Pope’s bid to win over Catholic traditionalists dims

Pope Benedict’s bid to draw rebel Catholic traditionalists back to the Roman fold seems to have hit a dead end with little apparent hope of a solution, a Reuters report said.

Bishop Bernard Fellay, one of the leaders of the Society of St Pius X (SSPX), who Church officials expect will send a formal reply to the Vatican’s call, remains silent.

SSPX leaders have recently rejected the pope’s conditions for their rehabilitation.

“The SSPX has set conditions that are simply unacceptable to the pope,” said Nicolas Seneze, a French expert on the Society.

The Swiss-based SSPX broke away from Rome in 1988 in protest against the 1960s reforms that replaced Latin with local languages at Mass, forged reconciliation with Jews and admitted other religions may also offer a path to salvation.

Pope Benedict, who at the time was the Vatican’s top doctrinal official, failed to convince SSPX founder Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre not to ordain four bishops. Appointing them meant the SSPX could continue its work outside of Vatican control, the Reuters report said.

A Vatican spokesman contacted by Reuters declined to comment on relations with the SSPX.

The US Catholic magazine said that with the 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council’s opening coming up, the pope won’t have reunion with the SSPX to celebrate, despite the generous overtures he has made toward them.

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