On June 14 the Vatican proposed a way to reconcile with the Society of St. Pius X (sspx), the ultra-traditionalist breakaway group founded by the late Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre in 1969. Special legal status is being offered the group in a continued effort on the part of Pope Benedict xvi to move the Roman Catholic Church to a more conservative position.
The status being offered is called “personal prelature,” which is like a diocese without specific boundaries. This legal status was introduced during the Second Vatican Council and until now has only been given to the conservative Opus Dei movement.
