Rome says it will dialogue with Lefebvrists on one condition

The FSSPX recently announced its intention to consecrate new bishops without the Pope's consent, risking a schism, as was the case in 1988. The Vatican has made the suspension of this plan a prerequisite for dialogue.

Thursday's meeting between the Prefect of the DDF, Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, and the Superior General of the FSSPX, Father Davide Pagliarani, was “cordial and sincere,” according to a Vatican statement released early in the afternoon. The text specifies that the meeting was held “with the agreement of Leo XIV.”

According to this note, during the meeting at the Palace of the Holy Office, the Prefect of the DDF proposed “a path of specifically theological dialogue, with a well-defined methodology, on issues that have not yet been sufficiently clarified.” As a Roman canonist explained to I.MEDIA, the disagreement between Rome and the SSPX is not so much “disciplinary” — namely, the act of dissent that would consist of consecrating bishops without the pope's consent — as it is “doctrinal.”

The Argentine cardinal mentions as stumbling blocks “the difference between an act of faith and ‘religious submission of intelligence and will,’” or “the different degrees of adherence required by the various texts of the Second Vatican Council and their interpretation.”

The community, founded in 1970 by French bishop Marcel Lefebvre, is in rupture with the Second Vatican Council.

The path envisaged by Rome would aim to highlight “the minimum requirements for full communion with the Catholic Church.” The next step would be to “define a canonical status for the Fraternity,” whose members are currently “acephalous,” belonging to no diocese or recognized institute.

This morning's discussions were an opportunity to clarify “the question of divine will concerning the plurality of religions,” the statement tells us. The Lefebvrians maintain open opposition to religious freedom and the Church's dialogue with other Christians and religions. For the discussion, the prefect and the superior relied on various letters sent by the SSPX to the Vatican between 2017 and 2019.

However, the head of the Vatican's doctrine office has set a condition for dialogue: the suspension of the decision to proceed with new episcopal ordinations on July 1. According to the statement, both parties agreed that Father Pagliarani would communicate his response to the DDF after consulting with his Council.

In the event of a positive response, “the steps, milestones, and procedures to be followed will be established by mutual agreement.”

If new bishops are consecrated without a papal mandate, canon 1387 of the Code of Canon Law would automatically apply, providing for automatic or “latae sententiae” excommunication.

Just as in 1988, when Archbishop Lefebvre proceeded with the episcopal ordination of four priests without the consent of John Paul II, such a break with the Successor of Peter would induce a state of schism for the faithful and serious consequences for the Fraternity as a whole, warns Cardinal Fernández.

Update: In a statement released Thursday evening, the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX) announced that Father Pagliarani will provide the institution's response "in a few days."

"He will write directly to Cardinal Fernández and will also share his response with all the faithful," the statement reads. The Superior General specified that he had asked the Prefect that "the Society may continue to work in its current situation" — in other words, without canonical clarification — and had requested an audience with Pope Leo.