HE Monsignor Bernard FELLAY Superior General of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X

Advent 2012

Excellency, dear brother priests of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Pius X,

It is with joy that I learned the satisfaction that you gave our last report dated 28 October. It was important to affirm publicly and allowed the Holy See's relations with the Priestly Fraternity of St. Pius X are open and full of hope. So far, apart from its formal decisions, the Holy See has, for various reasons, failed to correct some inaccurate statements about his conduct and competence in these relationships. Anyway, the moment comes when, in the interest of truth, the Holy See will be obliged to report some of these indiscretions. Particularly painful were the pronouncements that address the mission and person of the Holy Father: so, now demand an answer.

Recent pronouncements by members of the Brotherhood who occupy important positions of authority can only raise doubts about the real possibility of a reconciliation. We think, in particular, interviews granted by the District Superior of Germany, former Superior General of the Society (18 September 2012) and the first Assistant General of the Society (16 October 2012), as well as a recent sermon Superior General (1 November 2012). The tone and content of these statements have caused some confusion about the seriousness and even the possibility of an effective pursuit of our relations. While the Holy See patiently waiting an official response from the Brotherhood, some of his superiors held in unofficial communications language that the eyes of the world appears as a rejection of provisions necessary for reconciliation and canonical regularization Brotherhood of the Catholic Church.

In addition, by reviewing the history of our relations since the 1970s, one is led to the conclusion that the objective terms of our disagreement with the Second Vatican Council remain, in fact, unchanged. With its magisterial authority, the Holy See has always said he had read the texts of the Council in the light of Tradition and the Magisterium, and not the reverse, while the Brotherhood has insisted that some teachings of the Council are incorrect and therefore not likely to be interpreted in harmony with Tradition and the Magisterium. Over the years, this impasse has remained more or less unchanged. While allowing a fruitful exchange of views on specific issues, three years of doctrinal seminars who have just been completed have not fundamentally changed the situation.

In these circuмstances, while hope remains, it is clear that new element must be introduced into our discussions, if we do not want to appear to the Church, the general public and, in fact, to ourselves, as engaged in an exchange polite but hopeless nor fruit. Considerations must develop new, more spiritual nature and theological disagreements that transcend and seemingly insurmountable authority and interpretation of Vatican Council II, the subject of our current division, these considerations will focus on our duty to preserve and cherish the unity and peace of the Church, which are willed by God.

It seems appropriate to introduce these new considerations in the form of a personal letter for Advent, addressed to yourself and members of the Priestly Fraternity. His other issue is that the unity of the Church.

Maintaining the unity of the Church

In this context, the words of St. Paul come to mind: "I who am in prison because of God, I encourage you to live in a manner worthy of the calling you have received, with great humility, sweetness and patience, forbearing one another in love, having heart to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. As your vocation you all called in one hope, and there is one body and one Spirit. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all and through all and in all "(Eph 4: 1-6) .

With these words, the Apostle Paul invites us to keep the unity of the Church, the unity which is given by the Spirit unites us to God only "that reigns over all and through all, and in all "(Eph 4, 6). True unity is a gift of the Spirit, and not the result of our action.

However, our decisions and our actions make us able to cooperate in the unity of the Spirit or to act against the motions of the Spirit. Therefore, Paul exhorts us "to live worthily of the calling we have received" (Eph 4, 1), to live in keeping the precious gift of unity.

To persevere in the unity of the Church, St. Thomas Aquinas notes that, according to St. Paul, "we must cultivate four virtues and vices banned four are opposed" (Commentary on the Letter to the Ephesians, § 191). What should you avoid on the path of unity?

Pride, anger, impatience and zeal messy. According to Aquinas, "the first vice rejected by [Paul] is pride. When an arrogant person decides to lead others, while the other, in their pride, refuse to submit disagreements arise in society and peace disappears ... Anger is the second vice. Because one is angry at the injustice brought verbal or physical, which causes confusion. .... The third is impatience. Sometimes a gentle and humble man who is prohibited from causing trouble, does not support the attacks with patience or proposed that door against him. ... The fourth is the vice zeal messy. Disorderly zeal may involve anything, because of him, men will judge everything they see, without waiting for the right time or the right place, and it is a disaster for society "(ibid .).

How can we act against those vices? Saint Paul tells us: "Have a lot of humility, gentleness and patience, forbearing one another in love" (Eph 4, 2).

