SSPX-Vatican problems hinge on authority of Vatican II
In a July 18 letter to district superiors, Father Christian Thouvenot, the secretary-general of the SSPX, revealed that the group had set certain conditions for signing the "doctrinal preamble" that would allow for regularization of the SSPX. First among these conditions was the insistence that the SSPX would remain free to "correct the promoters of the errors or the innovations of modernism, liberalism, and Vatican II and its aftermath."
Father Thouvenot's letter also said that the SSPX had demanded the right to use the traditional liturgy exclusively. That condition seems to present no major problem to the Vatican, since Summorum Pontificum allows for the use of the traditional liturgy.
However, the determination of the SSPX to "correct" the teachings of Vatican II could pose a major problem in continued negotiations with the Vatican. Archbishop Gerhard Ludwig Muller, the newly installed prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, stated flatly: "The assertion that the authentic teachings of Vatican II formally contradict the tradition of the Church is false."
In an interview with the Catholic News Agency, Archbishop Muller said that he remains hopeful for a successful reconciliation with the SSPX. He explained that different texts of Vatican II hold different levels of teaching authority, and distinctions should be made between pastoral pronouncements and authoritative doctrinal statements. "Whatever is dogmatic can never be negotiated," he said.
The archbishop allowed that there is ample room for discussion of how the Vatican II documents should be properly understood. With reference to the future of talks with the SSPX, he said: "The purpose of dialogue is to overcome difficulties in the interpretation of the Second Vatican Council."
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