Benedict XVI Has Commented On Lefebvre’s Bishops' Ordination in 1988

The negotiations between Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger and Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre failed in May 1988 because an agreement could not be reached on whom to consecrate as a bishop for the Society of Saint Pius X and because the Vatican did not set a date for a consecration, according to the present superior of the Society, Bishop Bernard Fellay.

Fellay was one of four bishops ordained without Vatican approval in June 1988 by Archbishop Lefebvre.

Talking to the German weekly Die Tagespost (June 28), Fellay said that Lefebvre felt betrayed since no date for the ordination was set up.

Benedict XVI told the Tagespost that he does not remember the situation in its details. But he is “pretty sure” that the personnel question had played a minor role since John Paul II had promised to ordain a bishop for the Society.

Benedict XVI declared that it was not his task to find a date for the ordination.

At the meeting in May 1988, Lefebvre first accepted an agreement and a collaborator of Ratzinger wanted to pick up the signed agreement the next day.

According to Benedict XVI, Lefebvre suddenly declared “to everyone’s shock” that he had realized that the agreement would be used to destroy the Society.

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