According to Aquinas, making us see the goodness present in the other and recognize our own strengths and our own weaknesses, humility helps us to avoid the spirit of rivalry in our relationships with others. Softness "dissolves difficulties and preserve the peace" (Commentary on the Letter to the Ephesians, § 191). It helps us to avoid the disorderly manifestations of anger by giving us the serenity to do our duty with equanimity and in a spirit of peace. Patience enables us to endure suffering for the well researched, especially if it is difficult to reach or if external circuмstances militate against the achievement of the goal. Charity is to avoid the disorderly zeal in giving us support each other, "wearing the faults of others with charity" (ibid.). St. Thomas offers this advice: "When someone falls, should not immediately correct, unless there is a time and a place for it. We should wait with compassion, since charity endures all (1 Cor 13, 7). It does not tolerate negligence or complicity by familiarity or friendship flesh, but by love. ... We who are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak (Rom 15, 1)) (ibid.).

The prudent advice of St. Thomas can be useful, if we accept to be trained by his wisdom. Over the last forty years, our relationship did not they sometimes lacked humility. gentleness, patience and charity?

Let us recall what Pope Benedict XVI wrote to his brothers in the episcopate to explain the promulgation of the motu proprio Summorum Poniificuм: "Looking back, the divisions that have rent the Body of Christ over the centuries, one continually has the impression that, at critical moments when divisions were coming about, the church leaders have not done enough to maintain or regain reconciliation and unity, one has the impression that omissions on the the Church have had their share of blame for the fact that these divisions were able to harden. This glance at the past imposes on us an obligation today: to make every effort to ensure that all those who truly desire unity to remain in that unity or to attain it anew "(letter of 7 July 2007).

How the virtues of humility, gentleness, patience and love can shape our thoughts and actions. First, if we seek to humbly recognize the goodness that exists among those with whom we may disagree on fundamental points, even apparently, we are able to examine disputed questions in a spirit of openness and good faith . Second, if we have a real smooth, we can keep the spirit of serenity, avoiding speaking in a tone that divides or develop imprudent considerations that offend instead of promoting peace and mutual understanding. Third, if we keep true patience, we recognize that in the search for precious as we continue, we will, if necessary, accept the pain of waiting. Finally, if we still feel the need to correct our brethren, be in love, at the right time and the right place.

In the life of the Church, all these virtues are intended to preserve the "unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace" (Eph 4, 3). If our relationships are marked by pride, anger, impatience and zeal messy, our research concerns the good of the Church lead us to bitterness. If, on the other hand, the grace of God in truth makes us grow in humility, gentleness, patience and love, our unity in the Spirit will be maintained and we grow deeper in God's love and the next, fulfilling all the law that God has given us.

If we insist on both the unity of the Church is that it reflects the communion of the Holy Trinity and is effected by it. As we read in a sermon of St. Augustine: cc Father and the Son wished us to be in communion with them, and us, for the gift they have both as if they were one they wished to unite with them and unite us through the Holy Spirit who is God and the gift of God "(Sermon 71, 18).

The unity of the Church is not something that we would for ourselves by our own power, but it is a gift of divine grace. It is recognizing this gift Augustine could say: "An enemy unit does not share the love of God. Therefore, those who are outside the Church have not the Holy Spirit "(Letter 185, § 50). Those words chill: an enemy unit becomes an enemy of God, because it rejects the gift that God has given us. "How can we prove that we love our neighbor? "Asks St. Augustine. "By not breaking its unity not as we see charity" (Homilies on the First Letter of John 2, 3). Listen to what St. Augustine says those who divide the Church: "You do not love, because the name of your honor, you cause divisions in the unit. Therefore understand by this that the Spirit comes from God .... You spread yourself the unity of the world, you divide the church by schisms, you Tear the body of Christ. He came in the flesh to gather, you, you shout to tear "(ibid.. 6, 13).

How can we avoid becoming the enemy of God? "Let every questioning his heart. If someone loves his brother, the Spirit of God dwells in him. He looks, he feels himself in the eyes of God! That way if there is in him a love of peace and unity, a love of the Church spread over the whole earth! "(Ibid. 6, 10). So how we deal with those which we find it difficult to be friends? Listen to St. Augustine: "Love your enemies wish to have them for friends, love your enemies so as to make companions" (ibid. 1, 9). For Augustine, the true form of love can only be a gift of God: "Ask God to love one another. You should love everyone, even your enemies, not because they are your brothers, but because they can become so inflamed still be brotherly love, or to one who has become your brother or to your enemy, so that the magnet, it can become your brother "(ibid. 10.7).

