Our friends at Rorate found a story which seems to report the names of the theologians who will represent the Holy See in the theological talks with the SSPX.
Vatican names chosen?
According to French Vaticanista blog Osservatore Vaticano (followed by the website of Le Nouvelliste), the Vatican would have already chosen its team in the doctrinal talks with the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X (FSSPX / SSPX), which would be composed of Fr. Charles Morerod, O.P., Swiss, Secretary of the International Theological Commission, Deal of the Facoltà of Philosophy of the Angelicum; Fr. Karl Becker, S.I., German, a theologian who is close to the Pope and former professor at the Gregorian; and Mgr. Fernando Ocáriz (Opus Dei), Spaniard, professor at Santa Croce (the Opus Dei university in Rome), and Vicar General of the Prelature.
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Interesting! Any word on when the talks might start?
Excellent news on Fr. Karl Becker, SJ being named to the “team.” One thing I enjoy about the Holy Father in his dealings with the oft-wayward Jesuits is his highlighting and emphasizing on those Jesuits who hew to the orthodox end of the spectrum.
AMDG!
Fr. Becker and Msgr. Ocariz wrote essays (click on their names) on “Subsistit in” that I read back when I started getting into the Vatican II documents.
I haven’t read the response to Fr. Becker’s essay yet… haven’t found the full thing online, and I’m not really interested in paying for it.
Interesting that Msgr. Ocariz is included, given the SSPX’s stated hostility to Opus Dei and its founder, but we’ll see what happens. I love Pope Benedict.
Some quick internet research and some initial impressions for anyone interested:
http://arsorandi.blogspot.com/2009/09/all-popes-men-vaticans-side-of-table-in.html
Excellent, excellent, excellent! A Dominican. A Jesuit. and an Opus Dei Priest! All three of these are very orthodox and very intelligent. Fr. Morerod, OP was my professor at the Angelicum. He’s brilliant and thoroughly orthodox. I think if these can’t hammer out the problems, then no one can. Let us pray for them!
Jeff Pinyan,
Thanks for the references to Becker and Ocariz. I read them and thy are excellent.
I also browsed the “response to Becker”, but it doesn’t say who the author is? Do you know?
I have to agree with sacerdosinaeternum. I also experienced Fr. Morerod while a student at the Angelicum and found him to be an amazing teacher and solidly orthodox theologian. Very impressed to see his name on this list.
Well, it appears that there is some legitimate theological perspectives among the Vatican’s representatives. Hopefully, they can find a way to achieve common ground with the SSPX participants and avoid the disaster that occurred in 1988. There is, after all, an enormous opportunity here to show the world once and for all that there is One Church – Holy, Catholic and Apostolic and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it. This can only happen, I believe if both sides, and I do mean both, have a sincere desire to learn from each other rather than engage in a show of one-upmanship. May the Holy Spirit descend upon them and guide their work for the benefit of Holy Mother Church.
The response was written by Fr. Francis A. Sullivan, SJ. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_A._Sullivan)
Incidentally, can you imagine the reaction in…er…”certain quarters” if the SSPX’s “return” is facilitated by a Jesuit?
Can someone fill me in on “SSPX’s stated hostility to Opus Dei and its founder” as mentioned above? I’m not familiar with that.
“Can someone fill me in on “SSPX’s stated hostility to Opus Dei and its founder” as mentioned above? I’m not familiar with that.”
I don’t think it is a public official statement, but form my personal (note the “personal”) experience SOME sspx adherents do not like Opus Dei at all and I have heard laymen refer to it as a “cult”, I suspect this is because Opus Dei is the most orthodox “novus ordo” (how I despise those two words) organization out there and in the minds of some SSPX attendees they view as a rival or threat to SSPX.
This is because Opus Dei recognizes Vatican II, very loyal and had the sanction of the previous Pope John Paul II (of happy memory might I add), has a unique spirituality of St Josemaría Escrivá that isnt of the “big 4″(Franciscan/Ignatian/Carmelite/Dominican), and celebrates the Ordinary Form and offers and yet is very conservative and orthodox.
I think the same people despise FSSP for the same reasons (minus the Ordinary Form and spirituality of course) with the addition of being “sell outs”
For this reason the hardline minority which I just mentioned I fear will not follow the mainstream SSPX into full communion with the Church, unless in the negotiations the Church agrees to turn into an exact copy of the 1955 Church which will not happen. Instead I suspect these people will start a “SSPX in Resistance” or join one of the various sedevacantist sects.