Healing a schism

Christ called on his followers to be united in one body. Any split in the Church, therefore, is a cause for distress. It is for this reason that Vatican II, in its decree Unitatis Redintegratio, described ecumenism as one of its “principal concerns”.

The absence of unity among Christians, the Council Fathers declared, “contradicts the will of Christ [and] scandalises the world.”

There are many reasons why Christianity is fragmented. Historically, some of these were grounded in matters of theology, others in politics. For the most part, these schisms can never be healed in a way that might create a perfect unity. It is therefore a hopeful sign that one schism in the Catholic Church, albeit a minor one as far as the wider Christian community is concerned, might one day be healed.

The meeting between Pope Benedict and Bishop Bernard Fellay, superior-general of the Society of St Pius X (SSPX), might not have produced a dramatic breakthrough – arguably not its purpose in first place – but it may have set in motion a process that could culminate in an end to a schism which the late Pope John Paul II saw as one of the great failures of his pontificate.

Pope John Paul only reluctantly excommunicated SSPX founder Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre for disobedience when the latter illicitly ordained four bishops (including Bishop Fellay), in defiance of the pope.

The problems ran deeper than that. In a nutshell, the SSPX, whose members are often referred to as Lefebvrists (a term many of them object to), rejects the resolutions of the Second Vatican Council, especially the liturgical changes that followed the Council. They believe the Church has lost its way.

Pope Benedict will have much sympathy for the Lefebvrists on some counts, having lamented the demise of the Tridentine Mass himself – though he has acknowledged that the Mass in the vernacular cannot be undone.

The liturgical changes of Vatican II made great demands on Catholics resistant to change. Their anguish over the loss of the Tridentine Mass merits due regard.

While the Tridentine Mass may not be celebrated in the Catholic Church without an indult from the Vatican (and even then not in perpetuity), Pope John Paul tried to find a compromise. In his 1988 motu proprio Ecclesia Dei, he allowed the celebration of the Mass in Latin, subject to the discretion of the local ordinary.

When he was prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Pope Benedict was intimately involved in the excommunication of Arch-bishop Lefebvre, and will know exactly what is at stake.

Much as the healing of the schism would be welcome, it is unlikely that Pope Benedict would accept a return of the clergy of the SSPX without an unconditional submission to the authority of the Holy See, and an explicit acceptance of the resolutions of Vatican II.

In return, the pope might grant the SSPX the status of a personal prelature, or – more contentiously – a personal apostolic administration, which would involve some form of concession for the regular celebration of the Tridentine liturgy.

Alas, Bishop Fellay continues to believe that the SSPX is in a position to present non-negotiable preconditions for further discussion. This is a mistaken view.

The healing of the schism, as this newspaper has noted before, will require humility on part of the SSPX even if it believes that the Holy See is to blame for the events leading to the schism and it must be fully on the Vatican’s terms.