The Vatican said it could not accept the proposal made by the traditionalist Society of St Pius X (SSPX) due to doctrinal differences between the Church and society. The society had been reacting to a proposal made previously by the Vatican as part of the talks between the two groups.

SSPX head Bishop Bernard Fellay has been informed of the position taken by Pope Benedict.

It was the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith which last September had written a doctrinal position whose acceptance was considered to be essential for the possibility of regularising the status of the group which had been separated from Rome since 1988. The society’s relationship with the Vatican had deteriorated after the group’s founder, the late Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, illicitly consecrated new bishops.

Vatican press office director Fr Federico Lombardi told reporters that an agreement is still possible.

“The question isn’t considered closed,” he said. However, the prospect of an agreement now appears remote.

Enquiry into Vatileaks

The Vatileaks scandal is to be investigated by a commission set up by Pope Benedict. The commission will try to discover who was responsible for a series of leaks of letters exchanged among Vatican officials and between the officials and the Pope himself.

A Vatican tribunal is expected to look into the possibility of taking legal action against those who leaked the documents to the media.

An administrative review of every Vatican office will also be carried out.

Last January letters written by Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano when he was secretary-general of the Governor’s Office of Vatican City State were leaked to the press. The letters warned of corruption, abuse of power, a lack of transparency in awarding contracts and opposition to financial reforms. Letters from Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Vatican secretary of state and Cardinal Dionigi Tettamanzi of Milan were also leaked.

A high Vatican official des­cribed the leaks as “cowardly” and “disloyal”.

Fears of Copts’ future after leader’s death

Pope Shenouda III, who died on March 17, led the Coptic Catholic Church for 40 years. He not only played a defining role in the recent history of his Church but presided during a period of profound social change in Egypt.

Fr Samir Khalil Samir, SJ, a Vatican authority on the Arab world, fears for the future of the Copts following the demise of Shenouda, who had forged an informal alliance with former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. The latter’s ousting and the swing towards an Islamic government has resulted in a drastic rise in anti-Christian violence.

The Coptic Church enjoyed substantial growth during Shenouda’s tenure, despite the influence of an Islamic majority. Relations between Copts and other Christian groups, however, were tenuous.

Government urged not to suppress protesters

The Confederation of Religious in Chile is supporting Bishop Luigi Infanti della Mora in urging the government not to suppress protesters in the southern region of Aysén.

“We denounce any violent action against citizens, any denial of the exercise of peaceful dialogue,” it said in in a statement.

“We oppose any enforcement of laws (anti-terrorism, national security, for example) that have nothing to do with these problems.”

(Compiled by Fr Joe Borg)

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