Author Topic: Transcript of CNS interview with Bishop Fellay (May 2012) (Read 4033 times)

Ethelred · « **on:** October 17, 2012, 08:49:08 AM »

Full transcript of Catholic News Service interview with Bishop Fellay, 11 May 2012.

Thanks to all helpers! You know who you are.

1st part of CNS-Interview with Bishop Fellay

“Traditionalist leader talks about his movement, Rome”

Transcript:

00:22 SSPX versus Rome?

The question is not the Society versus Rome. I think, if you see the whole thing like that, it’s wrong understanding, I definitely don‘t look at it this way. Since Paul VI, so it‘s not new, we may see on the council we have this apprehension, that there is something wrong in the Church. A movement, a strong movement which is going astray, which is no longer, let say, giving the Catholic line, but from people who are in position and so who give the impression it’s the Catholic church. Many people have an understanding of the council which is a wrong understanding. And now we have authorities in Rome who say it. We, I may say in the discussions, I think, we see that many things which we would have condemned as being from the council are in fact not from the council, but the common understanding of it.

01:25 Religious liberty

Religious liberty is used in so many ways, and looking closer I really have the impression that not many know what really the council says about it. The council is presenting a religious liberty which in fact was a very, very limited one, very limited. It would, in our talks with Rome they clearly said that, to mean that there would be a right to error or a right to choose each one its religious - religion - is false.

02:04 Liberty in practice

Conflict situations are not from today. The church had to deal with them long time ago already. What she requests from the states and so on is not new. And so we have no problem with the act, let’s say, requesting this freedom for the Church and, let say, being in the Middle East, being now in the States and so on, it’s rather which principle is invoked to do it. We would argue that there might be another principle which will be more accurate to justify the action which was called before tolerance. We have to profess our faith, we have to show it, we are not supposed to hide it, but in certain circuмstances just life tells us that we better bow down if there is a time of persecution for example, nobody is obliged to provoke the opponent or the persecutor.

03:06 The ideal state

Just in itself the best situation is when you have the whole society which is going the same way. It also helps to unity, to peace, to everything. And of course religion is a major part in the human heart and if you are one in the religion, it helps to have this peace and I may say, well, that’s the commandment of our Lord to his Church: We have to go to all nations and teach them what our Lord said. Now, when you are in a situation which is a mixed situation, which is, let say, the reality, I would say, well, that's not the ideal but that's the situation which you are. And that's, let's say, where you have to do your job, your duty as a Christian. So you have to give this witness to the others, you must try to help them. We want everybody to have that wonderful happiness of heaven and trying to bring them to this knowledge.

04:20 The Church and the Jews

If you think of what happened to them during World War II you do consider, let’s say, the Christian position towards them as the cause of what happened to them which we claim that's wrong, it’s not true. Hitler was, he might have been baptised, but his behaviour, absolutely anti-Catholic. It was not a catholic behaviour which he followed by doing what he did, and I think it’s not fair to put the burden of what happened to them then on the Catholic Church. If you look, what Pius XII did for them, talk about 700.000 Jews would have been saved by the church, by Pius XII.. But when you see all the comments on the Jєωιѕн side about Catholicism, you see this antagonism, which does not come first from the Catholics, I don’t think so.

05:28 The work of Pope Benedict

Personally I would have wished to wait for some more time to see things clearer, but once again it really appears, that the Holy Father wants it to happen now. The move of the Holy Father, because it really comes from him, is genuine. If this recognition happens, it’s thanks to him, definitely, and to him alone.

Ethelred · « **Reply #1 on:** October 17, 2012, 08:49:55 AM »

2nd part of CNS-Interview with Bishop Fellay

“Extras: The Society of St. Pius X”

Transcript:

00:12 Will there be an agreement?

Maybe by nature I‘m optimistic. The thing is not yet done though. And we need, as I always said, we need some reasonable understanding that the proposed structure and conditions are workable. We are not going to do ѕυιcιdє there, that‘s very clear.

00:49 Will the SSPX split?

