In another sign that the Society of St. Pius X does not now nor never had the intention of reconciling with Rome, the schismatic group is planning to ordain 21 new priests in three countries despite Vatican opposition, which considers them illegitimate. This in spite of Pope Benedict XVI's controversial and unilateral lifting of the excommunications of the four SSPX bishops back in January, according to Reuters.
This has been my suspicion about the SSPX all along: Despite all the Holy See's backbending to accomodate this infinitessimal group (200,000 out of 1.2 billion) of hard-right traditionalists, their leadership has absolutely no intention of accepting the church's teaching as defined by the Second Vatican Council and subsequent documents, which the pope has required of them. (You can read my Glad You Asked about the SSPX here.) The pope's action back in January caused immense damage in the Catholic relationship with the Jews because of the Holocaust-denier Bishop Richard Williamson, and it sparked open opposition among European bishops.
And what does the pope get for his unilateral charitable action: the ecclesial equivalent of the finger. And that's exactly what this is.
