Pope Francis has allowed priests from a breakway ultratraditionalist Catholic society to celebrate marriages, the Vatican announced on Tuesday.
As part of his bid to bring priests from the schismatic St. Pius X society back into the fold, the Vatican said Francis had approved a letter signed by the head of its doctrinal watchdog, Cardinal Gerhard Mueller.
The letter, addressed to bishops' conferences, said the move was "to reassure the conscience of the faithful". It outlined how to implement the change, stating that the St. Pius X society (SSPX) remained "irregular," but only "for the time being."
Under the measure, a local bishop will have a priest of his diocese attend the wedding at the SSPX chapel and receive the consent of the parties while the SSPX priest celebrates the wedding liturgy according to the traditional rite.
If no priest of the diocese is available, the local bishop can authorise the SSPX priest to receive the consent from the parties, the Vatican's letter states.
The measure comes amid decades-long negotiations to bring about reconciliation with the Swiss-based society, which split from the Vatican over the modernizing reforms of the Second Vatican Council.
The SSPX was founded in 1969 by late Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, whom the Vatican excommunicated in 1988 together with four other bishops after Lefebvre consecrated them without papal consent.
Francis met with the current head of the society, Bishop Bernard Fellay, in 2016 after the pontiff in 2015 allowed Lefebvrian priests to hear confessions for the Catholic Church's Jubilee of Mercy, a concession he extended indefinitely.
