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There are two reasons you should not rely on the SSPX to keep you informed about its recent and future Vatican reconciliation meetings.
First, the SSPX only informs the faithful about its Vatican meetings when forced to do so because the news media breaks the story first. The SSPX has only admitted three Vatican meetings in the last 22 months.
- The first of these meetings occurred December 13, 2013. Not until five months later, on May 12, 2014, the SSPX admitted this meeting. But the SSPX admission came only two days after Rorate Caeli reported this meeting (on May 10, 2014).
- On September 8, 2014, the SSPX acknowledged Bishop Fellay’s upcoming meeting with the Vatican, but not until two days after Vatican Insider broke the story.
- On December 5, 2014, Bishop Fellay met with Cardinal Brandmuller regarding the relations between Rome and the SSPX. Two days later, Nonpossumus (a Resistance website) broke the story and published the SSPX “internal” document disclosing this meeting. This Menzingen document warned the SSPX priests not to tell anyone about this meeting and told them that Menzingen would disclose the meeting “if necessary”. Id. After Nonpossumus broke the story, the SSPX decided it was “necessary” and disclosed this meeting on December 19.
Second, the SSPX doesn’t tell the truth when it speaks about its Vatican meetings.
- In its September 8, 2014 press release, the SSPX said that the meeting would be to “review the relations between the SSPX and Rome, which were discontinued at the departure of Cardinal William Levada, Cardinal Müller’s predecessor, and the resignation of Benedict XVI.” Id. (Emphasis added.) Thus, according to the SSPX, relations with Rome were “discontinued” for 19 months (between the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI in February 2013, and the September 23, 2014 meeting). Id. But the SSPX is not telling the truth!
- Bishop Fellay had a December 13, 2013 meeting in the Vatican, during this period of (supposedly) “discontinued” relations.
- The Vatican’s negotiator now discloses that there has been a continual series of meetings with the SSPX, during this period of (supposedly) “discontinued” relations. The Vatican’s negotiator stated that meetings with the SSPX briefly paused in the summer of 2013, but the meetings have continued since then and “never stopped”. The Vatican says this “series” of meetings began in the autumn of 2013 and led up to the September 23, 2014 meeting.