Apostolic letter given motu proprio
on July 2, 1988.
1. With great
affliction the church has learned of the
unlawful episcopal ordination conferred on June 30 by Archbishop Marcel
Lefebvre, which has frustrated all the efforts made during the previous
years to ensure the full communion with the church of the Priestly
Society of St. Pius X founded by the same Archbishop Lefebvre. These
efforts, especially intense during recent months, in which the
Apostolic See has shown comprehension to the limits of the possible,
were all to no avail.[1]
2. This affliction
was particularly felt by the
successor of Peter, to whom in the first place pertains the
guardianship of the unity of the church,[2] even though the number of
persons directly involved in these events might be few, since every
person is loved by God on his own account and has been redeemed by the
blood of Christ shed on the cross for the salvation of all.
The particular
circumstances, both objective and
subjective, in which Archbishop Lefebvre acted provide everyone with an
occasion for profound reflection and for a renewed pledge of fidelity
to Christ and to his church.
3. In itself this
act was one of disobedience to the
Roman pontiff in a very grave matter and of supreme importance for the
unity of the church, such as is the ordination of bishops whereby the
apostolic succession is sacramentally perpetuated. Hence such
disobedience—which implies in practice the rejection of the
Roman primacy—constitutes a schismatic act.[3] In performing
such an act, notwithstanding the formal canonical warning sent to them
by the cardinal prefect of the Congregation for Bishops last June 17,
Archbishop Lefebvre and the priests Bernard Fellay, Bernard Tissier de
Mallerais, Richard Williamson and Alfonso de Galarreta have incurred
the grave penalty of excommunication envisaged by ecclesiastical law.[4]
4. The root of this
schismatic act can be discerned in
an incomplete and contradictory notion of tradition. Incomplete,
because it does not take sufficiently into account the living character
of tradition, which, as the Second Vatican Council clearly taught,
"comes from the apostles and progresses in the church with the help of
the Holy Spirit.
There is a growth in
insight into the realities and
words that are being passed on. This comes about in various ways. It
comes through the contemplation and study of believers, who ponder
these things in their hearts. It comes from the intimate sense of
spiritual realities which they experience. And it comes from the
preaching of those who have received, along with their right of
succession in the episcopate, the sure charism of truth."[5]
But especially
contradictory is a notion of tradition
which opposes the universal magisterium of the church possessed by the
bishop of Rome and the body of bishops. It is impossible to remain
faithful to the tradition while breaking the ecclesial bond with him to
whom, in the person of the apostle Peter, Christ himself entrusted the
ministry of unity in his church.[6]
5. Faced with the
situation that has arisen, I deem it
my duty to inform all the Catholic faithful of some aspects which this
sad event has highlighted.
a) The outcome of
the movement promoted by Archbishop
Lefebvre can and must be, for all the Catholic faithful, a motive for
sincere reflection concerning their own fidelity to the church's
tradition, authentically interpreted by the ecclesiastical magisterium,
ordinary and extraordinary, especially in the ecumenical councils from
Nicaea to Vatican II. From this reflection all should draw a renewed
and efficacious conviction of the necessity of strengthening still more
their fidelity by rejecting erroneous interpretations and arbitrary and
unauthorized applications in matters of doctrine, liturgy and
discipline.
To the bishops
especially it pertains, by reason of
their pastoral mission, to exercise the important duty of a
clear-sighted vigilance full of charity and firmness, so that this
fidelity may be everywhere safeguarded.[7]
However, it is
necessary that all the pastors and other
faithful have a new awareness, not only of the lawfulness but also of
the richness for the church of a diversity of charisms, traditions of
spirituality and apostolate, which also constitutes the beauty unity in
variety: of that blended "harmony" which the earthly church raises up
to heaven under the impulse of the Holy Spirit.
b) Moreover, I
should like to remind theologians and
other experts in the ecclesiastical sciences that they should feel
called upon to answer in the present circumstances.
Indeed, the extent
and depth of the teaching of the
Second Vatican Council call for a renewed commitment to deeper study in
order to reveal clearly the council's continuity with tradition,
especially in points of doctrine which, perhaps because they are new,
have not yet been well understood by some sections of the church.
c) In the present
circumstances I wish especially to
make an appeal both solemn and heartfelt, paternal and fraternal, to
all those who until now have been linked in various ways to the
movement of Archbishop Lefebvre, that they may fulfill the grave duty
of remaining united to the vicar of Christ in the unity of the Catholic
Church and of ceasing their support in any way for that movement.
Everyone should be aware that formal adherence to the schism is a grave
offense against God and carries the penalty of excommunication decreed
by the church's law.[8]
To all those
Catholic faithful who feel attached to some
previous liturgical and disciplinary forms of the Latin tradition, I
wish to manifest my will to facilitate their ecclesial communion by
means of the necessary measures to guarantee respect for their rightful
aspirations. In this matter I ask for the support of the bishops and of
all those engaged in the pastoral ministry in the church.
6. Taking account of
the importance and complexity of
the problems referred to in this document, by virtue of my apostolic
authority I decree the following:
a) A commission is
instituted whose task it will be to
collaborate with the bishops, with the departments of the Roman Curia
and with the circles concerned, for the purpose of facilitating full
ecclesial communion of priests, seminarians, religious communities or
individuals until now linked in various ways to the society founded by
Archbishop Lefebvre who may wish to remain united to the successor of
Peter in the Catholic Church while preserving their spiritual and
liturgical traditions in the light of the protocol signed on last May 5
by Cardinal Ratzinger and Archbishop Lefebvre.
b) This commission
is composed of a cardinal-president
and other members of the Roman Curia, in a number that will be deemed
opportune according to circumstances.
c) Moreover, respect
must everywhere by shown for the
feelings of all those who are attached to the Latin liturgical
tradition by a wide and generous application of the directives already
issued some time ago by the Apostolic See for the use of the Roman
Missal according to the typical edition of 1962.[9]
7. As this year
specially dedicated to the Blessed
Virgin is now drawing to a close, I wish to exhort all to join in
unceasing prayer, which the vicar of Christ, through the intercession
of the mother of the church, addresses to the Father in the very words
of the Son: "That they all may be one!"
Given at Rome, at St. Peter's, July 2, 1988, the 10th
year of the pontificate.
ENDNOTES
1. Cf. Informatory note of June 16, 1988; L'Osservatore
Romano, English ed., June 27, 1988, pp. 1-2.
2. Cf. Vatican Council I, "Pastor Aeternus," Ch. 3;
Denzinger-Schonmetzer 3060.
3. Cf. Code of Canon Law, Canon 751.
4. Cf.
ibid., Canon 1382.
5. Vatican Council II, "Dei Verbum," 8; cf. Vatican
Council I, "Dei Filius," Ch. 4; DS 3020.
6. Cf. Mt. 16:18; Lk, 10:16; "Pastor Aeternus," Ch. 3;
DS 3060.
7. Cf. Canon 386; Paul VI, "Quique Iam Anni," Dec. 8,
1970; "Acta Apostolicae Sedis" 63 (1971) pp. 97-106.
8. Cf. Canon 1364.
9. Cf. Congregation for Divine Worship, "Quattuor Abhinc
Annos," Oct. 3, 1984; AAS 76 (1984) pp. 1088-1089.