The news, for the recent history of the Catholic Church [CONCILIATE], has some importance. According to rumors reported on 26 December from the Messainlatino.it blog, subsequently confirmed by the Vatican correspondent Marco Tosatti, the Pope is about to suppress the Ecclesia Dei Commission, transforming it into an Office of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. Externally it looks like a simple legal reorganization, since the Commission is already related to the former Holy Office, but from an ecclesiastical point of view a chapter opens with unexpected implications.

What is the Pontifical Commissionand Ecclesia Dei
In the 1988, with the Motu Proprio "Church of God Afflicted", John Paul II established the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, giving her the task of healing the rupture that has just occurred between the Society of Saint Pius. Marcel Lefebvre and Rome. The French bishop had in fact carried out what was in all respects considered a schismatic act, consecrating four bishops without papal permission and incurring automatic excommunication. Immediately some priests who had followed Lefebvre up to that moment did not approve of the act he had just committed, because they did not intend to definitively break with Rome. For this reason there was a need for an ad hoc Commission to welcome them. For example, the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter was born, composed of priests who did not follow Lefebvre to the end. Their "return" was accompanied by permission to celebrate the Tridentine Mass. The Fraternity of St. Vincent Ferrer also returned to full communion with Rome.
The Motu Proprio Ecclesia Dei also invited not to close the doors to the faithful who request the celebration of the Tridentine Mass in the dioceses,in line with the letter “Quattuor Abhinc Annos” sent by the Congregation for Divine Worship to the bishops in 1984, known as “the pardon” . The invitation, except in rare cases, it remained unheard and almost all the bishops refused to apply it, for essentially ideological reasons.
The transformation after the Supreme Pontiff
Benedict XVI made a further gesture of rapprochement towards all the faithful who strongly requested the celebration of the Tridentine Mass,by promulgating the Motu Proprio of the Supreme Pontiff, In the 2007. The document allowed all priests to celebrate the Tridentine Mass, in fact without the bishops being able to oppose any prohibition. This provoked very strong opposition from all those who opposed and still oppose traditional forms, but it created enormous enthusiasm among all those who recognized themselves and recognized themselves in them. The Supreme Pontiff gave his life to a true global movement, which now has thousands of "mass centers" all over the world, with hundreds of thousands of faithful, who attend the ancient Mass. It is that world that can be defined as traditionalist, which however never made any break with Rome.
In Italy alone, there are over one hundred masses celebrated regularly and the groups are growing in number, especially with regards to youth participation.
Everything was coordinated by the Ecclesia Dei Commission, that after the motu proprio of 2007, with which he became a commission of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, received the task of following the application of Benedict XVI's directives, as well as to respond to the faithful who in their own dioceses encountered resistance towards the Tridentine celebration.
The Ecclesia Dei Institutes
In the meantime, while the celebration of the ancient Mass has spread since 2008 in the dioceses, the institutes that regularly celebrate it as an exclusive form have grown considerably, as well as the Good Shepherd and the Fraternity of Saint Peter, which matters beyond that 200 priests and many seminarians, it is necessary to mention the Christ the King High Priest Institute, with more than one hundred priests and full seminaries, which was born in Gabon and is now widespread in various countries around the world. Besides these there are others, with smaller numbers but still in good health. In general it is recorded that, where diocesan seminaries close due to lack of members, these institutes have many aspiring priests, in line with the fact that a very high percentage of those who participate in the Tridentine masses can be labeled as young.
The Fraternity of Saint Pius
It should be emphasized that, although the act of ordinations was in itself schismatic, the fraternity of Saint Pius and he never disavowed the popes. To put it in jargon, Lefevrians are "a cum", this means that during the mass they recite the words "una cum famulo tuo Papa nostra" followed by the name of the reigning pontiff. It therefore did not behave like a schismatic entity, as many groups in the sedevacantist world do, composed of loose cannons who continually ordain priests and bishops, without control and above all by ignoring papal authority.
This attitude of the Society of Saint Pius, after Lefebvre's death in 1991, tensions were greatly eased and talks with Rome continued, albeit in alternating phases.
As an act of goodwill, Benedict XVI, who as a cardinal had followed the talks with Lefebvre himself and who as a bishop was not in favor of the ban on the ancient rite, In the 2009 withdrew the excommunications against the four bishops ordained in 1988. Mons. Fellay, one of the four and at the time superior of the Fraternity, he had written in 2008 to the Ecclesia Dei Commission, declaring: “We are always firmly determined in the desire to remain Catholic and to put all our strength at the service of the Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ, which is the Roman Catholic Church. We accept his teachings with a filial soul. We firmly believe in the Primacy of Peter and his prerogatives, and this is why the current situation makes us suffer so much". Obviously, with Saint Pius, but also to the relationship with the Second Vatican Council and the theme of ecumenism.
The fears of the "Tridentine" faithful
Going back to the beginning of the article, the fact that the Commission is downgraded to an office is an epochal act, especially because according to the Vatican expert Tosatti, suppression will occur because “the pastoral need for which it was created has disappeared”. This need was the recomposition of the Lefevrian schism, therefore this could be a prelude to a return to Rome of Saint Pius. In the immediate future, however, the faithful of the Tridentine Mass already in communion with the Pope risk being left without a point of reference that can protect them from those bishops who can't wait to chase them away and suppress the celebrations in their respective dioceses..
Furthermore, it is known that the progressive area and the most ambiguous and pro-Protestant liturgists would like to eliminate the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum (it was even discussed at the last CEI assembly). For these people, the fact that thousands of people recognize themselves in the ancient Mass is irrelevant. Better not to celebrate, rather than celebrating the hated Tridentine rite. The attitude is insane, but that's what's popular. These people hope that a return of San Pio (as if it were a product) of the ancient rite to the Fraternity and suppress everything else. The "Tridentine" faithful therefore fear that the progressives will use an agreement with Lefebvre's followers to deal a serious blow to the spread of the Latin Mass, which would disappear from the dioceses.
Never abrogated
As mentioned, at the last CEI assembly, alcuni bishops hanno sollevato il "problema" del Summorum Pontificum, as the Tridentine missal would have been abrogated with the promulgation of the missal of Paul VI of 1969. In reality there are two words in the Motu Proprio, "Never Abrogated", which means “never repealed”, who recognize the fact that precisely the ancient missal, whose latest edition is dated 1962, it has never been eliminated or banned. There is no document that sanctions its repeal. The current space does not allow specific treatment of this point, eventually an ad hoc article will be produced, but we can immediately say that Paul VI already in 1971, promulgated an indult, known as “Agatha Christie's Pardon”, from the name of the well-known writer who signed the appeal asking not to eliminate the Tridentine Mass, to allow celebration in England and Wales. Which he could not have done if the missal had been abrogated.
@barbadilloit