_WORLD WATCH______________________________
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An end to a schism?
Vatican nears agreement with a Lefebvrist group
The Vatican might soon announce an agreement with a traditionalist group in Brazil, restoring full communion between the Holy See and one arm of the schismatic movement begun by the late Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre.

The Fraternity of St. John Vianney, in Campos, Brazil, has been engaged in talks with the Vatican for several months. While discussions with other Lefebvrist groups have foundered, the Brazilian group has shown a lively interest in returning to full communion with Rome.

The Brazilian traditionalist group, located within the Diocese of Campos, has 20 parishes and thousands of faithful, led by Bishop Luciano Rangel. For years after its founding in 1988, the Fraternity of St. John Vianney was at loggerheads with the Campos diocese. But the appointment of Bishop Gomes Guimarães to head the Campos diocese led to a distinct warming of relations, and the beginning of serious merger talks.

Bishop Rangel was ordained by the traditionalist bishops who themselves were ordained by Archbishop Lefebvre in the first act of the schism. The episcopal ordinations were illicit, and those who participated—including Bishop Rangel—incurred the penalty of excommunication. However, those ordinations were also valid, and the Holy See could recognize Bishop Rangel by a simple act, lifting the excommunication, and making him an auxiliary bishop of the Campos diocese. The talks aimed toward such a solution may have been accelerated by the fact that Bishop Rangel is suffering from cancer.

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