The Associated Press reported that the case has become a flashpoint in the "ideological tug-of-war" in the Catholic Church over the pontiff's agenda.

The matter concerns the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate, a small but growing order of several hundred priests, seminarians and nuns that was founded in Italy in 1990 as an offshoot of the larger Franciscan order.

The previous pontiff, Benedict XVI, launched an investigation into the congregation when five of its priests complained that the order was taking on an overly traditionalist bent.

The dispute goes back to differing interpretations of the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, which include the use of local languages in Mass that some considered a break with the church's tradition.

Benedict relaxed restrictions on using Latin for the service in 2007.

The Vatican in July named the Rev. Fidenzio Volpi, a Franciscan Capuchin friar, as a special commissioner to run the order with a mandate to quell the dissent within its ranks and get a handle on its finances. In the same decree appointing Volpi, Francis forbade the friars from celebrating the Mass in Latin without special permission.

Four tradition-minded Italian intellectuals wrote to the Vatican accusing it of violating Benedict's 2007 edict, saying the Holy See was imposing "unjust discrimination" against those who celebrate the ancient rite.

Volpi though was undeterred, and on Dec. 8 took action, issuing a series of sanctions in the name of the pope that have stunned observers, the AP report said.

Volpi closed the friars' seminary and sent its students to other religious universities in Rome. He suspended the activities of the friars' lay movement. He suspended ordinations of priests for a year and required those who wish to be ordinated to formally accept the teachings of the Second Vatican Council and its new liturgy or be kicked out. And he decreed that current priests must commit themselves in writing to following the existing mission of the order.

Pope Francis has called Benedict's 2007 decree allowing wider use of the Latin Mass "prudent," but has warned that it risks being exploited on ideological grounds by factions in the church.

A group of tradition-minded lay Catholics has started an online petition asking for Volpi's ouster.

Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi defended Volpi as a sage administrator and dismissed calls for his ouster.

Sources

Associated Press/Trib Live
AP/The Globe and Mail
Image: Reuters/Trib Live

Williamson sparked a global crisis in Jewish-Catholic relations in 2009 for denying the Holocaust shortly before Pope Benedict XVI readmitted him to the Church.

The SSPX announced that Williamson had been "excluded" from its ranks on Oct. 4 because of his refusal to "show due respect and obedience to his lawful superiors."

An SSPX statement quoted by Religion News Service described Williamson's expulsion as a "painful decision" and made no mention of his vocal Holocaust denials.

In January 2009, Williamson denied the existence of Nazi gas chambers in a TV interview with a Swedish documentary program. He also questioned the general consensus among historians that 6 millions Jews were killed during the Holocaust.

His words became public just days before Benedict lifted the excommunication of four SSPX bishops, including Williamson.

The move was aimed at paving the way for full reconciliation between SSPX and Rome, but proved a major embarrassment for Pope Benedict XVI and the Vatican.

Jews from all over the world sought reassurance that the Catholic Church was still committed to Jewish-Christian dialogue that was started by the Second Vatican Council.

The SSPX rejects the liberalizing reforms of the council, which opened a new era in Catholic-Jewish relations after centuries of mistrust and religiously motivated violence.

Williamson's expulsion is unlikely to salvage the Vatican-SSPX negotiations that seem to have arrived at an impasse, the RNS report said.

After more than two years of "doctrinal dialogue," the Vatican's doctrinal office in June presented SSPX leaders with a final offer, reportedly requiring acceptance of the Second Vatican Council as part of church doctrine.

The traditionalist group has yet to issue an official response, but its top officials signaled on several occasions that it is unacceptable.

Sources

• RNS/The Washington Post
• Reuters/The New York Times
• AP/National Post
• Image: Catholic Register

"One can only be Catholic if one fully recognizes the faith of the Church. This includes the Second Vatican Council, which is a particularly important teaching," Bishop Gerhard Ludwig Mueller said to Vatican Radio on July 4 in his first and only interview since taking up his new post.

"It is therefore important to overcome internal blockages — groups on the fringes — and that one simply has to trust our Holy Father Benedict XVI and all those that who surround him," Bishop Mueller remarked.

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On Friday, Head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal William Levada, met with Bishop Bernard Fellay, SSPX leader. The meeting was held at the Vatican and lasted for two hours.

The Vatican told SSPX they must accept non-negotiable doctrinal principles within a month or risk a painful break with Rome that would have 'incalculable' consequence.

Vatican spokesman, Fr Federico Lombardi S.J., told reporters "the question isn't considered closed" but the SSPX statement, delivered to the Vatican in January "is not sufficient to overcome the doctrinal problems that are at the foundation of the fracture between the Holy See and the Society."

Bishop Fellay has been invited to "clarify his position with the aim of closing the existing fracture, as hoped for by Pope Benedict XVI," a Vatican statement said.

Lombardi would not give examples of the points on which the Society of St. Pius X and the Vatican still differ since the original preamble was never published, however among the known differences include SSPX opposition to the Vatican's outreach to Jews, Muslims and its ecumenical efforts, recognition of the authority of the Pope, and what it sees as the liberal reforms introduced at Vatican II.

The group has been given a month to respond.

Despite Benedict's openness to the traditionalists being controversial and meeting with resistance inside the Church, the Pontiff has nevertheless wanted to avoid a permanent schism and pursued reconciliation between SSPX and the Vatican as a cherished goal.

Sources:

• Society of St Pius X
• Reuters
• Associated Press
• NCR
• Image: Crusaders of the Immaculate Heart