Rome, Italy, Feb 4, 2009 / 11:39 am
The Vatican Secretariat of State made public a statement today that outlines several points the Lefebvrists must accept in the wake of Pope Benedict XVI’s lifting of the excommunication of four bishops ordained by Marcel Lefebvre in 1988, including “full recognition of the Second Vatican Council” and of the Magisteriums of all the Popes since Pius XII.
The statement, published by the L’Osservatore Romano, indicates that in the wake of Pope Benedict XVI’s kind gesture lifting the excommunications, “it is hoped an equal willingness on the part of the four bishops be expressed in total adherence to the doctrine and discipline of the Church.”
“The lifting of the excommunication has freed the four bishops from a very grave canonical penalty, but it has not changed the juridical situation of the Society of St. Pius X, which currently does not enjoy any canonical recognition in the Catholic Church. In addition, the four bishops, while they are no longer excommunicated, do not have a canonical role in the Church and do not licitly exercise a ministry in her,” the statement says.
In order for the SSPX to be recognized, the statement goes on to say, “full recognition of Vatican Council II, the Magisteriums of Popes John XXIII, Paul VI, John Paul I, John Paul II and Benedict XVI himself is an indispensable condition.”