Papal plea to rebel Lefebvre published in unprecedented Vatican move as consecrations threaten schism

`I exhort you to renounce your project
by Vivienne Hewitt in Rome WITH a schism in the Church seemingly imminent, the Vatican has revealed details of its desperate attempts in the past two months to re-unite dissident Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre with Rome. The Holy See's unprecedented frankness on the issue is a result of John Paul II's "express desire" to keep bishops and the faithful fully informed, the Vatican said. And it follows 82-yearo 1 d Lefebvre's announcement last Wednesday that he would consecrate four bishops on June 30 in defiance of an accord he himself signed with the Holy See over a month ago.
In a front page, blackbordered article in the Vatican daily L'Osservatore Romano, considered the papal
mouthpiece, the Holy See expresses "profound grief" at Archbishop Lefebvre's decision and describes it as "schismatic".
It reveals that the Vatican's intensified negotiations with Lefebvre, whom Pope Paul VI suspended in 1976 for his refusal to accept some of Vatican Council II reforms, began last December. At that point the Holy See sent Cardinal Edouard Gagnon as observer to Econe, Switzerland, where Lefebvre's priesthood, the Fraternity of St Pius X, founded in 1969, has its headquarters.
On April 8 this year the Pope wrote to his intermediary on the Lefebvre case, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, urging him to strive to meet the Archbishop's demands as far as possible. The Pope at the time spoke of "manifestations" that Lefebvre was well-disposed to finding a solution.
Between April 12 and 15 members of the archbishop's fraternity met for talks with theology and canon law experts from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. The successful outcome resulted in a further reunion on May 4 which both Cardinal Ratzinger and Lefebvre attended to formulate a "protocol of peace". They both signed the document the next day.
In the first part of the paper, said the Vatican, Archbishop Lefebvre promised "fidelity to the Church and the Roman pontiff", acceptance of the Vatican II doctrine contained in point number 25 of the Lumen Gentium concerning the role of the Pope and his bishops, and he pledged dedication to "study and communication" with Rome "avoiding all controversy" on Vatican II teachings.
He also accepted to "recognise the validity of the Mass and sacraments celebrated accordin to rites promulgated by Paul VI and John Paul II" and to "respect the common discipline of the Church and ecclesiastic laws".
In return, the Vatican conceded "the faculty to utilise liturgical books in use until Vatican II reform" and promised to set up a special Roman commission to include two members of the archbishop's fraternity for the co-ordination of relations between the priesthood and the Holy See, and to resolve eventual problems. The Pope would also agree to nominate a bishop to the fraternity — and from its own ranks.
The next day, May 6, Archbishop Lefebvre wrote to Cardinal Ratzinger asking that the bishop's ordination take place on June 30. He added that if he received a negative answer he would proceed with the consecration.
On May 24, the two met again in secret. Cardinal Ratzinger informed the French •relate that the Pope would agree to the nomination and ordination of a bishop on August 15 this year to coincide with the closure of the Marian year.
Lefebvre handed the cardinal a letter, and gave him another for the Pope. Both stressed June 30 as the date for the ordination. He also asked that the members of his fraternity on the "Roman Commission" of liaison would not be two but hold the majority.
On May 30 Cardinal Ratzinger replied reminding Lefebvre that he had signed the protocol accord and of the necessity of "full obedience to the Holy Father whose cooperation was well known".
Within just three days the Church moved closer than ever to a schism. On June 2 Lefebvre wrote to the Pope: "Talks with Cardinal Ratzinger and his collaborators although held in an atmosphere of courtesy and charity, have convinced us that the moment of a frank and effective co operation has not yet come. We opposed the spirit of Vatican II, and the reforms it inspired, to keep the faith of our baptism intact. The mistaken ecumenism which is the origin of all the council's innovations, in liturgy, in church relations with the world, in the concept of the Church itself, is leading the Church to ruin and Catholics to apostasy. Radically opposed to this destruction of our faith and resolute in living within the traditional doctrine and discipline of the Church, we are demonstrating the absolute necessity of ecclesiastical authorities who espouse our preoccupations and help us to arm against the spirit of Vatican II and the spirit of Assisi. Our requests have been realised and since it is evident that the aim of this reconciliation is not the same for the Holy See as for us, we prefer to wait for a more favourable moment for a return to Rome. We continue to pray that Rome, infested with modernit , will become • n e again Catholic Rome and find again its 2,000 year old tradition.
On June 9 the Pope replied: "With a Paternal heart, but with all the gravity of circumstance, I exhort you to renounce your project which, if realised, will appear to be a schismatic act bringing the inevitable theological and canonical consequences of which you are aware. I invite you ardently to return in full obedience to the Vicar of Christ. I do not only invite you, I ask you in the name of Christ. To this request and this invitation I add my daily prayers to Mary, Mother of Christ. Do not allow this year dedicated in a particular way to the Mother of God to strike another blow to her heart".
The Vatican has now issued a "monitum" to Archbishop Lefebvre warning that if he proceeds with episcopal ordinations "he will seal a break with the apostolic See".