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The Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) is an international society of Catholic priests administered by a Superior General and District Superiors in various countries. The official name of the organization is: Fraternitas Sacerdotalis Sancti Pii X or Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X.
SSPX is one of many organizations that promote what is known as Traditional Catholicism.
Inception of SSPX
SSPX was founded, with the canonical approval of the Bishop of Fribourg, in 1970 by French Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, former Superior General of the Holy Ghost Fathers, a Father of the Second Vatican Council, and one of the best-known modern prelates in Africa, where he spent much of his early career. He retired as head of the Holy Ghost Fathers in 1968 when the order began revisions of its constitutions, which Lefebvre considered Modernist.
Shortly after his resignation, Lefebvre was approached by seminarians from the French Seminary in Rome who, he said, were being persecuted for their adherence to traditional beliefs and doctrines. They sought advice on a conservative seminary to complete their studies. He directed them to the University of Fribourg, Switzerland.
In 1970, urged by the Abbot of Hauterive and the Dominican theologian, Fr. Philippe, to teach these Seminarians personally, Lefebvre approached the Bishop of Fribourg, who, three months before resigning the see, approved, with a document predated by six days to November 1, 1970, the founding of SSPX at the level of a "pia unio", the preliminary stage towards becoming an officially recognized religious institute or society of apostolic life. Swiss laymen offered the seminary at Ecône, Switerland to the newly formed group.
In the normal evolution of such an association within the Roman Catholic Church, the diocesan bishop, after a suitably long period of concrete experience of the "pia unio", and after asking the advice of the Holy See, would raise it to official status at diocesan level. Lefebvre attempted to bypass this diocesan stage, and contacted three different departments of the Holy See for the purpose of passing directly to the stage of recognition at papal level. He succeeded in getting a letter of encouragement from Cardinal John Joseph Wright, Prefect of the Sacred Congregation for the Clergy, but no approval from the Congregation competent for raising the association to the level desired by Lefebvre. Even Cardinal Wright's letter, dated February 18, 1971, was couched in sufficiently prudent terms, speaking of the association "as Your Excellency presents it", and saying, with regard to the field of competence of Cardinal Wright's own Congregation, that the association "will be able to contribute much to accomplishing the plan drawn up by this Congregation for worldwide sharing of clergy".
On 6 May 1974, the Bishop of Fribourg withdrew the "pia unio" status his predecessor had granted the Fraternity.
The 1988 consecrations
A central controversy surrounding SSPX concerns the consecration of four SSPX priests as bishops, despite papal prohibition.
In 1987, after over 15 years of heavy travelling to confer sacraments and ordain priests, the 81-year-old Lefebvre declared his intention to consecrate a successor, to ensure SSPX seminarians could be ordained and the Sacrament of Confirmation could be conferred on his followers. The Holy See objected to the plan, but began discussions, which led to the signing on 5 May 1988 of a very precise protocol in two parts (for the contents, see LAttività della Santa Sede 1988 [Libreria Editrice Vaticana], pages 520-521).
In the first part, which is of doctrinal character, Archbishop Lefebvre, in his own name and on behalf of the Priestly Fraternity of St Pius X:
- promised fidelity to the Catholic Church and the Roman Pontiff, Head of the Episcopal Body
- accepted the doctrine contained in section 25 of the Second Vatican Councils Dogmatic Constitution Lumen Gentium on the Churchs magisterium and the adherence due to it
- pledged a completely non-polemical attitude of study and communication with the Apostolic See on the points of doctrine of the Second Vatican Council and the later reforms that he and the Fraternity considered difficult to reconcile with Tradition
- recognized the validity of the Mass and the sacraments celebrated with the required intention in accordance with the rites in the typical editions promulgated by Paul VI and John Paul II
- promised to respect the common discipline of the Church and the ecclesiastical laws, in particular those contained in the 1983 Code of Canon Law, making allowance for special discipline granted by particular law to the Fraternity.
