(L'articolo è composto in due tempi, a causa dell'aggiornamento circa la cattiva notizia trasmessa dal Messaggero)
 

11:47 : Reconciliation?
14:09 : Reconciliation? Perhaps Not...

By:  Robert Moynihan 

Reconciliation? (11:47  Apr 22 2003)

Unconfirmed reports surface of an historic reconciliation between Rome and the followers of the late Archbishop Lefebvre

VATICAN CITY, April 22, 2003 -- It is being widely reported today that Cardinal Castrillon-Hoyos will soon lift the bans of excommunication on three of the four bishops ordained, against the Pope's wishes, by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre in 1988. 
If this occurs, it would be a major step toward ending the 15-year-old Lefebvrist schism -- the only public schism of the postconciliar period. 
While these reports are not yet confirmed, it is confirmed that Cardinal Dario Castrillon-Hoyos, head of the Vatican's Congregation for the Clergy, will celebrate a Tridentine Mass on May 24 in Rome, in the Basilica of St. Mary Major. 
This in itself is highly unusual -- no cardinal in recent years has publicly celebrated a Tridentine Mass in a major Roman basilica.
But something even more unusual may be at hand. 
According to reports in both the Italian daily "Il Messaggero", whose "Vaticanista" or expert on Vatican affairs is Orazio Petrosillo, who has followed developments related to the Lefebvrist schism with particular attention over the past 15 years, and in the "London Times," Castrillon-Hoyos -- who was Pope John Paul II's choice three years ago to seek a reconciliation between the Holy See and the schismatic Society of St. Pius X -- will soon lift the bans of excommunication on three of the four bishops ordained by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre. 
This would be a dramatic development in this "pontificate of surprises," and would bring to fruition a long-held hope of the Pope and Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, both of whom sympathize with a number of the traditionalist positions, and both of whom regretted the coming of the schism "on their watch" in 1988, and so have desired to heal it before their departure from the scene. 
The late Archbishop Lefebvre (he died in 1991) was immediately excommunicated in 1988 when he presided at the episcopal ordination of four priests on June 30 in Econe, switzerland, in direct defiance of a disciplinary directive from Rome. 
The bishops who were consecrated that day also incurred the penalty of excommunication. 
But, according to "Il Messaggero," three of the four will soon be reconciled -- leaving one hard-line traditionalist bishop at odds with Rome. 
The Tridentine rite, codified at the council of Trent in the mid-1500s, and also known as the Mass of St. Pius V, was the liturgical form used throughout the Catholic world prior to Vatican II. 
In January 2002, Castrillon-Hoyos announced that a separate Brazilian traditionalist group, located in the Diocese of Campos, had reached a full agreement with the Holy See and was restored to communion with Rome. 
According to "Il Messaggero," a similar agreement has now been reached with three of the four bishops of the Society of St. Pius X: Bishops Bernard Fellay (the group's leader), Bernard Tissier, and Alonso de Gallareta. The newspaper said the Holy See would recognize all three as bishops in good standing, with Bishop Richard Williamson remaining adamant in rejecting the Vatican's offers.

                                 
                                                                                                 
Reconciliation? Perhaps Not... (14:09  Apr 22 2003)

Reports of an imminent reconciliation between Rome and three of the four Lefebvrist bishops are denied

VATICAN CITY, April 22, 2003 -- Sources within the Society of St. Pius X (the followers of the late Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre) have now denied media reports that three out of the four Lefebvrist bishops will soon be reconciled with the Holy See. 
The news comes from the "Daily Catholic" web site in the United States, a traditional Catholic web site with close ties to the Lefebvrist movement. 
John Vennari, editor of "Catholic Family News," reports: "The April 21 'London Times' ran a story by journalist Richard Owens that claims 3 of the 4 bishops of the Society of Saint Pius X will be 'reconciled' with Rome at the end of May. Owen writes, 'the readmission to the Church of the three other bishops who were ordained by Dr Lefebvre -- Bernard Fellay of Switzerland, Bernard Tissier of France and Alfonso de Gallareta of Argentina -- is to be announced next month at a Mass at the Basilica of St Mary Major in Rome, conducted by Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos of Colombia, head of the Congregation for the Clergy.'" 
Vennari then adds: "I contacted the Society of Saint Pius X's District Headquarters in England to check the report's veracity. Father Jacques Emily, England's SSPX District Superior, responded that the story of the so-called 'reconciliation' is not true. Father Emily explained, 'We have here (in England) Father Sélégny, the General Secretary (of the SSPX) who is going to preach a retreat and who confirmed to us that it is all wrong.'" 
Then, in a postscript, Vennari continues: "This afternoon (April 21) after I had written my first report about the false news of the SSPX 'reconciliation', I spoke with Bishop Bernard Tissier de Mallerais of the Society of Saint Pius X who is presently giving a retreat at St. Peter’s Priory in Browerville, MN. The bishop says there is no truth in the stories now in the press that three of the four bishops are about to be 'reconciled' with Rome." 
Vennari thef cites the Lefebvrist bishop: “This is a rumor thrown by Rome in an attempt to divide us,” said Bishop Tissier de Mallerais. “We four bishops are all together and are not divided. We do not seek 'reconciliation' with Rome unless Rome converts back to Catholic Tradition, back to the traditional Catholic Profession of Faith." 
 

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