His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI, today released his latest Motu Proprio entitled Ecclesiae Unitatem. In this document, the Holy Father announces the restructuring of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei (or PCED, which handles issues pertaining to the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite). The PCED now moves under the leadership of Cardinal Levada and the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. This move is intended to advance the upcoming doctrinal discussions which will be taking place between the Society of St. Pius X and the Holy See concerning the documents and resulting implementation of the Second Vatican Council.
So, what is the significance of this Motu Proprio? If all goes well in the upcoming talks, the SSPX could be reintegrated into the Catholic Church as a legal traditional Mass society (much like the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter). The possibility also exists of the SSPX merging with the FSSP to create a much larger and stronger Latin Mass society. The doctrinal discussions may lead to a more careful analysis of the documents of Vatican II, which could result in changes in how we view ecumenism, the Mass, the configuration of our church buildings, and so forth.
There currently is no SSPX chapel located within the Diocese of Rochester. A sedevacantist chapel of the Society of St. Pius V, a group which split from the SSPX and believes that we currently do not have a true pope, is located on N. Winton Ave. in the city southeast.
For more on the Motu Proprio, read: here and here.
I love this pope, he is a healer.
This is an example of true ecumenism. Pope Benedict is doing a fine job working for unity with those who would actually want it and appreciate it.
There are also the Franciscan Friars on Mount Read Boulevard, near Stone Road. They have been around for almost 25 years. Their website is
http://www.friarsminor.org/
They are sedevacantists too.
I forgot to mention that the 2 "bishops" that reside on Mt. Read Blvd. are both of the Thuc-line of succession. It get plenty confusing.
There is that John Bosco Chapel in Geneva…
http://www.genevarc.org/bulletinfor3-22web%5B1%5D.pdf
I am not entirely sure that they are totally in with the sspx though
Incidentally, I met one of those friars once in the grocery in geneva, and was quite confused when he said they had a monastery out near the thruway (geneva, waterloo, something around there) …finally, I realize that it's sede vacante…
-Arialdus
Dr. K,
Thanks for the link. Pope Benedict is a true shepherd.
This news is encouraging. I am worried, however, that some alleged statements by Bishop Williamson that are floating around, if true, could cause problems in these discussions. I wouldn't mind seeing a couple legal SSPX chapels popping up in the DoR.