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The creation of a new post in the Vatican’s Ecclesia Dei commission is seen as evidence of Pope Benedict’s determination to achieve reconciliation between the Holy See and the Society of St Pius X.
The commission, an outreach to traditionalist Catholics, was established in 1988 to with a particular aim of reconciliation with SSPX.
In a series of new appointments to the Roman Curia made before the Pope’s annual summer stay at Castel Gandolfo, American Archbishop Augustine Di Noia was named the commission’s vice-president — a position that had not existed before.
Archbishop Di Noia told Catholic News Service the Vatican needed to help people who have strong objections to the reforms following the Second Vatican Council see “that these disagreements don’t have to be dividing or keep us from the same Communion table”.
“It is possible to have theological disagreements while remaining in communion with the see of Peter,” he said.
“The theological dialogue has gone on for three years but now [the Pope] is hoping to find the language or the modality for a reconciliation. We’re at the stage of finessing, to help them find a formula which respects their own theological integrity.
“It seems to everyone that [a reconciliation] is close, but now it needs a kind of push,” he said.
Archbishop Di Noia, a Dominican theologian who worked closely with Pope Benedict in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, has served since 2009 as secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship.
The announcement of his appointment noted that he was involved in the Vatican’s preparations for the Pope’s motu proprio broadening use of the traditional Latin Mass.
Archbishop Di Noia — who said his reassignment from the Congregation for Divine Worship after only three years had left him “flabbergasted” — will be replaced there by Bishop Arthur Roche of Leeds, England.
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Image: Whispers in the Loggia
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