The example of love that transforms our enemies into friends comes ultimately from Christ himself: "Let us love, because he first loved us (4, 19). How would we, if we had first loved? Through his love, we became friends, but he loved us as enemies, to make us his friends. He first loved us and gave us the means to love "(ibid. 9, 9).

For Augustine, the unity of the Church is therefore the communion of the Blessed Trinity and must be maintained if we are to remain in communion with God himself. By the grace of God, we must preserve this unity with great determination, even if it means suffering and patient endurance: "Support the world, endure afflictions, endure the scandal of the trial. Do not retrace path. Hold good in the unity of the Church, like in the good Christ, stand firm in love. Not forsaking the members of his wife, do not abandon the faith, so as to be glorified in his presence, and we are safe in Him now by faith, and later by the vision, including Holy Spirit has given us the pledge "(ibid. 9, 11).

Instead of the Priestly Fraternity in the Church

What have you asked in the present situation? Not to lose the zeal of your founder, Archbishop Lefebvre. Far from it! Instead, you are asked to rekindle the flame of his zeal for the training of men in the priesthood of Jesus Christ. The time has surely come to abandon the rhetoric harsh and cons-productive that has arisen over the years.

Return to charisma once told Archbishop Lefebvre, the charism of priestly formation in the fullness of the Catholic Tradition among the faithful to undertake an apostolate that spring from this priestly formation. That's the charisma that the Church discerned when the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X was approved in 1970. We have not forgotten the laudatory judgment brought by Cardinal Gagnon on Écône seminar in 1987.

The authentic charism of the Society is to train priests for the service of God's people, not to give the task to judge and correct theology and discipline of others in the Church. You will have to focus on the transmission of a training philosophical, theological, pastoral, spiritual and human your candidates so they can preach the word of Christ and act as instruments of God's grace in the world, especially with the solemn celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. It will certainly pay attention to the Magisterium of the passages that seem difficult to reconcile with the magisterial teaching, but these theological issues should not be the center of your preaching or training.

On the question of who is responsible for correcting abuse, we can consider the case of St. Pius X and its interventions in the field of sacred music. In 1903, St. Pius X promulgated the motu proprio Tra le famous sollecitudini, which promoted throughout the Church reform of sacred music. This docuмent was the culmination of two previous initiatives Giuseppe Sarto: a votum on sacred music written at the request of the Sacred Congregation of Rites in 1893, a pastoral letter on the reform of sacred music in the Church of Venice published in 1895.

These three docuмents were substantially the same content. However, the first was a list of suggestions to the Roman Curia, the second instruction for believers under the jurisdiction of the Patriarch of Venice, and the third a series of provisions valid for the universal Church. As Pope Pius X had the authority to report abuse of sacred music in the world, while, as bishop, he could not intervene in his diocese. Its doctrinal and disciplinary requirements, Pius X could deal with the problems in the Church on a universal level, precisely because of its universal authority.

While we believe that our point of view on a particular issue contested is correct, we can not usurp the mission of the Roman Pontiff we assuming the right to publicly correct the other in the Church. We propose and seek to influence, but not disrespect against legitimate local authorities or act against them. We must respect the genre own different kinds of bodies: it is faith should be preached in our pulpits, and not the latter interpretation of what we believe to be problematic in a magisterial docuмents. It was a mistake to make any difficult point of theological interpretation of Vatican II matter of public controversy, trying to push those who are not competent in theology to adopt our views on theological points delicate .

Instruction Donum Veritatis on the Ecclesial Vocation of the Theologian (Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, 1990) argues that a theologian can "ask questions, as appropriate, on 1'opportunité on the form or even content of an intervention of the Magisterium, "although" the will of acquiescence loyal to the teaching of the Magisterium concerning itself not reformable should be the rule "(§ 24). However, a theologian "not present his opinions or differing assumptions as if they were indisputable conclusions. This option is controlled by the respect for truth and respect for the people of God (cf. Rm 14, 1-15, 1 Corinthians 8, 10, 23-33). For the same reasons, the theologian waive their untimely public expression "(§ 27).

