The Bishop's Weekly Column from the Parish Bulletin

OUR LADY OF FATIMA

CATHOLIC CHURCH

A Tug of War Perchance ?

June 23, 2009

Fellay: Rome sweet home ? Lefebvre: He died with his boots on ! Williamson: "Silenced" in Wimbledon !

Bishop Tissier de Mallerais
June 19 at Winona
(Fr. Kenneth Dean as Subdeacon)

These days Bishop Bernard Fellay seems to be nearly ubiquitous. He surfaced in Rome at the beginning of this month for previously unannounced negotiations which he revealed over the weekend to have set the plans for negotiations in place.

Next Fellay was present in Winona for the Friday ordinations last week which was at first blush rather strange. True with 13 priests this was the largest priestly ordination class ever at St. Thomas Aquinas, but why go to the huge expense these days of flying in two bishops for the same event ?

It was the French Society bishop Bernard Tissier de Mallerais who actually performed the ordination ceremony.

With Bishop Richard Williamson effectively "knobbled" (clobbered in British English) by Bishop Fellay and out of the running for championing the non-jureur faction of the SSPX, the mantle has fallen of late to Bishop Tissier de Mallerais to give a staunch homily against any quick-fix deal with Rome.

No doubt Fellay, who seems more and more eager to "do-a-deal" than ever, was hoping to temper the remarks of his older episcopal brother, but Tissier was nothing daunted and gave a fine defense of the Archbishop's "no compromise" line.

I feel certain the superior general was not amused in the slightest.

Now he has surfaced again in yet another media interview, which, whilst covering a number of issues, is, for all that, short on real answers to frank questions. Fellay repeatedly dodges questions, even when the interviewer bluntly tells Fellay he is not being forthcoming. Take these two, for example:

There are two points of conflict: on one hand your thesis, the deposit of the Faith is generally in danger, and your rejection of specific documents of the Second Vatican Council. Do you want Rome to to take back or modify these documents, or is a "we agree to disagree" possible?

Fellay: The current confusion comes in large part from a cultural crisis of our world and not just the church - a crisis of thought, of philosophy. Some points of the crisis however also took concrete form in the Council. We see some causes of the crisis in the Council. Rome should be prepared to foster clarity, because there are many interpretations of the Vatican Council. What exactly should we recognize? Every theologian interprets the documents so differently. The Holy Father had to condemn already the interpretation of the Council as discontinuity and a break with the past. But 80% of bishops and theologians want this fracture. In this matter, we are not the problem.

You not only reject certain interpretations, but some Council documents themselves - when it comes to religious freedom and respect for other religions.

Fellay: One example: The Declaration on the Collegiality of the bishops (Conciliar document, Lumen Gentium) which was even corrected during Vatican II by Pope Paul VI.. The Conciliar text can only be interpreted in a Catholic sense with a text that the Pope issued, a so-called Nota praevia. (Pope Paul VI stated that the bishops can only lead the Church, as a collegial group, only “under and with the Pope”.) Sadly some read the Council without the Nota praevia.

It will be noted that he was asked about Religious liberty and he speaks about Collegiality - apples and oranges I'm afraid. What is most distressing, is the absolute bluntness about Bishop Williamson:

What is Bishop Williamson doing now?

Fellay: He is in London. He prays, he is studying, nothing else. (Unless Fellay hadn't noticed he's also posting a weekly column, the latest of which was greatly appreciated by Sister Mary Michaela who called +W "a kindred spirit" of all things !)

Is there a foreseeable end to the internal exile?

Fellay: I see none. The whole matter depends on him.

You would probably like a greater distancing from his Holocaust-denial.

Fellay: If such statements recur, then it would be unbearable.

Whereas in the rest of the interview the bishop is his usual garrulous self, his terseness regarding this subject is quite revealing. Considering his "house arrest" (as a priest friend put it to me over the weekend) perhaps +W is giving some thought to the idea that his unusual gifts and talents might be best employed for God's glory elsewhere other than in the Society of St. Pius X or will he continue to play the "prisoner of the Vatican" ? (Now that's a loaded statement if ever I saw one...)

+TF