I cannot exclude that there might be a split. I hope it won’t, but for the time being it‘s really impossible to foresee clearly what, let’s say, the amount and how many and so on, it‘s impossible. It just shows that, yes, there are some difficulties inside, which is normal.

01:22 A sign of contradiction

If we see some discrepancies within the Society, definitely, there are also in the Catholic Church and let‘s say, when it goes about us, we begin to be like, I don‘t know, something like a sign of contradiction.

01:49 Hermeneutic of continuity

The Pope says that the…, he even said it recently, that the council must be put within this great tradition of the Church, must be understood within this, and in correlance with it. These are statements we fully agree with, totally, absolutely. The problem might be in the application, that is: Is what happens really in coherence or in harmony with Tradition? But the principle we definitely do adhere to it. The Church must remain within its Tradition and cannot get out of it, because the Church has not been founded by man, but by our Lord himself, we talk about the Divine constitution of the Church and the main rules who guide the Church are given by God himself and not by man. And this cannot be changed. ... The problem of what really means Hermeneutic of continuity or of a reform, there you need to go deeper in.

03:07 Mutual Recognition

Having to be (let’s say) recognized and recognize the others and so on it is a whole new situation, I mean, let say, it’s something like a new world. You need to have a whole mentality which needs to be adjusted, it does not mean that you change what you are but there is a change in the relation with the other.

03:33 Relations with the FSSP and other traditional groups

For the time being “of course” as they are the closest, they are also maybe those who, at least some of them, have had the harshest position towards us, and so that will mean that it will take some time to heal the wounds, but well, let’s hope that one day we’ll be all one soul and one heart.

04:03 Defenders of the Faith?

Every Catholic must keep his faith, profess it and sometimes defend it. Now of course usually we are used to see that outside; there is some problem inside right now, but, let’s say, we are not the only one and we say, it’s the Pope himself who does it, and we may say that’s his job and, well, if we are called to help the Holy Father in that, so be it.

Ethelred · « **Reply #2 on:** October 17, 2012, 08:50:28 AM »

3rd part of CNS-Interview with Bishop Fellay

“Extras Part 2: The Society of St. Pius X”

Transcript:

(Written text:)
In 1970, Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, a bishop at Vatican II, founded a seminary in Écône, Switzerland.
Écône quickly became known as the epicentre of protest against the Council.
Now the Archbishop’s Traditional group may be close to reconciling with the Vatican.

00:39
(Bishop Fellay speaking)

Personally I would have wished to wait for some more time to see things clearer, but once again it really appears, that the Holy Father wants it to happen now. If this recognition happens, it's thanks to him, definitely, and to him alone.

01:25
(Some seminarians of Écône and Winona are speaking, also some professors of Écône.)

04:37
(Bishop Fellay speaking)

We can certainly benefit from some – not just some – from the experience of the Church. The Church was not born today, and it has a century long experience in dealing with souls; even now, let’s say, you have very good people who can certainly be help there, so there's no doubt that we can also benefit from such integration – or – I don’t know which word to use there, but uh, getting closer, definitely yes.

Ethelred · « **Reply #3 on:** October 17, 2012, 08:51:52 AM »

Sumary of the interview, as published by CNS on their website :
http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1201931.htm

Fellay-SSPX, 11 May 2012

Traditionalist leader says group could divide over unity with Rome

By Francis X. Rocca

MENZINGEN, Switzerland (CNS) – The leader of a breakaway group of traditionalist Catholics spoke in unusually hopeful terms about a possible reconciliation with Rome, but acknowledged significant internal resistance to such a move, which he said might lead to the group splitting apart.

Bishop Bernard Fellay, superior general of the Society of St. Pius X, spoke to Catholic News Service May 11 at the society's headquarters in Switzerland about the latest events in more than two years of efforts at reconciliation with the Vatican.

The society effectively broke with Rome in 1988, when its founder, the late Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, ordained four bishops without the permission of Blessed John Paul II in a protest against modernizing changes that followed the Second Vatican Council of 1962-65.

