Pope Francis: Catholics may licitly receive sacrament of confession from SSPX priests during Year of Mercy

The official announcement comes from the Vatican Bullettino in the form of a "Letter of the Holy Father Francis to the President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization at the approach of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy," dated September 1, 2015. The relevant paragraph comes at the end.

The announcement appears also on the usual websites, such as Rorate Caeli today; although I first caught wind of it from the often-comic site of Amateur Brain Surgeon, who can be found conceding that he has "lost a fight" as a "among the most strident opponents" of the SSPX, to whom he now offers his congratulations.

How the future will unfold waits to be seen, although the fireworks between Church Militant's Michael Voris and SSPX-supporting traditionalists (like Michael Matt, Chris Ferrara, Louie Verrecchio, and John Vennari) will likely continue unabated.


Cartoon courtesy of Fr. Z's Blog