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The former SSPX leader on youth ministry, his encounters with Pope Francis and why the Old Mass is enjoying a revival<\/p>\n
With his high forehead, cleft chin and old-world manners, Bishop Bernard Fellay has a definite aura. At Angelus Press\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s annual Conference on Catholic Tradition in October, I watched as laymen, priests and Religious approached him, hoping to kiss his ring. He offered his hand with neither condescension nor embarrassment (both of which are more usual with bishops today).<\/p>\n
But he isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t aloof, either, which is another common episcopal vice. I saw him offer his hand to a one-year-old; Fellay and the child\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s mother looked surprised when the child, too, kissed his ring. He walked away, and she offered her own hand, but the baby wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t kiss it. Every now and then, Bishop Fellay would glide back over and offer his hand; each time, the child kissed his ring the prelate gave the mother an amused and approving grin.<\/p>\n
It was exactly three decades ago that Bishop Fellay was consecrated at \u00c3\u2030c\u00c3\u00b4ne as a bishop by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, a leader of the Second Vatican Council\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s conservative faction and the founder of the ultra-traditional Society of St Pius X (SSPX). From 1994 until this past July, Bishop Fellay served as the SSPX\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s superior general.<\/p>\n
I sat down with the bishop the day before Pope Francis canonised Pope Paul VI, who promulgated the post-Vatican II reforms which Lefebvre and his followers so strenuously opposed. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153He was called \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcour Janus\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 by John XXIII, and that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what we see,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Bishop Fellay says of Paul. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We see good points, and we also see bad points.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
He doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t believe that the Vatican\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s intention was to honour Paul VI himself. Rather, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153the impression we have is that there is a need to canonise Vatican II. They canonise the pope who made the Council, because this Council is so different from the others. They can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have it under the seal of infallibility by itself and so they try to find a way to secure it by these side actions.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
But despite his \u00e2\u20ac\u0153canonising the council\u00e2\u20ac\u009d, Bishop Fellay takes a kindly view of the Holy Father. He quotes Francis as saying to him: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Some people in the Church aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t happy when I do good to you. I tell them, \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcListen, I do good to Protestants. I do good to Anglicans. Why shouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t I do good to these Catholics?\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 He read twice the biography of Archbishop Lefebvre, and after that he said to one of our priests, \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcYou know, they have treated them badly\u00e2\u20ac\u2122.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Anyway, Bishop Fellay believes that Lefebvre\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s work will continue to bear much fruit. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153What he gave us is the treasure of the Church,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he says. Can he imagine Lefebvre being canonised, too? \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I think one time it will come,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he replies. But \u00e2\u20ac\u0153it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s useless to try to push that. We say, \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcGod\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hour\u00e2\u20ac\u2122, and you cannot play before.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
In any event, Lefebvre\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s influence throughout the Church is already evident. Without him, the Old Mass would almost certainly have fallen into disuse. Today, diocesan priests who celebrate the Latin Mass can be found in every major city in America and Europe. Their parishes are full of big, young families. But does this not threaten the SSPX, whose raison d\u00e2\u20ac\u2122\u00c3\u00aatre is to keep the old rites alive? Bishop Fellay doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think so. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Fundamentally, we have the same spirit,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he assures me. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The attachment to the Mass of centuries is a guarantee of community \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and, more than that, of being the Church. So, I rejoice every time a Tridentine Mass is celebrated anywhere in the world.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
But why exactly are young Catholics drawn to the old Mass? \u00e2\u20ac\u0153At the risk of sounding a bit funny, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s obvious why,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he says. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153This Mass is the concentration of the Catholic spirit, of Catholic religion. This Mass is not just liturgy, because it is genuine liturgy. You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re nourished from beginning to end. It is the Catholic spirit in action. You are drawn into the adoration toward God. The first duty of man toward God is to worship Him, to adore him. And there you are! Now there, too, you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re put in your place: begging forgiveness for your weakness, your sins, and for His help. And, so, you have the whole of the Catholic faith.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n
Still, he fears for those who aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t nurtured by tradition. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153There is a problem with the youth,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he says. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Why is it that the teaching Church is facing such an ignorance among their own children about the faith? That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a major problem. If you want the youth to be motivated, they first must be convinced. They must be taught.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Preach the faith, but preach it fully, integral \u00e2\u20ac\u201c not half-ways,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d he urges his fellow priests. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s too much of this trying to please this world. We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not there for that. We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re there to communicate to man God\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s word, God\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s law, God\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s commandments, God\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s love. This will be efficient if these words are accompanied by the corresponding example. And then the ideal, the Christian ideal, will come by itself. Vocation \u00e2\u20ac\u201c that is, God\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s call \u00e2\u20ac\u201c it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s there. God is not mute.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00e2\u20ac\u02dcPreach the faith, but preach it fully\u00e2\u20ac\u2122: an interview with Bishop Fellay Michael Warren Davis 29 November, 2018 The former SSPX leader on youth ministry, his encounters with Pope Francis and why the Old Mass is enjoying a revival With his high forehead, cleft chin and old-world manners, Bishop Bernard Fellay has a definite aura. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1921","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.latinliturgy.org\/phila\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1921","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.latinliturgy.org\/phila\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.latinliturgy.org\/phila\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.latinliturgy.org\/phila\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.latinliturgy.org\/phila\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1921"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.latinliturgy.org\/phila\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1921\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.latinliturgy.org\/phila\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1921"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.latinliturgy.org\/phila\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1921"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.latinliturgy.org\/phila\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1921"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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