Breaking News: Massive liturgical changes expected in 2018!

Reliable sources close to the Holy See have indicated that sometime in the second half of 2018, the Novus Ordo Lectionary and Calendar are to be imposed upon the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Mass. 

The new Roman Missal will become available on the First Sunday of Advent 2018 but the Vatican will allow a two-year period to phase it in. These changes are expected to be much more drastic than what was envisaged in Universae Ecclesiae that states:

25. New saints and certain of the new prefaces can and ought to be inserted into the 1962 Missal, according to provisions which will be indicated subsequently. (emphasis ours)

The Vatican approved societies and institutes, such as the Fraternity of Saint Peter and the Institute of Christ the King, will likely apply for exemptions, but all requests are expected to be turned down. The only exception seems to be the SSPX, which might be granted a temporary exemption, to ensure that an agreement is reached between the SSPX and Rome.  However, if the exemption granted will be of a temporary nature, more SSPX priests are expected to join the so-called Resistance (formerly known as SSPX-SO) under Bishop Richard Williamson and more will go independent. This would make the traditional Catholic movement more fragmented than ever before.

Bishop Williamson to visit Malta

Bishop Williamson is touring several countries following his expulsion from the SSPX

This Blog has been informed - from a reliable source - that Bishop Richard Williamson will be in Malta in July or August 2013. It is part of the second tour to Europe this year by the former SSPX bishop. He will also be visiting France, Belgium, Italy and Spain.

This visit seems to follow the alleged ones that took place in 2011 although in both cases the SSPX delegation was not headed by a bishop. 

Since then, Bishop Williamson was de facto expelled from the Society of St. Pius X and is now closely linked with the SSPX-SO headed by Fr Joseph Pfeiffer.

Pro Tridentina (Malta) is in no way involved in this visit nor was it involved in the previous ones.

The SSPX is de facto split

Arch. Lefebvre lying in state

Bishop Richard Williamson, consecrated by Archbishop Lefebvre in 1988, and subsequently expelled by the SSPX earlier this year, has preached a retreat between 17 and 21 December 2012 for the newly founded Society of St. Pius X of the Strict Observance (SSPX-SO). This event has signalled the de facto split between the SSPX under Bishop Bernard Fellay and a growing group of former SSPX priests. 

Bishop Williamson is now touring several independent (read sedevacantist) traditional groups, including the SSPX-SO, two religious communities in Brazil, and other independent churches and chapels around the world. The SSPX-SO has already received applications from men who wish to enter its seminary. The SSPX-SO has in fact announced the formation of a seminary for September 2013 in Boston, Kentucky, under the patronage of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel.

The SSPX-SO comprises a growing number of former SSPX priests in the United States, South Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Mexico and South America. Apparently, priests from Europe and Australia are also toying with the idea of leaving the SSPX and joining the SSPX-SO.

Such a scenario may lead to further divisions in the Roman Catholic Church, something unwarranted considering that negotiations are ongoing between the Holy See and the SSPX to heal the current situation. It could also be a blessing in disguise because certain ideas - like sedevacantism - have no place in the Catholic Church and cause unnecessary harm to traditional Catholics worldwide.