The second (juridical) part of the document envisaged, apart from the canonical reconciliation of the persons concerned, that:
- the Fraternity would become a society of apostolic life with special exemption regarding public worship, care of souls and apostolic activity, in line with canons 679-683
- the Fraternity would be granted the faculty to employ the liturgical books in use before the concilliar reform
- a special commission, including two members of the Fraternity, would be set up to facilitate contacts and resolve problems and conflicts
- it was proposed to the Holy Father that a member of the Fraternity be appointed a bishop.
This document was to be submitted to the Holy Father for his approval. The next day, however, Archbishop Lefebvre declared he was obliged in conscience to proceed with the ordination of the bishop on 30 June, with or without papal approval.
On 24 May, Archbishop Lefebvre was promised that, on condition that he requested reconciliation on the basis of the protocol he had signed, the Holy Father would appoint a bishop from among the members of the Fraternity, chosen according to the normal procedures, and that the consecration would then take place on 15 August, at the close of the Marian Year. Archbishop Lefebvre, on his part, presented at the same meeting of 24 May three written demands:
- the consecration must take place on 30 June
- not one, but three bishops, must be consecrated (this he had been asking for before the discussions that led to the signing of the protocol)
- the majority of the members of the special commission must be from the Fraternity
On instructions from Pope John Paul II, Cardinal Ratzinger replied to Archbishop Lefebvre on 30 May, indicating that the Holy See found these demands unacceptable and declaring that the promised authorization for the ordination of a bishop could not be granted, if Lefebvre persisted in his intention to carry out unauthorized consecrations on 30 June.
On 3 June, Lefebvre wrote from Ecône to say he would still go ahead with the 30 June consecrations. On 9 June 1988, Pope John Paul II replied to him with a personal letter, recalling the agreement the archbishop had signed on 5 May and appealing to him not to proceed with a design that would be seen as nothing other than a schismatic act, the theological and canonical consequences of which are known to you. When no reply came from Lefebvre, this letter was made public on 16 June.
On 30 June 1988, Archbishop Lefebvre then proceeded to consecrate as bishops, not three, but four SSPX priests: Richard Williamson, Bernard Tissier de Mallerais, Alfonso de Galarreta and Bernard Fellay. One of the normal conditions for a consecration is that a consecrating bishop must have two assistant consecrators; thus, four bishops ensured that, upon the death of one, three would remain to consecrate a replacement. Bishop Emeritus Antonio de Castro Mayer of Campos, Brazil, assisted Lefebvre in these 1988 consecrations.
Pope John Paul II, confirming a decree of the Congregation for Bishops, issued a motu proprio, Ecclesia Dei Adflicta[1] (http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/motu_proprio/documents/hf_jp-ii_motu-proprio_02071988_ecclesia-dei_en.html) condemning the consecrations as schismatic and as entailing, in view of canon 1382 [2] (http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P54.HTM)of the Code of Canon Law (the Code of laws of the Latin Church), automatic excommunication of all the bishops involved.
Lefebvre said the consecrations were necessary because the traditional form of the faith and sacraments would become extinct without traditional bishops to pass them down to the next generation. He cited canon 1323 §4 and canon 1324 §5[3] (http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG1104/__P4W.HTM), which states, in part, that no one can be penalized if acting by reason of necessity or grave inconvenience, unless the act is intrinsically evil or tends to the harm of souls." Some have argued that no penalty can be applied even if the "necessity" is only imaginary.[4] (http://www.sspx.org/SSPX_FAQs/q11_abexcommunicated.htm)
The standpoint of the Holy See is that this claim is unfounded.[5] (http://www.catholicculture.org/docs/doc_view.cfm?recnum=1220) It views the four bishops as validly consecrated but automatically excommunicated. It regards ordinations of priests by them as valid, but illicit, with the result that the priests are by law suspended from exercising priestly functions. No excommunication decree has been issued against the priests or other religious of SSPX (which does not, in the strict sense, have lay members), nor has any been upheld against those who attend SSPX chapels.