In April the society responded to a „doctrinal preamble“ stipulating the group's assent to certain church teachings, presumably including elements of the teaching of Vatican II, as a prerequisite for reconciliation. The Vatican has yet to respond, but the director of the Vatican press office initially described the latest position as a „step forward.“

The society is hardly united behind its leader's position, however. In April, according to a letter which surfaced on the Internet May 10, the society's other three bishops warned Bishop Fellay that the Vatican's apparent offer to establish the group as a personal prelature – a status currently held only by Opus Dei – constituted a „trap,“ and urged him to say no.

„There are some discrepancies in the society,“ Bishop Fellay told CNS. „I cannot exclude that there might be a split.“

But the bishop defended his generally favorable stance toward the Vatican's offer against the objections of his peers.

„I think that the move of the Holy Father – because it really comes from him – is genuine. There doesn't seem to be any trap,“ he said. „So we have to look into it very closely and if possible move ahead.“

He cautioned, however, that the two sides still have not arrived at an agreement, and that unspecified guarantees from the Vatican are still pending. He said the guarantees are related to the society's traditional liturgical practices and teachings, among other areas.

„The thing is not yet done,“ the bishop said. „We need some reasonable understanding that the proposed structure and conditions are workable. We are not going to do ѕυιcιdє there, that's very clear.“

Bishop Fellay insisted the impetus for a resolution comes from Pope Benedict XVI.

„Personally, I would have wished to wait for some more time to see things clearer,“ he said, „but once again it really appears that the Holy Father wants it to happen now.“

Bishop Fellay spoke appreciatively of what he characterized as the pope's efforts to correct „progressive“ deviations from Catholic teaching and tradition since Vatican II. „Very, very delicately – he tries not to break things – but tries also to put in some important corrections,“ the bishop said.

Although he stopped short of endorsing Pope Benedict's interpretation of Vatican II as essentially in continuity with the church's tradition – a position which many in the society have vocally disputed – Bishop Fellay spoke about the idea in strikingly sympathetic terms.

„I would hope so,“ he said, when asked if Vatican II itself belongs to Catholic tradition.

„The pope says that... the council must be put within the great tradition of the church, must be understood in accordance with it. These are statements we fully agree with, totally, absolutely,“ the bishop said. „The problem might be in the application, that is: is what happens really in coherence or in harmony with tradition?“

Insisting that „we don't want to be aggressive, we don't want to be provocative,“ Bishop Fellay said the Society of St. Pius X has served as a „sign of contradiction“ during a period of increasing progressive influence in the church. He also allowed for the possibility that the group would continue to play such a role even after reconciliation with Rome.

„People welcome us now, people will, and others won't,“ he said. „If we see some discrepancies within the society, definitely there are also (divisions) in the Catholic Church.“

„But we are not alone“ in working to „defend the faith,“ the bishop said. „It's the pope himself who does it; that's his job. And if we are called to help the Holy Father in that, so be it.“

END

Elizabeth · « **Reply #4 on:** October 17, 2012, 12:01:14 PM »

01:49 Hermeneutic of continuity

The Pope says that the…, he even said it recently, that the council must be put within this great tradition of the Church, must be understood within this, and in correlance with it. These are statements we fully agree with, totally, absolutely. The problem might be in the application, that is: Is what happens really in coherence or in harmony with Tradition? But the principle we definitely do adhere to it. The Church must remain within its Tradition and cannot get out of it, because the Church has not been founded by man, but by our Lord himself, we talk about the Divine constitution of the Church and the main rules who guide the Church are given by God himself and not by man. And this cannot be changed. ... The problem of what really means Hermeneutic of continuity or of a reform, there you need to go deeper in.

Would some kind and patient soul please explain this phrase, 'hermeneutic of continuity'?

I have never been able to comprehend what it means, why it is said, what it is about. It is like JP2's bizarre writings - incomprehensible and it short-circuits my brain.

Maybe an example in simple household analogy? Bp. Felley's answer doesn't even make any sense at all; it's like they speak in code.