Pope Benedict XVI has agreed to work with Bishop Bernard Fellay, the leader of the Society of Saint Pius X, the breakaway ultra-traditionalist Catholic group, after a milestone meeting on Monday at the Pope’s Castelgandolfo residence.
The breakaway group was excommunicated by the Vatican in 1988 after Bishop Bernard and three others were consecrated as bishops in 1988 without the Vatican’s permission.
Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro Vals said the two men expressed “their common will to proceed in stages and within reasonable delays” to achieve the return of the society within the Catholic Church.
He said in a statement following the meeting, “The meeting was held in a climate of love for the Church and a desire to arrive at the perfect communion”.
He added: “Although aware of the difficulties, the desire to proceed by steps and in a reasonable timeframe was shown”.
The Society of Saint Pius X was set up by French Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, who died in 1991, in opposition to growing liberalisation advanced by the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s, which included permission to replace Latin with local languages during Mass.
Bishop Fellay, Archbishop Lefebvre’s successor, said that Benedict’s succession to John Paul II gave a “glimmer of hope” to bringing about a solution to the “profound crisis” within the Catholic Church.
In 2004, the Swiss Bishop Fellay, scorned Pope John Paul for his openness to other religions which he claimed had left the Catholic Church “like a ship with a hole in it”.
The Lefebvre movement strictly opposes ecumenical dialogue, a line from John Paul’s Papacy that Benedict has promised to continue with, as well as the modernising Council, which it claims is responsible for the vast numbers of men and women leaving the Church.
The popular opinion is spreading among observers that the Vatican itself is considering reconciliation with St. Pius X due to its growing popularity and the popularity of more traditional-conservative Catholicism.
