I repeat, we have never separated ourselves from the Church. - Bernard Fellay

We both agree that there are already a number of practical provisions in place that make schism practically impossible. That is, in practice, in our everyday actions, we express and show Rome our submission, the fact that we recognise these authorities, and this not only at Mass, not only by naming the Pope and the local bishop in the canon of the Mass, but also in other ways. There is the example of the Pope himself, who has given us the power to hear confessions. There are also legal acts: it is a little complicated to explain, but it can happen that a priest commits canonical crimes, and in such cases we refer to Rome, which grants us the faculty and sometimes even requires us to issue a judgement on such cases. So these are really normal relationships. It is not just a matter of jurisdiction over confessions, there is a whole range of things involved.

Abbiamo un ottimo rapporto. Appena [Papa Francesco I] viene a sapere che siamo a Roma, ci fa aprire tutte le porte. Ci offre spesso il suo aiuto anche in questioni più piccole. Una volta ci ha detto: "Io ho problemi quando faccio qualcosa di buono per voi. Aiuto protestanti e anglicani...perché non dovrei aiutare anche i cattolici?". Alcuni vogliono impedire la riconciliazione. Noi siamo un fattore di disturbo nella Chiesa.

It is clear that Pope Francis wants to let us live and survive. He even said, to those who want to hear him, that he would never harm the Fraternity. He has also said that we are Catholics. He refused to condemn us for schism, saying, ‘They are not schismatics, they are Catholics,’ even though he later used a somewhat enigmatic term, namely that we are on the path towards full communion.