SYNAGOGUE AND LEFEBVRITES IN THE VATICAN'S FALL AGENDA

UNCLAS VATICAN 000097 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL KIRF VT SUBJECT: SYNAGOGUE AND LEFEBVRITES IN THE VATICAN'S FALL AGENDA REF: A. Vatican 17 ¶B. Vatican 35 ¶1. (SBU) Summary: The Holy See's spokesman, Father Federico Lombardi, confirmed September 15 that talks between the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) and the Holy See will resume in October. Roughly at the same time, Pope Benedict will visit Rome's main synagogue. If managed properly, these two separate events can advance the Holy See's goal of reigning in the ultra-conservative Lefebvrites without again damaging Catholic relations with the Jews. To do so, the Vatican needs to prove that it will not underrate the evil of anti-Semitism to facilitate Church unity. End summary. Background -------------- ¶2. (U) The SSPX is an ultra-conservative Catholic organization. The late French archbishop Marcel Lefebvre founded the organization in 1970 in reaction to the reforms of the Second Vatican Council (1962-65). Since then, the society's leadership has actively criticized Vatican II - which stressed respect for other religions and approved changes to Catholic liturgical rituals. Relations between the society and the Holy See ruptured when Lefebvre ordained four bishops without papal permission in 1988. Dialogue between the society and the Holy See to heal the rupture began some years ago. On January 21, 2009, the Holy See rehabilitated the four excommunicated SSPX bishops whom Lefebvre had illicitly ordained and expressed the hope that all members of the society would return to full communion with the Church. One of the rehabilitated bishops was a Holocaust denier, which created an uproar in the Jewish world in particular (ref. A). Avoiding the mistakes of the past -------------- ¶3. (U) In a recent press interview, Cardinal Christoph Schonborn said "the SSPX will be told very clearly what is not negotiable for the Holy See" when the two sides meet in October. Schonborn is a member of the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which took over the talks with SSPX after the Spring fiasco. Schonborg said the society must accept fundamental Vatican II conclusions about Judaism and religious freedom as a basic human right. (Note: The SSPX believes that upholding religious freedom weakens the Christian mandate to evangelize.) ¶4. (SBU) Comment: Whether the Vatican reigns the Lefebvrites in is largely an internal Church matter. How it does is not. Conscious of the Catholic Church's anti-Semitic past, Jewish leaders are wary of traditionalist groups that are more concerned about converting than protecting Jews. In dealing with the SSPX, a challenge for the Vatican is to confirm that it rejects anti-Semitism and that it will no longer allow any part of the Church to contribute to it. End comment DIAZ