Fellay speaks: "Turmoil" in the Church
The most respectable daily in Argentina, La Nación, published this Monday two articles based on interviews granted to its reporters by the Superior General of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X (FSSPX / SSPX), Bishop Bernard Fellay.
The most relevant excerpts of the first article, including Fellay's actual words:
"We have never moved away from the Church. We have always been and are Catholics, and we have always worked with the intent of remaining so. There are difficulties with the authority, but that does not mean that we deny it [the authority]."
..."There are men in the Vatican Curia who do not work for the Pope."
...
"The only problem which remains now is [of a] political [nature]. There is a part of the Church which does not love us, which considers us as dinosaurs, and Rome does not know how to manage this dialectic between the conservatives, as we are, and the progressives who do not want [to follow on] the same path. If [they] give us too much, the others would react."
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He [Fellay] explained that, "until things improve", the links to the Catholic bishops and priests are very scarse. They do not maintain a dialogue, for instance, with Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio [S.J.], Archbishop of Buenos Aires and president of the Argentinian Episcopate. "Father Bouchacourt [head of the Latin American District of the FSSPX, whose headquarters are in Martínez, in the Greater Buenos Aires area] sent two letters to Cardinal Bergoglio, and did not receive an answer. That is, the silence comes more from him than from us," said Fellay.
(This is an exerpt)
Subjects: Corruption, Liturgy, News, Tradition, Tridentine
"There are many currents which produce turmoils when they meet, and the authority has lost control over some of these currents. One example is the situation of a de facto schism which is noticed in North America, even though Rome wishes to prevent it from becoming a formal schism".
I wish he was wrong about this but I fear he is correct even more than he is willing to say here.
-[La Nación] Why would he not be able to do it if he wanted to?
-"Because there are men in the Vatican Curia who do not work for the Pope, but for others."
-[La Nación] For instance?
-"[They work] For groups. One of them is the mafia looking for money in dealings with the Church. There are terrible scandals in this area. Another group, more dangerous, are the Freemasons; there are three of four lodges specific for Vatican Bishops and priests which seek to use the Church to reach the union of all peoples and religions. The current Pope is against this [the current state of affairs] and works to clean it. He has done a part of this work in silence up to now, charging small faithful groups with studying a theme, as, for instance, the motu proprio on the Latin Mass."
I do not remember who or where I picked it up in my reading but I seem to recall someone saying the Mafia WAS a Masonic organization. They originated at the time of the Italian unification working in the south of Italy. I seem to recall the word mafia was Italian for Marconi authorizes arson murder and assignation. I can not recall the exact meaning. I would not put too much on my memory on the matter and since I can not offer a source please be sure to have a heavy dose of salt handy.
Still the Italian Unity efforts in the 19th century were not very friendly to the Church then and were responsible for the conspiring with the new King of Italy for the seizing of this territory. Of course the former Kings of Sardinia ending up badly when the Fascists came into power about a single generation later (70 years give or take) It was only last year they were allowed to return to Italy as punishment for their cooperation with the Fascist state.
I always enjoy reading Bishop Fellay. His wisdom and calm is very comforting in these trying times.
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It is very hard to reintroduce discipline. There is a fear of punishing. The Pope wants discipline with order, but I ask myself if he can accomplish it"
This is what I've been saying. You can't put the genie back in the bottle, like you can't fully tame a stray or successfully restrict teenagers who've learned to run wild. AmChurch is in a perpetual state of adolescence with no end in sight.
-"Because there are men in the Vatican Curia who do not work for the Pope, but for others."
This is one of the scariest lines of the article. I'm beginning to think Bishop Fellay is one of the best friends the Pope has and he knows it. Up until now the explanation for Bishop Fellay's interviews has been that as an outsider he can comment without repercussions. While this is true, I am now wondering if he is taking orders from higher up to bring these topics out into the open where no diocesan bishop would dare to venture.
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"I'm beginning to think Bishop Fellay is one of the best friends the Pope has and he knows it."
The Pope knows it or did you mean Bishop Fellay knows it???
I think Bishop Fellay is the Pope's best friend in a cassock because there are few others from the look of things. I sure hope the Pope thinks so as well.
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I meant the Pope knows it but I am sure Bishop Fellay realizes it as well.
Who are the others you refer to?
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"Who are the others you refer to?"
I was referring to many of the Bishops. I do not think many of them support this Pope just as many did not the last one. Now that you asked it reminds me of the devolution of the Roman Empire. As the central power in Rome grew weaker and weaker and as the real threats from pagan and more primitive societies nips and clawed at the edges the local lords took more and more power.
Nature abhors a vacuum. Still at some point these local lords also play a role in the weakening of Rome's authority as much as the weak-willed Emperors (or in this case weak Popes) and as much as the pagan invaders, all share in the blame. It was from this situation that gave rise to the present states of Europe. They (the local Lords or Bishops) had reason to gain in such a situation even if they do not consciously see it, the same with our Bishops today. More freedom of action more control more power in the Church system whatever is left on the floor unclaimed including money. That may be what motivates their behavior. Still they may not see they have much to loose with a weaker Rome as well, and this is just the real world dangers without touching on the spiritual dangers.
The big problem is getting them to see the problem in the first place. Bishop Fellay and the three other SSPX Bishops are giving warning and expressing regret at the lack of power in the center of the Church and the Pope but few others are listening to them. They have been marginalized and much discredited in Church circles. If their worries are getting across the effect is under the radar. Many Church leaders and commentators would rather eat worms than admit the SSPX has a point or two.
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