Documents Declaration of intention by the founders, 2 July 1988

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Clarification

[Original: German]

For the honour and glory of the holy Catholic Church, for the consolation of the much troubled faithful, and for the peace of their conscience, the undersigned, members until now of the Fraternity of Saint Pius X, declare with profound regret over the illicit consecration of bishops on 30 June [1988] that they have remained within the Catholic Church as pars sanior of this same Fraternity, and that they have but one desire: to be able to live as a religious society in this Church and place themselves at her service under the authority, of course, of the Roman Pontiff, her supreme head.

With great satisfaction, they affirm that in the generous and truly maternal propositions which the Church offerred to the Fraternity in the agreement of 5 May 1988 are laid the foundations for a fruitful and without doubt Catholic future for their society. They express their hope that the ecclesiastical authorities would establish them canonically as a society, so that they might work for the realisation of their own particular vocation: to dedicate themselves to the People of God and above all to the formation of future priests in an authentic Catholic spirit, and in so doing, as befits the venerable tradition of the Catholic Church, to celebrate Divine Worship according to the guidelines of immemorial tradition.

In order to clarify their ecclesiastical status as quickly as possible, the undersigned, brought together in prayer, will present this declaration to the Holy See without delay, in order to place their work under the protection of the princes of the Apostles, Saint Peter and Paul, and with the blessing of the Holy Father.

Paris, Munich and Vienna, 2 July 1988

P. Josef Bisig

P. Engelbert Recktenwald

Abbé Patrick du Fay de Choisinet

P. Kaus Gorges

Abbé Gabriel Baumann

Abbé Denis Coiffet

Walthard Zimmer (deacon)

Martin Lugmayer

Raymund Noll

Bernward Deneke

Dominic Schubert

Alexander Leonhart

Peter Miksch

Thomas Hauth

Dietmar Aust