Note from the Vatican Secretary of StateWEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 04, 2009
Following
the reactions aroused by the recent Decree of the Congregation for
Bishops, with which the excommunication of the four Bishops of the
Fraternity of Saint Pius X was remitted, and in relation to the
negationist and reductionist declarations concerning the Shoah on the
part of Bishop Williamson of the same Fraternity, it is held opportune
to clarify certain aspects of the matter.
1. Remission of the excommunication.
As
previously published, the Decree of the Congregation for Bishops, dated
January 21, 2009, was an act by which the Holy Father benignly met the
reiterated request on the part of the Superior General of the
Fraternity of Saint Pius X.
His Holiness wished to remove an
impediment that was prejudicing the opening of a door to dialogue. He
now awaits from the four Bishops an expression of equal willingness in
a total adhesion to the doctrine and discipline of the Church.
The
extremely grave penalty of excommunication latae sententiae, which the
four bishops incurred on June 30, 1988, declared formally on July 1 of
the same year, was a consequence of their illegitimate ordination by
Mons. Marcel Lefebvre.
The rescission of the excommunication has
freed the four Bishops from a very grave canonical penalty, but has
not changed the juridical situation of the Fraternity of Saint Pius X,
which, at the present moment, does not enjoy any canonical recognition
in the Catholic Church. Also, the four Bishops, while relieved of the
excommunication, do not have a canonical function in the Church and do
not licitly exercise a ministry in her.
2. Tradition, doctrine and Vatican Council II.
For
future recognition of the Fraternity of Saint Pius X, the full
recognition of Vatican Council II and the Magisterium of Popes John
XXIII, Paul VI, John Paul, John Paul II, and of Benedict XVI himself,
is an indispensable condition.
As already affirmed in the decree
of January 21, 2009, there will not be lacking from the Holy See, in
ways judged opportune, an exploration with the interested parties of
the questions still open, so as to be able to reach a full and
satisfactory solution to the problems which have given rise to this
painful fracture.
3. Declarations on the Shoah.
The
positions of Mons. Williamson on the Shoah are absolutely unacceptable
and are firmly rejected by the Holy Father, as He himself remarked
this past January 28 when, referring to that heinous genocide, he
reaffirmed His full and indisputable solidarity with our Brothers who
received the First Covenant, and affirmed that the memory of that
terrible genocide must prompt “humanity to reflect on the unpredictable
power of evil when it conquers the heart of man,” adding that the Shoah
remains “for all a warning against forgetfulness, against denial or
reductionism, because violence against a single human being is violence
against all.”
Bishop Williamson, for admission to an episcopal
function in the Church, must publicly and unequivocally distance
himself from his positions concerning the Shoah, not known to the Holy
Father at the moment of the remission of the excommunication.
The
Holy Father requests that all the faithful accompany him in prayer, so
that the Lord will illuminate the way of the Church. May the Pastors
and all the faithful grow in their commitment to support the delicate
and burdensome mission of the Successor of the Apostle Peter, who is
“custodian of unity” in the Church.
From the Vatican, February 4, 2009
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