Though it considers the 1988 consecrations to have been a schismatic act, the Roman Catholic Church does not view SSPX as constituting a schismatic Church. On the other hand, it does see some SSPX members as schismatic in attitude. The department of the Roman Curia that has competence for relations with the Society is the Ecclesia Dei Commission, created by Pope John Paul II in his 1988 motu proprio. There has been no question of this commission issuing a general instruction or decree revoking or revising the 1988 decisions of the Holy See. Instead, as well as carrying out the main functions for which it was instituted, it has written to individual enquirers, explaining the Church's present evaluation of the situation of the Society of St. Pius X, spelling out the consequences, and declaring that attendance at SSPX Masses, since they are celebrated by priests suspended from priestly functions and with schismatic views, is for Catholics morally illicit in normal circumstances.[6] (http://www.ewtn.com/library/CURIA/CEDSSPX.HTM) [7] (http://matt1618.freeyellow.com/schism.html) [8] (http://www.ewtn.com/library/CURIA/CEDSSPX2.HTM)
The SSPX considers itself faithful to the Catholic Church and all its infallible teachings, while rejecting some teachings of the Second Vatican Council; and it acknowledges Pope John Paul II as Pope. The four SSPX bishops do not claim ordinary jurisdiction over those who receive Sacraments from SSPX priests and bishops. An appeal is made to extraordinary circumstances in regard to the Sacraments of Penance and Matrimony, for whose validity jurisdiction is normally required. Thus, a form of jurisdiction is in practice exercised, on grounds of necessity, not only for these sacraments but also for marriage annulments and dispensations.[9] (http://www.sspx-schism.com/Roberts.htm)
SSPX today
The SSPX had, according to one claim, more than 470 priests in its worldwide ranks in August 2004. The French newspaper La Croix of 11 September 2004, put the number at precisely 440, one third of them French. SSPX activities include the training of future priests in its seminaries. The main seminary is in Econe, Switzerland, but there are others in the United States, France, Germany, the Philippines, Australia, and Argentina. (The article on La Croix of 11 September 2004 put the total number of SSPX seminaries at six.) The SSPX has missions or chapels in different locations to provide the Mass, sacraments, schooling of children, and catechesis. Priest houses, or Priories, are set up through countries and usually include a chapel and a school. From here priests travel to different areas to offer Mass at more remote chapels. The largest SSPX center has reportedly been in Africa where Archbishop Lefebvre once resided, in Gabon.
The SSPX collaborated for a number of years with the late Bishop Salvador Lazo of San Fernando de la Union, Philippines and later with Bishop John Bosco Manat Chuabsamai, who resigned from his see of Ratchaburi, Thailand on 24 July 2003. It also collaborates with independent priests and religious who share its Traditional Catholic emphasis on the law, the liturgy, and the catechism. It has also recently linked up with a Ukrainian-rite Catholic priest and his followers.
Negotiations with the Holy See
After the 1988 episcopal consecrations, the SSPX and the Holy See had little, if any, dialog or direct dealings. This ended after SSPX led a large pilgrimage to Rome for the Jubilee in the year 2000. Cardinal Darío Castrillón Hoyos, of the Ecclesia Dei Commission, then approached the SSPX bishops about regularizing relations. He said the Pope would grant them a personal prelature, essentially a worldwide diocese, like the Personal Prelature of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei created by Pope John Paul II in 1982 for an organization founded in 1928 by Saint José María Escrivá de Balaguer. Such an arrangement has since been made, at a local level only, for the Priestly Union of St. Jean-Marie Vianney, Traditional priests in Campos (formerly alied with the SSPX), Brazil. The SSPX leadership indicated their distrust, saying Castrillón was vague in how the prelature would be implemented and supported, and citing objectionable Vatican dealings with the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter (FSSP)[10] (http://www.fssp.org/) and on the SSPX episcopal consecrations. They demanded two preliminary acts of good faith before continuing negotiations: that the Holy See officially declare that every Catholic priest has always been able to celebrate the Tridentine Mass and cannot be forbidden from doing so; and, secondly, that it declare null the excommunication decree concerning the 1988 consecrations. Cardinal Hoyos answered that delcaring the excommunication null could be readily granted, but that making the statment concerning the Tridentine Mass would cause many of the world's bishops to go into open schism, particularly in France -- a situation Rome was not prepared or willing to handle. With that, the dialogues ceased.
