Rorate Caeli

For the Record
Fellay: "We have no problem with the Church recognizing us"

In this report from Toronto, Zenit confirms several news of the past few weeks: the meeting of Bishop Fellay, Superior General of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X (FSSPX/ SSPX), with Cardinal Levada, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith; the upcoming motu proprio on the new structure of the Pontifical Commission "Ecclesia Dei"; the fact that the priestly ordinations of the following weeks will proceed.

Fellay's words:

On the motu proprio: "According to what we have heard, most probably, one of the monsignors of the congregation [of the Doctrine of the Faith] will be the executive head of Ecclesia Dei. So it will be very tightly united with the congregation."

On future relations with the CDF: "I don’t know [Cardinal Levada] enough to really answer the question. […] When we were received it was very courteous. He was gentle. […] I don’t frankly know what and if there will be a real change."

On the ordinations: "We cannot just now say, 'stop breathing,'" he argues in defense of the society's continued administration of the sacraments. "We need to breathe. And, definitely, if the Pope was so good to take away the excommunications, that mean he doesn’t want us now to die."

And his most important words, on whether the SSPX would accept a provisional canonical position recognized by the Holy See: "If Rome gives us enough guarantee, so to say, of survival, I think probably we would certainly consider it. We have no problem with the Church recognizing us, of course."