UCAN REPORT
A reliable source claims that the notorious Bishop Williamson has been ousted from the SSPX. This may have a bearing on the stalled Vatican peace talks.
The Superior General of the breakaway Society of St. Pius X has removed Bishop Richard Williamson as a member of the priestly fraternity, it is being claimed.
The reliable Rorate Caeli blog said it could confirm that Bishop Bernard Fellay, Superior General of the SSPX, had removed Williamson from the fraternity, and that the removal “comes at the end of an internal procedure that included repeated entreaties by the higher authorities of the Society regarding Williamson’s decisions and actions that apparently went unheeded.”
Other sources say Fellay was not happy with Williamson’s blog and newsletters whose content sowed dissent within the ranks of the SSPX, and which counselled against reconcilation with Rome.
Together with Fellay and two other bishops, Williamson was unlawfully consecrated by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre in 1988 and automatically excommunicated. Pope Benedict XVI lifted those their excommunications in 2009, but Williamson remains suspended from the exercise of the episcopal order on account of his denial of the extent of the Holocaust.
The SSPX’s website DICI has yet to make a formal announcement.
Williamson, the most senior of the SSPX bishops, was said by some to be the closest to Archbishop Lefebvre in terms of his ecclesiology. His supporters claim he was the Society’s most able theologian. It’s now thought he will join another splinter group, the SSPX of the Strict Observance, led by the “Vienna Five” – a group of disaffected priests also expelled by Bishop Fellay.
The development is regarded as typical for a breakaway sect, which tends to splinter into further sects in a bid for ideological purity. Observers believe the SSPX-SO is likely to hoover up around 30 other disaffected members of the SSPX who were similarly expelled by Fellay.
Williamson’s expulsion comes as reconciliation talks between the Holy See and the SSPX have reached an impasse. Whether his departure may help to restart them remains to be seen, but it’s widely believed that the German government under Chancellor Angela Merkel has been making representations “at the highest level” to make sure the talks would proceed no further.
Although this is difficult to verify, it would be consistent with the Chancellor’s previous actions. In 2009, she very publicly protested against the Holy Father’s decision to lift the excommunication of Williamson which took place just days after Williamson had denied the extent of the Holocaust on Swedish television.
SHARED FROM UCAN NEWS
The reliable Rorate Caeli blog said it could confirm that Bishop Bernard Fellay, Superior General of the SSPX, had removed Williamson from the fraternity, and that the removal “comes at the end of an internal procedure that included repeated entreaties by the higher authorities of the Society regarding Williamson’s decisions and actions that apparently went unheeded.”
Other sources say Fellay was not happy with Williamson’s blog and newsletters whose content sowed dissent within the ranks of the SSPX, and which counselled against reconcilation with Rome.
Together with Fellay and two other bishops, Williamson was unlawfully consecrated by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre in 1988 and automatically excommunicated. Pope Benedict XVI lifted those their excommunications in 2009, but Williamson remains suspended from the exercise of the episcopal order on account of his denial of the extent of the Holocaust.
The SSPX’s website DICI has yet to make a formal announcement.
Williamson, the most senior of the SSPX bishops, was said by some to be the closest to Archbishop Lefebvre in terms of his ecclesiology. His supporters claim he was the Society’s most able theologian. It’s now thought he will join another splinter group, the SSPX of the Strict Observance, led by the “Vienna Five” – a group of disaffected priests also expelled by Bishop Fellay.
The development is regarded as typical for a breakaway sect, which tends to splinter into further sects in a bid for ideological purity. Observers believe the SSPX-SO is likely to hoover up around 30 other disaffected members of the SSPX who were similarly expelled by Fellay.
Williamson’s expulsion comes as reconciliation talks between the Holy See and the SSPX have reached an impasse. Whether his departure may help to restart them remains to be seen, but it’s widely believed that the German government under Chancellor Angela Merkel has been making representations “at the highest level” to make sure the talks would proceed no further.
Although this is difficult to verify, it would be consistent with the Chancellor’s previous actions. In 2009, she very publicly protested against the Holy Father’s decision to lift the excommunication of Williamson which took place just days after Williamson had denied the extent of the Holocaust on Swedish television.
SHARED FROM UCAN NEWS
Comments
Edward Pentin could break the extra ecclesiam nulla salus story world wide with repercussions for the SSPX and Bishop Williamson
From the news point of view it would be a sensation.
The excommunication of Fr.Leonard Feeney was not lifted for 19 years when the baptism of desire is not an exception to the literal interpretation of the dogma.
He held the traditional interpretation and his priestly faculties were taken away.The Jesuits also dismissed him.
The popes from Pius XII to Benedict XVI may not have known that the baptism of desire and being saved in invincible ignorance are irrelevant to the dogma.It could have been a simple oversight.
Edward Pentin seems to understand the dogma extra ecclesiam nulla salus unlike other Catholic journalists. In his next interview he could be poised for a sensation.
Even though in his last two interviews with Archbishop Gerhard Muller and Augustine Di Noia he let them get away, the right questions, could be asked in future interviews.
When the following two questions are asked, extra ecclesiam nulla salus could become international news.
1. Do we know in the year 2012 any one saved in invincible ignorance, the baptism of desire, a good conscience(Lumen Gentium), seeds of the word (Ad Gentes), imperfect communion with the Church(Unitatis Redintigratio) ?
2. If we do not know any of these cases in 2012 can they be considered exceptions to the dogma extra ecclesiam nulla salus and the Syllabus of Errors?
Pontifical Universities and seminaries world wide will have to adapt and change their teachings.The Vatican Curia will have to reinterpret Vatican Council II.
The Vatican Jesuit spokesman would have to announce the obvious: "We cannot see the dead on earth who are saved. So there are no known exceptions to the dogma and Ad Gentes 7 Vatican Council II, which says all need 'faith and baptism' for salvation'.
Vatican Council II would be traditional and the Society of St.Pius X (SSPX) could accept it. They could be given an ordinariate like the Opus Dei, who will also make changes in their teachings on Catholic salvation.
If Edward Pentin is fast enough he could do it this week. I have been sending him these blog posts for quite sometime.
This is Jesus' Church in which truth has a way of equilibrating itself. Every time it is pushed down, it comes up to the surface and asserts itself.-Lionel Andrades
EDWARD PENTIN DID NOT ASK ARCHBISHOPS MULLER AND DI NOI HOW COULD INVINCIBLE IGNORANCE AND 'ELEMENTS OF GRACE' BE EXCEPTIONS TO EXTRA ECCLESIAM NULLA SALUS
http://eucharistandmission.blogspot.it/2012/10/edward-pentin-did-not-ask-archbishops.html#links