Paix liturgique

Écone, July 1, consecration before a huge crowd of four bishops. Rome, July 2, declaration of a mass excommunication by Cardinal Fernández, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith of the consecrators, the consecrated, the priests of the SSPX, and all the faithful who adhere to the “schism”. In short, it’s war.

Now I propose a very simple idea. Where there is war, there is negotiation, in order to establish a solid peace. Because there is a time to fight and a time to negotiate. Why shouldn't the time come for negotiating a liturgical peace? This seems impossible at present, especially since the key to the matter lies in the Council and the liturgy that expresses it. However, it is unthinkable that any variation is possible today.

Only the living Magisterium, once again clothed with its infallibility, will one day be able to definitively resolve the debate. This is, in fact, one aspect of the problem: the silence of the infallible Magisterium. However, in the meantime, both sides would do well to establish a modus vivendi.

Rome would benefit from this because of the conciliar values it proclaims. It cannot remain at the level of the old-fashioned excommunications, given its ecumenical character. Even more so than with the Orthodox, Anglicans, and Lutherans, Rome should feel obliged to engage in dialogue, to assess what separates it from the SSPX, and to work toward moving from “imperfect communion” to “full communion,” according to the concepts developed by the Second Vatican Council. Frankly, no one understands why Rome accepts everything from manifestly misguided Catholics, such as the faithful and bishops of the German Synodal Path, or even LGBT Catholic organizations; why it agrees to negotiate with them and seek compromise solutions, while offering nothing to those who seek to continue believing and celebrating as before.

Ecône would also benefit from this. Undoubtedly, seeing the many tribulations of the Ecclesia Dei communities, it knows how many disappointments await those who trust in present-day Rome and how many bitter pills they will have to swallow. But in the current situation, which prolong itself for a long time, it needs to maintain contact and avoid isolation in order to prepare for the future.

In an interview with Jean-Marie Guénois in Le Figaro on June 24, 2022, Cardinal Aveline ironically quoted a statement by Bishop Fellay from June 7, 2012: “One of the greatest dangers [for the SSPX] is to end up inventing an idea of the Church that seems ideal, but which in reality is not found in the real history of the Church. Some claim that to work ‘safely’ in the Church, one must first cleanse it of all error. […] However, the reforming saints did not abandon her in order to combat these errors.”

In practice, then, we must agree to find a modus vivendi without debating the Second Vatican Council for the moment. Cardinal Aveline, whose influence in Rome is considerable today, also stated in the same interview: “To date, it seems to me that the most important thing is not to try to reach a doctrinal agreement, which Benedict XVI himself ended up putting aside.”

In fact, as in asymmetrical negotiations between two belligerents, one weak and the other strong, reaching a provisional result requires that the strong party offer solid guarantees and that the weak party accept the risk of abandoning its unyielding position. In this case, the weak party is required to accept “living the tradition,” as Archbishop Lefebvre expressed it, no longer on the sidelines, but in the middle.

Canon law has the advantage of extreme flexibility and is capable of great inventiveness. For example, the solution could involve granting the SSPX, like an Eastern Uniate Church, the right to appoint its bishops, to whom Rome would automatically grant communion, while enjoying sufficient disciplinary autonomy. What the SSPX would have to concede in return would be accepting the risk of a certain degree of mixing (among countless examples, its bishops could celebrate confirmations and ordinations outside their “walls”, and priests outside the SSPX would be accepted to celebrate according to the traditional rite in their apostolates).

You might tell me that, according to this hypothesis, Rome would be giving almost everything and Ecône almost nothing. Knowing both sides, this is far from obvious. Above all, you might tell me that I am only dreaming aloud and that no one is listening to me today. But perhaps tomorrow? Tomorrow, liturgical peace. We must be patient…

Speaking of patience, I would like to point out that this is the 250th week that the sentinels have been praying in the streets of Paris for the archbishop to grant us liturgical peace in the capital. This is our 250th week of patience!

Thus, we will pray our rosaries for the 250th time: at 10 rue du Cloître-Notre-Dame, Monday to Friday, from 1:00 to 1:30 p.m.; at Saint-Georges de La Villette, 114 avenue Simon Bolivar, on Wednesdays and Fridays at 5:00 p.m.; In front of Notre-Dame du Travail, on Sundays at 6:15 p.m.