The superior of the Society of St Pius X (SSPX), Bishop Bernard Fellay, has apparently ruled out the possibility of his fraternity complying with conditions laid down by the Vatican for them to exercise ministry in the Church.<\/p>\n
Last week, following an outcry over the lifting of the excommunications of four SSPX bishops by Pope Benedict XVI, the Vatican Secretariat of State issued a statement saying that “full recognition of the Second Vatican Council” was an “indispensable condition for any future recognition of the SSPX” by the Church.<\/p>\n
However, in an interview with the German weekly Der Spiegel published on Tuesday, Bishop Fellay said the Second Vatican Council was responsible for the “deplorable state of affairs in the Catholic Church today”. The SSPX particularly rejected three points in the council declarations, he said, “namely the ecumenical initiatives, the declaration on religious liberty and the introduction of the vernacular in the liturgy”. “Since these changes in the Church, we have experienced a unique collapse of church life unlike anything in the entire history of the Church,” he added.<\/p>\n