Rome gives Lefebvrists a deadline for unity

BY DAVID V BARRETT
niE LEFEavaisrs have until tomorrow to agree to proposals which could lead to their return to full communion with Rome.
According to an Italian newspaper, the Vatican has told the Society of St Pius X (SSPX) that it would lift the excommunication of its leaders if certain conditions were met.
In 1988 John Paul II excommunicated the French Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre for consecrating four bishops against the direct orders of the Vatican. Archbishop Lefebvre had been critical of the Second Vatican Council, and especially of the Church's abandonment of the traditional Latin Mass. He set up the SSPX, which now has over 450 priests, as a breakaway group.
In 2005 Benedict XVI met Bishop Bernard Fellay, who became leader of the SSPX after Archbishop Lefebvre died in 1991, to try to find a way of overcoming the differences between the Vatican and the SSPX.
According to Andrea Tomielli, a journalist for II Giornale, the Vatican has asked the SSPX to fulfil five conditions: 1) A commitment to a proportionate response to the generosity of the Pope.
2) A commitment to avoid any public speech which does not respect the Holy Father and which can be negative for eeclesial charity.
3) A commitment to avoid the pretence of a Magisterium superior to the Holy Father and to not put itself forward in opposition to the Church.
4) A commitment to demonstrate the will to behave honestly in full ecclesial charity and in respect to the authority of the Vicar of Christ.
5) A commitment to respect the date fixed at the end of June to respond positively.