Dialogue with Lefebvre Followers at a Standstill

VATICAN CITY, MARCH 22, 2002 (Zenit.org).- No quick resolution is foreseen between the Holy See and the Lefebvrist St. Pius X Fraternity, a Roman Curia official says.

Cardinal Jorge Medina Estévez, prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments, today confirmed that Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, maintains theological correspondence with the group.

"Despite the recent exchange of letters between the St. Pius X Fraternity and Cardinal Ratzinger, the community of followers of Archbishop [Marcel] Lefebvre still shows a certain reluctance, and the situation is not ripe to arrive at a solution in the short term," the cardinal said.

During a press conference to present the new Roman Missal, the prefect for Divine Worship said the Holy See´s relations with other traditionalist groups are good.

Among the traditionalist groups that are in full communion, the cardinal mentioned the Fraternity of St. Peter, several monasteries in France, and the Institute of Christ the King at Gricigliano, near Florence, Italy.

Cardinal Medina explained that these groups have permission to preserve the Tridentine liturgy in their communities.

He also mentioned the case of the Fraternity of St. John Mary Vianney of Campos, Brazil, a traditionalist group admitted to full ecclesial communion last January by Cardinal Darío Castrillón Hoyos, prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy, on behalf of John Paul II.