NewChurch asked to ratify Superior General's July 2018 electionTHE FSSPX WILL CHOOSE ITS NEW SUPERIOR THE MONTH OF JULY
Marie Malzac, 01/12/2018
On its site, the FSSPX indicated on Monday, January 8, that its fourth general chapter will be held this summer in Switzerland, in the course of which its leaders must choose the Superior General and his two assistants.
Almost 50 years after its foundation and 30 years after the schism of Bishop Marcel Lefebvre, the Society of Saint Pius X (FSSPX) will celebrate its fourth General Chapter in Ecône, the Swiss city where his seminary is located, from July 11 to 21. international.
This assembly, which brings together every twelve years the members of the General Council of the Fraternity, the superiors of the seminaries and the districts, as well as the senior priests, must elect their new Superior General and his two assistants, has specified " La Porte Latine ", the official website of the French district of the FSSPX.
The general chapter is " above all " the occasion to " verify that the statutes are applied faithfully, always in the spirit that presided over the foundation, " says the site. For this, several aspects of the life of the society will be revised: " common and liturgical life, apostolate and administration, sanctification of the members, combat for the faith ".
In 2012, a so-called administration chapter was held, mid-term, to assess the life of the company.
" It is whether we really are true to the core mission of the SSPX, ie the sanctification of the clergy , " recalls Father Christian Bouchacourt, District Superior of France, La Croix.The relations with Rome will be the focus of discussions. " In addition, as soon as a new superior is elected, the decision is immediately sent to the Vatican, " he says.Canonically, the vote must be ratified by the Roman authorities ...
"Calm tensions"
Bernard Fellay, 59, is theoretically eligible for a third term. There are no declared candidates and the next superior must be elected among the perpetual members of the congregation.
After a series of statements by Monsignor Fellay a few months ago in the sense of an approach with the Vatican and the strong objections that his statements aroused in part of the ranks of the SSPX, the calm seems to have returned.
"At the end of the mandate, this is not the time to make important decisions, there is a certain attitude of expectation, " observes Father Bouchacourt, for whom " tensions have abated ".
In May of 2017, the Fraternity even dismissed several priests from their duties because they were hostile to the "opening" policy of the Lefebvrist hierarchy. This was the case of Father Patrick de La Rocque, parish priest of the emblematic parish of Saint-Nicolas-du-Chardonnet, in the heart of Paris, "occupied" by the FSSPX since 1977.
Today, the FSSPX has 170 priests, 35 priorates and more than 2,200 boys who attend their schools in France.