VZCZCXRO2419
PP RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA
RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHNP RUEHPOD RUEHSK RUEHSL RUEHSR RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHROV #0097 2661347
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 231347Z SEP 09
FM AMEMBASSY VATICAN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1160
INFO RUEHTV/AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV PRIORITY 0093
RUEHJM/AMCONSUL JERUSALEM PRIORITY 0081
RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 0074
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0089
RUEHROV/AMEMBASSY VATICAN 1198

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