Sticking to Trent in papal communion

YOUR front-page news article (May 27) on the subject of Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre exhibits a mixture of bias and erroneous information. It is quite untrue to say that he heads a dissident sect; neither he nor those who accept his guidance have ever separated themselves from communion with Rome. He did not form a sect in 1969, but set up a seminary, and in 1970 he founded a religious fraternity, both with the full approval of Rome and the local bishop, to train men as priests in the service of the Church.
The nomination of ahishop to a vacant See is different from that of a bishop without territorial jurisdiction, as in the present case, so there is no good reason for delay. To adhere to the teachings of the Council of Trent cannot be regarded as being "in disaccord with the Pope, the entire episcopate and Church in general" unless the magisterium itself pronounce those teachings erroneous, which it has never done and indeed could not without calling into question the credentials of its authority.
L A Zaina Senior Lecturer in Italian University of Liverpool I READ with interest your frontpage story on the Archbishop Lefebvre affair. Having taught in one of the schools founded by him in the South of France, I have some knowledge of this matter, and was therefore concerned to see some inaccuracies in this report.
I was mystified by the assertion that Fr Schmidberger, "by embracing the Archbishop's preVatican Council of Trent canons, has already shown himself to be in disaccord with the Pope, the entire episcopate and Church in general" — an extraordinary state of affairs, considering that the Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent are binding upon the faithful and anyone rejecting them falls under severe anathemas and becomes a heretic!
Surely a Christian newspaper should take great pains to do full justice to all — even to those you may disagree with! Paul Dorey 6 Victoria Crescent Royston, Herts