Lefebvrites split over reconciliation.

Vatican City -- As previously reported, Bishop Bernard Fellay of the traditionalist Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) met with Pope Benedict in the summer of 2005 and later had contact with high-ranking curial members ("Lefebvrites to reconcile?" C.I., April 2006, p. 29).

Following the February 2006 convocation of Cardinals where the issue was discussed, five former SSPX priests and several seminarians on the brink of ordination have left the SSPX and entered a new religious institute, the Good Shepherd community. Its canonical statutes have Vatican approval. The Institute is located in Bordeaux, France. It will use the traditional Latin liturgy to celebrate Mass. Fr. Philippe Laguere, the Superior of Good Shepherd, was expelled from SSPX in 2004 after he criticized seminary teachings.

Bishop Bernard Fellay, one of four priests illegally consecrated bishop by Archbishop Marcel Levebvre in 1988, was re-elected in July as SSPX Superior for a twelve-year period. Despite Pope Benedict's sympathy with the concerns of the Society, Bishop Fellay recently told the press that he saw "little hope of a reconciliation in the near future" (Zenit.org, Sept. 11, 2006). According to a traditionalist website (www.tradio.com), the opposition comes from the priests and supporters of the SSPX, three-fourths of whom oppose any dialogue with Rome.

There is only one bishop in the world whose diocese celebrates the traditional Latin liturgy exclusively and who is in full canonical communion with the Holy See. This is Bishop Fernando Rifan, administrator of a "floating" diocese in Campos, Brazil. Bishop Rifan thinks traditional groups "can play an important role in restoring and reforming the Church, but only on condition that these groups demonstrate perfect union with the Pope." It is in Brazil that another Lebrebvrist group, the Society of John Vianney, left SSPX after its reconciliation with the Vatican.