If, after an intense, patient and honest reflection on his part, challenges remain, "it is a duty / for the theologian to inform the authorities magisterial issues raised by education itself, in the justifications ei1 are proposed or in the manner in which it is presented, it will do so in an evangelical spirit, with a strong desire to solve problems. Objections can then contribute to real progress, stimulating Magisterium of the Church 1'enseignement offer a more thorough and better argued. -In these cases, the theologian avoid resorting to mass media rather than contact the responsible authority, because it is not putting pressure on public 1'opinion 1'on that can contribute to clarification of doctrinal issues and serve the truth "(§ 30).

This part of the task of the theologian conducted in a spirit of loyal and animated by the love of the Church, may be difficult. cc This can be a call to suffer in silence and prayer, with the certainty that if the truth is really in question, it will necessarily win by "(§ 31).

However, a critical examination of the acts of the Magisterium must never become a kind of "parallel magisterium" of theologians (cf. § 34), as it must be submitted to the judgment of the Supreme Pontiff, who has "the task of preserving the unity of the Church, with the solicitude to provide all assistance to respond with the appropriate means to this vocation and divine grace "(Apostolic Letter Ecclesiae unitatem § 1). Thus we see that, for those in the Church have the duty and the canonical mission to teach, there is room for engagement and not really theological controversy with the Magisterium. Intellectually speaking, anyway, we can not focus only on the controversy. Difficult theological issues can not be adequately addressed by the analogy of faith, that is to say, the synthesis of all that the Lord has revealed to us. We will see each article of faith and doctrine as supporting others and learn to understand the internal links between each of the elements of our faith.

To undertake the study of theology, we must have a cultural experience, biblical and philosophical adequate. I think, for example, a passage from the Code of Canon Law of 1917 reproduced in the introduction to the English edition Benziger of the Summa Theologica: "The religious who have already made their humanities should study philosophy for at least two years and theology for four years, following the teaching of St. Thomas and in accordance with the instructions of the Apostolic See "(CIC 1917, can. 589). Consider the wisdom of this Directive: theology must be undertaken by those who have been trained in the humanities as well as in philosophy. The Congregation for Catholic Education has recently requested that the study of philosophy takes three years for training for the priesthood. Without it, our theological research has not the rich soil of culture which is rooted faith which is essential for a full understanding of philosophical concepts and terms underpinning the doctrinal formulations of the Church.

If we focus only on the most difficult and most controversial - which must certainly be a lot of attention - we can end up losing the sense of the analogy of faith and make us see theology as a particular kind of intellectual dialectic on contentious issues rather than a commitment to wisdom with the living God who has revealed himself to us in Jesus Christ and through the Holy Spirit inspires our work, our preaching and pastoral work.

Conclusion

With his magnanimous way to exercise munus Petrinum, Pope Benedict XVI is extremely keen to overcome the tensions that existed between the Church and your fraternity. Ecclesial reconciliation immediate and total will she end the suspicion and mistrust that have arisen from both sides? Probably not so easily.

But what we want is not a human work, we seek reconciliation and healing through the grace of God, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit loving. Let us recall the effects of grace articulated by St. Thomas: heal the soul, desiring the good, realize the good that is proposed persevere in the good and in the end, get the glory (cf. Summa Theologica the Irae, 111, 3).

Our souls need first to be healed, cleansed of bitterness and resentment born thirty years of torment and suspicion on both sides. We must pray to the Lord to heal us of all the imperfections that have come precisely because of the difficulties, especially the desire for autonomy is, in fact, foreign to traditional forms of government in the Church. The Lord gives us the grace to desire certain goods: in this case, the good of unity and ecclesial communion total. It is a desire that many of us share, humanly speaking, but what we need to receive from the Lord, it is the communication of the desire of our souls, so we want to make the ut unum sint with the desire of Christ. It is only then that the grace of God we will achieve the good we offer. It is He who impels us to seek reconciliation and brings to completion.

This is the time of grace extraordinary grasp it with all our heart and all our mind. As we prepare for the coming of â Savior of the world during this Advent Year of Faith, hope and pray with confidence: can we not also hope for reconciliation, long overdue, of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Pius X with the See of Peter? The only imaginable future for the Priestly Fraternity of St. Pius X is on the path to full communion with the Holy See, in the acceptance of a creed unconditional in its fullness, and therefore with a sacramental life, ecclesial pastoral and properly ordered.

Pierre who received the charge of being an instrument of reconciliation of the Priestly Fraternity, I would make my own the words of Paul exhorting us to "live faithfully 1'appel received with great humility, gentleness and patience in us supporting each other with love, with heart to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. "

Sincerely yours in Christ,

+ J. Augustine Di Noia, OP