Letter from Cardinal Müller to Bishop Fellay, 6 June 2017
On 26 June 2017, Bishop Bernard Fellay, Superior General of the Society of Saint Pius X, received a letter dated 6 June from Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, in which the German prelate set out, with the approval of Pope Francis, the conditions for a doctrinal declaration, prior to any canonical recognition of the Society.
Your Excellency,
As you are aware, Pope Francis has repeatedly expressed his goodwill toward your Society, granting in particular to all its priest members the faculty to validly confess the faithful, and authorising local Ordinaries to grant permissions for the celebration of marriages for the faithful who follow your Society’s pastoral activities. Moreover, discussion continues regarding the questions related to the full restoration of your Society to communion with the Catholic Church.
In this regard, with the approval of the Sovereign Pontiff, I have deemed it necessary to submit to the Ordinary Session of our Dicastery, held on 10 May 2017, the text of the doctrinal Declaration that was communicated to you during the meeting of 13 June 2016, as a necessary condition for the full restoration of communion. Here are the unanimous decisions of all the members of our Dicastery:
- It is necessary to require members of the Society of Saint Pius X to adhere to the new form of the Professio fidei dating from 1988. Consequently, it is no longer sufficient to ask them to make the Professio fidei of 1962.
- The new text of the doctrinal declaration must include a paragraph in which the signatories explicitly declare their acceptance of the teachings of the Second Vatican Council and of the post-conciliar period, granting to said doctrinal affirmations the degree of assent due to them.
- Members of the Society of Saint Pius X must recognise, not only the validity, but also the legitimacy of the Rite of the Holy Mass and the Sacraments, according to the liturgical books promulgated after the Second Vatican Council.
During the audience granted to the Cardinal Prefect on 20 May 2017, the Sovereign Pontiff approved these decisions.
By communicating them to you, I would be grateful if you would make them known to the members of the Society of Saint Pius X.
Assuring you of my prayer for your delicate mission, I ask you to accept the expression of my devoted sentiments in the Lord.
Gerhard Card. Müller, Prefect
(Source: General House – FSSPX.Actualités)
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