In an excellent and balanced analysis of the tense negotiations between the Vatican and the SSPX, Joseph Shaw puts his finger on the toughest issue to resolve:

• Whatever assurances Pope Leo might be giving the Society about future policy towards the Traditional Mass, recent history has taught us all a painful lesson in how easily such policies can be reversed. On the other hand, if the SSPX continues to have its own bishops, perhaps in an Ordinariate structure, they would retain the ability to go back into an “irregular” situation the moment the Holy See does something they do not like.