pius X criticized the Second Vatican Council since Francis took over from Benedict XVI, but they have even written and published some very harsh comments against Pope Francis.
Rorate Caeli writes that for the purposes of protecting its sources, it did not wish to specify the date of the meeting but added “it was not a merely fortuitous event” in the sense that the Pope was informed about Mgr. Fellay’s presence in St. Martha’s House, giving the impression that that meeting had been planned and “apparently short and cordial.”
Vatican Insider has learnt that the meeting apparently took place in the last few weeks of 2013. Mgr. Fellay was invited to dinner at St. Martha’s House by Bishop Guido Pozzo, Secretary of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei and Archbishop Augustin Di Noia, Vice- President of the same commission. Father Niklaus Pfulger and Alain-Marc Nely, assistants to the superior general of Society of St. Pius X, were present alongside the traditionalist prelate.
The Pope was sat at his usual table in the St. Martha House dining room; Fellay, his two assistants, Pozzo and Di Noia were sat at another table. When Francis got up after dinner, the fraternity’s superior did so also and approached the Pope, kneeling down to ask for a blessing. Their encounter was therefore brief. There was no audience and neither did the two have along one to one conversation. Living in St. Martha’s House makes these kinds of encounters possible for Francis.
When Mgr. Pozzo returned to the Pontifical Commission “Ecclesia Dei” after a brief time at the office of papal charities, some hoped that dialogue between the Holy See and the Society of St. Pius X would resume. But some in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith are pushing for a new formal docuмent to be signed against the Lefebvrians. Particularly given that dialogue has dragged on for years and the fraternity refused to accept the doctrinal preamble proposed by the Church. For now, however, there seems to be a general desire to wait and see.
The dinner with di Noia and Pozzo and the papal blessing scene is certainly typical of Francis’ welcoming nature. But it would wrong to attribute too much importance to this episode in terms of potential developments in the Lefebvrian situation. Even after this encounter and blessing, websites and media linked to the Society of St. Pius X continued their attacks against the Pope. The latest of these was noted on the day of John XXIII and John Paul II’s canonizations last 27 April.
Mgr. Fellay may not be too happy about Rorate Caeli’s decision to divulge the news. It is a well known fact that there are different currents within his fraternity, some of them more radical and anti- Roman Catholic Church than others. The Swiss prelate, Mgr. Lefebvre’s second successor, seems to be more open to dialogue when he is in Rome. But back in Menzingen he must face the more radical wing within his group.
http://www.dici.org/en/news/about-a-meeting-between-the-pope-and-bishop-fellay/About a “meeting” between the Pope and Bishop Fellay
12-05-2014
Filed under From Tradition, News
On May 10, 2014, the English-speaking blog Rorate Caeli published under the pseudonym “Adfero”, some “exclusive information” whose sources could not be – according to him – disclosed. This “exclusive information”, spread by the media, revealed that Bishop Bernard Fellay, Superior General of the Society of St. Pius X, met with Pope Francis. On May 11, the Roman agency I.Media published that Bp. Fellay’s two assistants, Fr. Niklaus Pfluger and Fr. Marc-Alain Nély, had attended the Pope’s private Mass.
Fathers Pfluger and Nely have never attended the Pope’s private Mass, and journalists who claim otherwise would have a hard time to indicate the day of the alleged assistance. Here are the facts:
On December 13, 2013, Bishop Fellay and his assistants went to Rome for an informal meeting at the request of the Ecclesia Dei Commission. Following this interview, the Secretary of the Commission, Msgr. Guido Pozzo, invited his counterparts for lunch at St. Martha House’s dining room where they were joined by Archbishop Augustine Di Noia, Assistant Secretary of the Congregation of the Faith. It is in this large refectory that the Pope takes his daily meals, away from other guests.
Msgr. Pozzo insisted on introducing Bishop Fellay to the pope while the latter was leaving the refectory. There was a brief exchange where Pope Francis said to Bishop Fellay, according to the usual polite formula, “I’m very glad to meet you.” To this, Bishop Fellay answered that he was praying a lot, and the pope asked him to pray for him. Such was the “meeting” that lasted a few seconds.
In the interview he gave to Le Rocher (April-May 2014), Bishop Fellay answered the following question: Has Rome made an official approach to renew contact with you since the election of Pope Francis? – “Rome made a ‘non-official’ approach to renew contact with us, but nothing more, and I have not asked for an audience as I did after Benedict XVI’s election. For me, things at present are very simple: we stay as we are. Some concluded from my close contact with Rome in 2012 that I regard the necessity of a canonical recognition as a supreme principle. Preserving the Faith and our traditional Catholic identity is essential and remains our first principle.”
(Source: SSPX/MG – DICI 05/12/14)
Topic: FRANCIS RECEIVED BP. FELLAY (Read 27378 times)