Guys, a Christian religious group isn't Protestant simply because it is not in union with the Catholic or Orthodox Churches. The SSPX isn't Protestant.
The sole characteristic that all Protestant communities have in common is the denial that there is a specific worldly institution that can be identified as the Church that Christ established. The SSPX doesn't believe that; it does believe that the Catholic Church was established by Christ, but that there is a grave dereliction of duty by the current hierarchy.
The SSPX isn't Protestant. The Jehovah's Witnesses are not Protestant. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints are not Protestant. They all believe that there is an institution that is to be rightfully identified as Christ's visible Church on earth.
The full text of Pope Leo's letter to the Superior General of the SSPX, coming on the eve of the planned schismatic episcopal ordinations.
Letter of Pope Leo XIV to the Reverend Davide Pagliarani, Superior General of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X.
With a paternal heart, and aware of the responsibility entrusted to me by the Lord as the Successor of the Apostle Peter, I address you and, through you, the bishops, priests, seminarians and faithful connected to the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X.
The Church recognizes the devotion to liturgical life, commitment to priestly formation, apostolic zeal and desire for fidelity to Tradition that characterize many people and communities connected to your Fraternity. This has motivated the attentive and generous attitude that my Predecessors have consistently shown to you.
In this spirit, and filled with Christian affection, I plead with you and ask you with all my heart: please turn back! I urge you to consider carefully the spiritual good of the faithful, because the schismatic act you are about to undertake would deprive them of the licit and, in some cases, even valid reception of the Sacraments, which they love and seek for their sanctification.
The Church is open to a path of dialogue and understanding that the Holy Spirit can make possible and fruitful.
I pray for you, because to tear the seamless garment of Christ is a sin of extreme gravity. May the Lord enlighten your consciences and awaken your hearts. With a sorrowful yet hopeful heart, I feel it is my duty, through the authority received from Christ, to ask you to desist from your intended act. I entrust these intentions to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Mother of Good Counsel.
From the Vatican, 29 June 2026,
Solemnity of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul.
There is a crisis in the Church today and that cannot be denied. There is widespread dissent from the official magisterial teaching on all manner of topics, ranging from moral theology to ecclesiology to Christology. But far from fighting this lamentable trend, the SSPX is in fact a part of it, as they engage in their own version of theological dissent which entails the assertion that they get to make up their own ecclesial rules as they see fit.
And now here we are in 2026 facing another round of illicit, SSPX episcopal consecrations without a papal mandate. People have asked me for my views. Well, here is my view: should they do this then excommunicate them once and for all and let's be done with them. […] The Church has bent over backwards to accommodate them […] But nothing the Church does is good enough for the SSPX. They are completely wedded to their scorched earth rejection of Nostra Aetate, Dignitatis Humanae, and the Novus Ordo. I support the ongoing efforts by Rome to try and forestall any more illicit episcopal consecrations. But if the talks fail, and they go forward with their schismatic act, then in my view they will have incurred automatic excommunication.
The liturgical scholar Dom Alcuin Reid on the SSPX’s episcopal consecrations
What many do not appreciate is the real pastoral need the SSPX have for new, younger bishops. With over 730 priests, more than 260 seminarians, various religious communities and almost 800 churches or chapels around the world, as well as vast numbers of faithful, which increased substantially during the Covid-induced abdication of ministry by many mainstream parishes, and which increased further after the pastorally disastrous implementation of the 2021 motu proprio Traditiones Custodes, the Society needs more bishops for Confirmations, Ordinations, Professions and other pontifical functions. Its two existing bishops are no longer young enough or sufficient in number to meet these increasing pastoral demands and the constant travel they require.
We would be wrong to view the episcopal consecrations that have been announced as some form of political manoeuvre or an attempt to augment the ceremonial splendour of the Society’s liturgies. The SSPX is rightly convinced that they are necessary for the sacramental life of the Catholic faithful who turn to them. Their bishops work harder than most and are truly missionary, motivated by the salvation of souls – not their own comfort or personal gain.
This is a profound matter of conscience for them, and in truth, it is hard to say that they are wrong when bishops and even popes and cardinals sometimes do all they can to close down apostolates using the traditional liturgical rites for the Mass and the sacraments, and when seminaries and religious houses empty and close one after the other. Demands to submit blindly to obedience such as have been thrown at the Society since the 1970s simply will not cut: the reversal of Pope Benedict XVI’s generous measures by Pope Francis have increased their fears and confirmed their mistrust in authority.
The Society of St. Pius X’s recent announcement that it plans to consecrate new bishops in July, even without papal approval, invites inevit
The Society of St. Pius X’s recent announcement that it plans to consecrate new bishops in July, even without papal approval, invites inevitable comparisons with another group that continues to move against Vatican guidelines: the German Church.
[...]
From a legal standpoint, the contrast is stark. The SSPX exists in a precarious and ambiguous canonical situation, while the German bishops are fully integrated into the Church’s legal and institutional framework. Yet both challenge the Church’s authority in problematic ways. The SSPX challenges official church documents, beginning with Vatican II, while the German bishops largely view themselves as the principal guardians and interpreters of the conciliar legacy. Just as the Germans implicitly claim a mandate to guide the universal Church toward a deeper reception of the Council, the SSPX claims the right to conditionally accept church teaching and law. At this point, the two camps neither meaningfully communicate with each other nor exhibit a healthy relationship with the pope. In both cases, obedience appears strained, selective, or instrumentalized.
Despite vast differences in size and theological orientation, both groups exhibit similar patterns of thought. Like many movements of our time, they appear trapped in what might be called algorithmic echo chambers — internally diverse yet unified by strong ideological boundaries. Chesterton’s image of the “perfect but narrow circle” comes to mind. Both camps have been constructing such circles for decades. Liturgy plays a central role in these conflicts, but it is not the only, or even the most decisive, issue at stake.
[...]
This raises a fundamental question: What, if anything, can disrupt these self‑reinforcing patterns? Is it unreasonable to reconsider canonical interventions, including penalties already outlined in church law, instead of relying on vague, ineffective mechanisms, since the Church must enforce its doctrine and law consistently, not selectively? Alternatively, this may be the moment for robust and honest inclusion — one that exposes both camps to the full ecclesial spectrum, including each other.
Huh, TIL that the only post-conciliar sacramental rite whose validity the modern SSPX has doubts about is Confirmation — apparently the modern form allows for a more diverse range of types of oil to be used than has been historically been the case
I think one of the only good things that have arisen from the recent Lefebvrian schism is that a lot of bishops and cardinals are publishing meditations on Papal primacy as the principle of unity in the Church.
