The last several months’ developments in Vatican/SSPX relations have been misinterpreted by extremists of all ideological stripes.
Father Kevin Robinson processes from the sacristy at the beginning of a traditional Latin Mass at the Society of St. Pius X's St. Michael the Archangel Chapel in Farmingville, NY, June 17. (CNS photo/Gregory A. Shemitz)
The last official meeting between the Ecclesia Dei Commission and the authorities of the Society of Saint Pius X took place in the offices of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith on June 13, 2012. Some sanguine observers expected the return of the Society to the fold in months if not weeks, while the more cynical opined that the meeting marked the end of the CDF-SSPX negotiations.
Since June there were major personnel changes at the CDF, and the Society held a General Chapter, defined the parameters for its future dealings with the Vatican, and neutralized an internal threat to its unity. Commentators weighed each of these developments in turn as though it could seal the ultimate fate of the Society. Often lost in the shuffle was the key fact that the SSPX authorities still had not responded officially to Rome’s latest offer—a fact helpfully pointed out in a communiqué from the Ecclesia DeiCommission issued in late October.
This article reviews these events and offers a perspective on the controversies surrounding them.
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