 On 13 February , Lefebvre then was invited to Rome for a meeting with the commission of Cardinals , which he described as " a close cross examination of the judicial type " , regarding the contents of his " Declaration " , followed by a second on 3 March . In May , the commission issued a notification that it had decided to grant approval to the Mgr . Mamie to carry out his intentions , with Lefebvre arguing that according to Canon 493 of the 1917 Code of Canon Law , only the Pope , which he interpreted to mean a direct decree from the Pope rather than mere retroactive approbation , could suppress a religious congregation . 
