Father Benoît Paul-Joseph was one of the two FSSP Brothers who were received by Pope Francis in early February. In an interview, he reports on the encounter.
On Monday, the Society of St. Peter (FSSP) announced that two of its representatives were received by Pope Francis on February 4 and the Pope granted the Society a special decree on February 11 to mitigate the Motu Propio traditionis custodes for this community of tradition. One of the two representatives who met the Pope in Santa Marta was Father Benoît Paul-Joseph, District Superior of the French District. He gave an interview on the events to the French online daily Présent, conducted by Anne Le Pape.
Présent: Father, what is the background to your recent meeting with the Holy Father?
Father Benoît Paul-Joseph: Together with Father Ribeton, Regent of the European Seminary of our Fraternity, I wrote directly to the Pope on December 28 last year to express our dismay and incomprehension at the publication of Traditionis Custodes and the Responsa in order to express and confidently appeal to his care. He answered us personally the very next day – everything was scanned, but the letter was actually his handwriting – reassuring us and inviting us to come and explain our position. So we contacted his secretariat and February 4, 2022 was set as the date when Father Ribeton and I traveled to Rome.
We were received at the Santa Marta guest house for almost an hour. The Pope was very benevolent throughout the conversation and showed a real caring. He confirmed to us verbally what he had indicated to us in writing, namely that he really distinguishes our situation from that of priests who are not members of the former Ecclesia Dei communities and that in our particular case, since our Institute has the special permission to use the ancient liturgical books, this document was not intended for us.
Présent: So you were immediately reassured?
Father Benoît Paul-Joseph: Yes, indeed. The Pope also reminded us that in the Moto Proprio, when speaking of the former Ecclesia Dei Institutes, it is indicated that in future they will come under the authority of a new Dicastery, namely that for the Institutes of Consecrated Life and the Societies of Apostolic Life and that it was intentional that we were not directly mentioned in this document as we would depend on a new jurisdiction. "You are not affected by these restrictions," he told us, "but you retain your own right, which was granted to you when you were founded in 1988." The Pope was really touched by the history of our Fraternity, by the fact that our founders turned to the Holy Father in 1988 to express their confusion, much as we have done now. He felt that this was an act of faith that deserved to be honored and encouraged. He assured us that we would retain the use of all liturgical books, including the pontificale for ordinations.
Présent: So you now have all the guarantees?
Father Benoît Paul-Joseph: We respectfully asked him if all this could be formalized. We received the letter yesterday, Saturday 19 February, so we did not wish to discuss it publicly before then. It is a decree that revisits the decree of the Ecclesia Dei Commission of September 1988, which confirms the use of the liturgical books of 1962 for our Fraternity, a decree this time signed by the Pope. The 1988 was signed by the Ecclesia Dei Commission.
Présent: So is your position vis-à-vis the bishops confirmed?
Father Benoît Paul-Joseph: The bishops are still free to accept us in their diocese or not, but once we exercise an apostolate in a diocese, we cannot be argued with the argument of obedience to the Successor of Peter or the recent document [Traditionis Custodes] requiring the use of the current liturgical books as our own right is protected by a de facto exception.
Présent: What about the consecrations?
P. Benoît Paul-Joseph: There is still a small gray area here. The bishops are not members of the Society of Peter. Recently it has been said that they no longer have the right to use the traditional pontifical and this may cause some hesitation. But the Pope was delighted to hear us discuss our future ordinations and his position in this regard is clear.
Présent: Do you know whether other institutes will have a similar experience, or was that not an issue during this visit?
Father Benoît Paul-Joseph: Verbally, during the audience, the Pope spoke in the plural of “the Iinstitutes” of Ecclesia Dei. I can't be more categorical, but that's what emerged from the discussion.
Translation: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: Present (screenshot)
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.Com
AMDG
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