Cardinal Levada's letter on Ecclesiae unitatem

La Buhardilla has the text of Cardinal Levada's communication which comes in conjunction with Pope Benedict's today moving the PCED into the CDF. Here is my translation:

As anticipated in the Letter of the Holy Father to the Bishops of the Catholic Church about the lifting of the excommunication of the four bishops consecrated by archbishop Lefebvre (10 March 2009), today is published the Moto Proprio "Ecclesiae unitatem", with which the structure of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, instituted by Pope John Paul II in 1988, is redesigned and updated.

The Motu Proprio Ecclesiae Unitatem explains the principal motive for the restructuring. The lifting of the excommunication of the four lefebvrist bishops was a measure in the field of canonical discipline to liberate the persons of the weight of the most grave ecclesiastical censure, even in the recognition that the doctrinal questions remain and, until they are clarified, the "Society of St Pius X" cannot enjoy canonical status in the Church and her ministers are not engaged in any legitimate mode with ministry in the Church. Because the problems are of an essentially doctrinal nature, the Holy Father has decided to rethink the structure the Pontificial Commission Ecclesia Dei, linking closely with the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

The Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei maintains its current configuration, with some modifications in its structure, which we summarize here:

1) The President of the Commission is the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

2) The Commission, with in its own organic way, is composed of a Secretary and Officials.

3) It is the role of the President, with the help of the Secretary, to refer the principal cases and questions of a doctrinal nature for examination and judgement in ordinary instances to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (Consulting with Members of the Ordinary/Plenary Session), and to submit the results to the final disposition of the Supreme Pontiff.

Cardinal William Levada, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and now elected President of the Commission Ecclesia Dei, has expressed his gratitude to the Holy Father for the confidence demonstrated with this decision, assuring the Holy Father, also in the name of the Officials of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, commitment the doctrinal dialogue with the Society of St Pius X.

The Holy Father, with signed Letter, warmly thanked Cardinal Darío Castrillón Hoyos, until now President, for his great dedication to the work of the Commission Ecclesia Dei. Equally, the Holy Father, through the Cardinal Secretary of State, thanked Mons. Camille Perl for his many years of service to the same Commission. Cardinal Levada has joined these acknowledgements, extending them to the Members and Experts of the Commission whose work will now be taken by the Members of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and also with eligible experts according to the necessities of studying particular questions.

Welcoming the appointment of Mons. Guido Pozzo to be Secretary of the Commission, Cardinal Levada noted the preparation of Mons. Pozzo and his particular interest in the questions of the competency of the Commission Ecclesia Dei. Until now, Mons. Pozzo was Assistant Study of the Doctrinal Office of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and the Adjunct Secretary of the International Theological Commission.

With the Motu Proprio published today, the Holy Father wanted to demonstrate particular and paternal solicitude for the Society of St Pius X, to the end of overcoming the difficulties which still remain to achieving full communion with the Church.