Pope to lift ban on SSPX?

In an article entitled "Pope to let hardline group back in Church," Philip Pullella reports from Vatican City in The Scotsman (February 3, 2006):

Pope Benedict is considering lifting the excommunication of the heads of an ultra-traditionalist group that broke with the Vatican 18 years ago, according to reports yesterday.

The Pope is said to be planning to meet top advisers later this month to discuss more ways of bringing the traditionalists, known as the Society of St Pius X (SSPX), back into the mainstream Catholic fold.

... The Pope reportedly wants to hold a meeting with cardinals in mid-February "to discuss the possibility of lifting the excommunication of the bishops" Archbishop Lefebvre ordained.

Read more here. What remains to be seen is whether, and then how many of, the traditionalists will be willing to be mainstreamed into the hierarchical authority structure of the post Vatican II Catholic Church.

[Hat tip to New Oxford Review]