Pope Francis Paves Way for Establishment of SSPX Headquarters in Rome

By Felix N. Codilla III, Christian Post Contributor Thursday, March 02, 2017

Pope Francis was credited for playing an important and decisive role in paving the way for the purchase of a church complex in favor of the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX). The society and the owner have reportedly reached a tentative agreement to acquire the property.

The subject property is the Sta. Maria Immacolata all'Esquilino, a large complex around the corner from the basilica of St. John Lateran in central Rome. The neo-Gothic church was built between 1896 and 1914 for the now disbanded Franciscan order of the Grey Friars of Charity. The building complex beside it used to be a school.

The property is expected to become a center for studies and the headquarters of SSPX. The pope's intervention was made through Mgr. Guido Pozzo, secretary of the pontifical commission Ecclesia Dei, which seeks to bring traditionalists like SSPX into full communion with the Church.

This is not the first time that Francis came to the assistance of SSPX, according to Catholic Herald. The Argentine government was about to deny the society's permanent residence in the country in 2015 on the grounds that it was not Catholic. It reconsidered its decision upon the intervention of then Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, archbishop of Buenos Aires.

Another good news is the impending establishment of the society as a personal prelature, a process that would regularize its status. SSPX superior general Bishop Bernard Fellay expressed excitement over the establishment of their group's canonical status.

Catholic Culture explained that a personal prelature is a new canonical structure established for a special pastoral purpose. Although it is not a territorial structure, the prelature has its own clergy but its members remain under the jurisdiction of their local diocesan bishops. The only personal prelature to date is the Opus Dei.