PRIESTLY ASSOCIATION OF ST. JOHN MARY VIANNEY: FULL COMMUNION

VATICAN CITY, JAN 19, 2002 (VIS) - Yesterday evening, a public ceremony took place during which Bishop Licinio Rangel and all the members of the Priestly Association of St. John Mary Vianney - a group of followers of Archbishop Lefebvre in the diocese of Campos, Brazil - returned to full communion with the Chair of St. Peter.

The ceremony, which was held in the cathedral of Sao Salvador in Campos, was presided by Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos, prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy and president of the Pontifical Commission "Ecclesia Dei." The aim of this commission is to collaborate with bishops, with the dicasteries of the Roman Curia, and with other bodies for the purpose of facilitating the full ecclesial communion of priests, seminarians, communities and religious, until now linked in some way to the Fraternity founded by Archbishop Lefebvre, who may wish to remain united to Peter's Successor in the Catholic Church, maintaining their own spiritual and liturgical traditions.

A communique made public yesterday evening outlined the various stages of the process of this return to Rome: On August 15 last year, Bishop Licinio Rangel and the priests of the Association of St. John Mary Vianney sent a letter to the Pope "expressing their 'perfect communion with the Chair of St. Peter,' recognizing the primacy of the Pope and his mandate over the Universal Church and declaring that 'for nothing in the world would we wish to disassociate ourselves from the Rock upon which Jesus Christ built His Church'."

After recalling that Bishop Rangel was consecrated by prelates ordained by Archbishop Lefebvre, the communique affirms that on December 25, 2001, the Pope accepted the request from the Brazilian followers of Archbishop Lefebvre and ordered that the Association should be erected as an apostolic administration with personal jurisdiction, directly subject to the Holy See. He conceded the use of the Roman Rite and the liturgical discipline of St. Pius V, with the adaptations introduced by his successors up to Blessed John XXIII.

During yesterday's ceremony, "Bishop Rangel made the profession of faith and the vow of fidelity to the Roman Pontiff, in accordance with current practice."

"In this context," the communique concludes, "the Holy Father, 'with profound joy' and 'in order to render full communion effective,' concedes the remission of all canonical sanctions to all those who have incurred them."

Today also, John Paul II appointed Bishop Licinio Rangel as apostolic administrator of the personal apostolic administration of "St. John Mary Vianney" in Campos, Brazil.

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