The media and Catholic blogosphere continue to react in the opposing directions of joy or horror, depending on which side of the ecclesial aisle one stands, to the Vatican
decreeremitting the 20-year excommunications of four illicitly consecrated bishops of the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX). The
New York Times adroitly captures the inner turmoil of the Church at this moment:
The decision provided fresh fuel for critics who charge that Benedict's four-year-old papacy has increasingly moved in line with traditionalists who are hostile to the sweeping reforms of the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s that sought to create a more modern and open church.
But has Pope Benedict XVI really moved so far to the right, in a manner hostile to Vatican II? Is this decision -- coupled with Benedict's derestriction of the old Latin Mass -- a sign that "the sweeping reforms" of the council are now being swept out of the Church for good?
While some may think so, closer examination reveals that Benedict's decision is an ecumenical gesture of the kind that many progressives have valued for decades: Benedict has made a concrete step in order to foster true dialogue that will lead to union within the Church. Such a gesture cannot be scorned or devalued simply because it was made toward a conservative Catholic group rather than a separated Eastern Orthodox or Protestant group, since it has the same aim: healing the rifts of Christendom so that all Christians may again be one.
First of all, the timing of this decree is not an accident: It came in the middle of a week of prayer for Christian unity. In his
Angelus address on January 18, Benedict exhorted the faithful to "pray with greater intensity that Christians may walk resolutely towards full communion among themselves." He continued, "I address particularly Catholics scattered throughout the world so that, united in prayer, they do not tire of working to overcome the obstacles that still impede full communion among all Christ's disciples."
The decree lifting the excommunications of the four bishops was preceded by a written
expression of pledged cooperation and by 1.7 million rosaries prayed throughout the world for this very intention. As the Society has always considered the excommunications an obstacle to relations with the Holy See, these prayers meet the Holy Father's stated objective for moving toward full communion. And while the SSPX's canonical status still remains irregular, and their
press release falls far short of calling for immediate communion, this is surely a positive step forward.
By remitting the excommunications, then, Benedict, who on his own initiative has long courted the SSPX to return to the fold, was responding to the Society's reciprocated good will. In doing so, he was following the ecumenical plan that he announced in his
messageto the cardinals on the day after his election, which the
New York Times described as "a message of openness and reconciliation to his Roman Catholic followers, other churches and other faiths." He
stated,
Peter's current Successor takes on as his primary task the duty to work tirelessly to rebuild the full and visible unity of all Christ's followers. This is his ambition, his impelling duty. He is aware that
good intentions do not suffice for this. Concrete gestures that enter hearts and stir consciences are essential, inspiring in everyone that inner conversion that is the prerequisite for all ecumenical progress.
Theological dialogue is necessary; the investigation of the historical reasons for the decisions made in the past is also indispensable.
But what is most urgently needed is that "purification of memory", so often recalled by John Paul II, which alone can dispose souls to accept the full truth of Christ . . . .