The statement in the foregoing paragraph, with its surprising claim that the Holy See would readily declare null its own notification of Lefebvres automatic excommunication for his 1988 action, finds no support in the reports of the Ecclesia Dei Commission that appeared in the annual publication LAttività della Santa Sede (Libreria Editrice Vaticana) for the year 2000 and those immediately following. The 2000 report says the Commission continued its patient work of reconciling with the Catholic Church priests, seminarians and religious communities previously belonging to the Fraternity of St Pius X. The SSPX name does not appear at all in the reports for 2001 and 2002, which, on the other hand, do speak of the discussions that in the latter year brought about the admission to full communion of the Priestly Union of St Jean-Marie Vianney in Campos, Brazil.
Only in the 2003 report, when, according to the above-quoted account, dialogues had ceased, does the Commission again mention SSPX: During the year, dialogue about the canonical situation of the St Pius X Fraternity continued at various levels. In this connection, the Cardinal President had some high-level meetings and kept up an exchange of correspondence. On the Holy Sees side, there has been no change in the effective proposals for regularizing the question. After examining the problems faced by priests and faithful, considering the good will of several members of the Fraternity and the recurrent problems of the faithful attached to the former liturgical tradition who take part in the Fraternitys liturgy, the full membership of the Commission studied and presented to the Holy Father a draft for restructuring the Commission with a view to ... a possible return of the St Pius X Fraternity or of some of its members (page 1097).
This is the first indication in the Commissions 21st-century reports of serious dialogue between SSPX and the Holy See.
Controversies and politics
While Traditional Catholicism, per se, is not a political position, Traditional Catholics consider that there are social teachings of the Church that have been discarded even by the Holy See. Traditional Catholics cite: the principle of subsidiarity, recognizing the evils of Communism, honoring the social Kingship of Christ, respecting Natural Law, eradicating the modern radical separation of Church and State, reversing false ideas of "religious freedom" while recognizing the goodness of tolerance and charity for all men, the use of the law to support the institution of the family, etc. Accordingly, in some countries such as France, traditional catholics have been associated with far-right politics, espousing causes such as monarchism, hostility to the separation of Church and State, antisemitism etc.
There is an ongoing controversy with respect to the Society of St Pius X occupying illegally the church of St Nicolas du Chardonnet in Paris, from 1977 on. The owner of the church is the city of Paris, which, according to the 1905 French law of separation of Church and State, grants to the Catholic Church a free usage right. In 1978, the Cour de Cassation confirmed that the occupation of St Nicolas du Chardonnet by the society of St Pius X was illegal. However, the Society was never expelled. [11] (http://www.quid.fr/2000/Q013690.htm) On February 20, 1987, the Conseil d'État ruled that the trouble to public order resulting from an expulsion would be greater than the trouble resulting from the illegal occupation. In 2002, several executives of the Society of St Pius X were convicted of disseminating antisemitic propaganda at St Nicolas. On June 22, 2002, the municipal council of Paris voted a wish that the Society of St Pius X should be expelled from St Nicolas du Chardonnet against the opinion of mayor Bertrand Delanoë, who considers the matter internal to the Catholic Church and remarks that the Archbishop of Paris has not asked for expulsion.
Mass attendance at St Nicolas du Chardonnet continues to be very high. An SSPX attempt in 1993 to occupy another church in Paris, that of Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois, was unsuccessful.
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