Reports: Pope to lift excommunications

Meanwhile CMR reports .........

Desperate Williamson Denies Holocaust

Have you heard about the drama going on right now with the SSPX? Amazing. Rumor has it that Pope Benedict may have already lifted the decree of ex-Communication on the Bishops of the SSPX incurred after their illicit consecration in 1988. This action, following the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum, is a major step toward bringing the SSPX back into the fold. There is one person who is apparently determined to throw a monkey wrench into the whole thing. Richard Williamson, one of those on whom the ex-communication would be lifted, will do anything to stop it.

First the skinny on what is happening. Rorate Caeli has been reporting (and now corroborated by other sources)

All signs now seem to indicate that the removal, withdrawal, or annulment of the excommunications of Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre (+ 1991), Bishop Antonio de Castro Mayer (+ 1991), and of the four Bishops consecrated by them for the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X (FSSPX / SSPX) in Ecône, Switzerland, on June 30, 1988 is imminent. The Papal act on the matter has almost certainly been signed, and it will be made public shortly:

This follows upon a secret visit of Bishop Fellay to the Pope delivering a bouquet of a million or more rosaries. If this rumor turns out to be true it would be a great occasion of joy for almost everyone. Almost everyone.

It seems that every time that a possible rapprochement between the SSPX and the Holy See draws nearer, "Bishop" Richard Williamson does everything he can to disrupt and destroy that possibility. Back in June of last year when the Pope, through Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos, asked the leaders of the SSPX to agree to certain pre-conditions Williamson did his best to create confusion and distrust. In a series of statements then he poked his finger in the eye of the Pope and offered that he would rejoice if the SSPX were declared in formal schism. At the time it seemed clear to some observers that Williamson does not want reconciliation and would break from the SSPX if need be.

It seems, if the rumors are true, that Bishop Fellay and the Pope did not allow his antics to antagonize them or disrupt their plans. In October, the Society launched the rosary crusade that resulted in the bouquet of a million rosaries.

As disgusting and un-Christian as Williamson rhetoric was in the past, it seems that is nothing compared to what he is doing now in a last ditch effort to derail reconciliation. This comes from Ruth Gledhill at the Times Online.

Bishop Richard Williamson is a hardline ultra-conservative bishop of the Society of St Pius X. He faces possible prosecution for Holocaust denial in Germany after an interview with a reporter from Stockholm TV in which he claimed that six million Jews did not die in the Holocaust, merely a few thousand, and that the gas chambers did not exist. CathCon has the translation of the Der Spiegel report. In an earlier story in the Catholic Herald, Bishop Williamson, former Anglican and a Cambridge graduate, was exposed as endorsing the forgery, the Protocols of the Elders of Zion.

The timing of these monstrous statements is not coincidental. Williamson has a vested interest in maintaining his schismatic status. Inside the Church he is an unhinged nobody. Outside, he is a somebody or so he thinks. He is desperate to maintain the status quo because he has nowhere else to go.

In recognition of all the Pope has done and is trying to do and in the name of all the good people in the society and those who are aligned with it, the SSPX should immediately censure or even expel Richard Williamson. He is a very troubled man in need of our prayers, but he should not be a Bishop or in any leadership position.

Please Bishop Fellay, if you and the society truly seek reconciliation, expel Richard Williamson.

He should ex-communicate those 58% of catholic voters who voted for Obama.

This Pope is on a mission. That last three years have been like watching a chess game where the grandmaster has a plan to execute and we are watching him move the pieces. It’ll be interesting to see where he goes with it but I will say, it appears the Roman Catholic Church has been truly blessed by these two back to back great popes.

My impression is that most of the SSPX will be happy to reconcile with Rome, and also that some will do their utmost not to reconcile, no matter what His Holiness does.

I welcome the news that the ex-communication is lifted. We cannot, on one hand, declare the Orthodox Church not in schism and generally welcome to receive full communion, and at the same time anathemize SSPX as a whole.

Benedict XVI is by far the best pope of my lifetime. And I agree: You cannot support a man like BHO and be a real Catholic.

I agree with the sentiment. However, it does not reflect how the Church operates.

Any grave unabsolved sin excommunicates, in the sense that one should not receive Holy Communion if burdened by serious sin. For example, one steals something or participates in abortion by voting for a pro-abort politician, and he needs to go to confession and repent of it.

Any obdurate grave sin requires amending one’s life or else absolution cannot be granted. For example, if someone lives with his girlfriend as a wife, he needs to separate from her and live chastely, or, if possible, get married before absolution for fornication can be granted.

But none of these require public excommunication. The excommunication occurs automatically when the sin is committed.

The next level is public sin, that is sometimes called technically as scandal. That requires public excommunication, if the sin leads others to sin. This is why heretics are excommunicated publicly: because they not merely believe in wrong things but also teach others their error. Public support for abortion may incur the penalty of public excommunication, but not merely voting, as voting is not a public act. Usually, the decision to excommunicate or not is taken by the local bishop, not the pope.

Normally, public excommunication is cured by public recantation of the error.

In this case, the excommunicated people are bishops, hence it requires papal involvement.

“This follows upon a secret visit of Bishop Fellay to the Pope delivering a bouquet of a million or more rosaries.”

...delivering a what?

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Obama Says A Baby Is A Punishment

Obama: “If they make a mistake, I don’t want them punished with a baby.”

Faithful Catholics have said a million rosaries for the intentions of the Holy Pontiff, that is a spiritual bouquet. Each rosary is seen as a rose, imagine a million roses in a bouquet.

Faithful Catholics have said a million rosaries for the intentions of the Holy Pontiff, that is a spiritual bouquet. Each rosary is seen as a rose, imagine a million roses in a bouquet.”

Ah, thank-you; the image I had in mind, was truly bizarre! :)

You are quoting the percentage incorrectly.

It turned out to be around 46 percent. Still very sad number.

Also remember that REAL Catholics did not vote for Obama, only CINOs — Catholics in Name Only — vooted for him. In supporting abortion, they are sinning and need to go to Confession before they can receive Communion.

Basically, they excommunicated themselves.

Wow wow wow!

bumpus ad summum

Please Bishop Fellay, if you and the society truly seek reconciliation, expel Richard Williamson.

My request as well.

“I hear, said the shepherd as he guided his flock and herd.”

Basically, they excommunicated themselves.

I get so tired of the self-excommunication line: People who see nothing wrong with abortion and see nothing wrong with calling themselves Catholic on top of it certainly see nothing wrong in receiving communion without benefit of confession.

They will NOT "excommunicate themselves" for the simple reason that those in authority ALSO do not bother exercising their moral authority by excommunicating those Catholics who publicly advocate abortion.

Really, why Should we expect more from those in the pew than from those in the heirarchy?

Williamson did his best to create confusion and distrust. In a series of statements then he poked his finger in the eye of the Pope and offered that he would rejoice if the SSPX were declared in formal schism. At the time it seemed clear to some observers that Williamson does not want reconciliation and would break from the SSPX if need be.

If I was not Catholic, I'd probably start my own religion too. But, thank God, I am Catholic.

I cannot verify this but I had heard that a bishop in Italy excommunicated anyone that voted for the communist party. I do not doubt this nor would I be surprised to see similar actions in America for voting democrat in the coming years. Remember, we win in the end.