What About the Society of Saint Pius X?

Earlier this month, the leadership of the Society of St. Pius X announced their intentions to consecrate bishops for their movement and the Vatican has responded by stating that doing so would incur excommunication upon those responsible.   If the leaders of the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) do in fact consecrate bishops, then precedent requires that those responsible be excommunicated.  

 
Founded by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, the Society of Saint Pius X is an organization within the Catholic Church that advocates for the pre-Vatican II traditional Latin liturgy and has concerns and objections about certain teachings advanced by the Second Vatican Council.  Since its inception, SSPX has had a strained and turbulent relationship with the Vatican, a relationship that has seriously deteriorated in recent months.  The legitimacy of their objections is beyond the scope of this short article and I myself have not formed an opinion on whether SSPX is correct or not in their assertions.

 
The authority to appoint bishops rests solely in the Pope.  As Canon Law No. 377 Section 1 states “The Supreme Pontiff freely appoints bishops or confirms those legitimately elected.”

 
In June 1988, Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre consecrated four bishops for SSPX without papal approval.  Three days later, Pope Saint John Paul II issued his Apostolic Letter Eccleisa Dei in which he excommunicated Archbishop Lefebvre and the four bishops that Lefebvre consecrated illicitly.  

“In itself, this act was one of disobedience [emphasis in original] to the Roman Pontiff in a very grave matter and of supreme importance for the unity of the church, such as is the ordination of bishops whereby the apostolic succession is sacramentally perpetuated. Hence such disobedience - which implies in practice the rejection of the Roman primacy - constitutes a schismatic act.(3),” Pope St. John Paul II wrote.  “In performing such an act, notwithstanding the formal canonical warning sent to them by the Cardinal Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops on 17 June last, Mons. Lefebvre and the priests Bernard Fellay, Bernard Tissier de Mallerais, Richard Williamson and Alfonso de Galarreta, have incurred the grave penalty of excommunication envisaged by ecclesiastical law.(4)”  

 
[Author’s Note:  Footnote 3 refers to Canon Law No. 751 which defines schism and Footnote 4 refers to Canon Law No. 1382 which pertains to excommunication.] 

See https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/motu_proprio/documents/hf_jp-ii_motu-proprio_02071988_ecclesia-dei.html  for the full text of Ecclesia Dei ] 

 
In 2009, Pope Benedict XVI lifted the excommunication in an effort for reconciliation with the wayward group.  

 
Only the Pope can appoint or confirm bishops. Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernandez, Prefect for the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, publicly stated that SSPX’s actions if carried out would be a schismatic act and thus incur excommunication.  Significantly, Cardinals Gerhard Mueller, Robert Sarah and Joseph Zen have all publicly stated their opposition to SSPX’s intention to consecrate bishops in defiance of the Vatican.   Based upon precedent and Canon Law, there can be no other option but to impose excommunication if the SSPX leadership consecrates bishops in defiance of the Pope and the Vatican.  

 
I pray that the Vatican and the leaders of SSPX will be guided by the Holy Spirit to find a peaceful, faith-based solution to this impasse.  

 
Since we are discussing the issue of appointing bishops, we must also consider Communist China’s role in appointing bishops for the Catholic Church in mainland (Communist) China.  Beginning with Pope Francis and continuing to this day, the Communist Government of China has had a domineering role in appointing Catholic bishops for the Catholic Church in China.  Yet this same atheistic Communist government routinely persecutes and imprisons members of religious denominations including the Catholic Church, Tibetan Buddhists, Protestants, practitioners of Falun Gong and the Muslim Uyghurs.  Communist China is one of the world’s most notorious violators of human rights and religious persecutors.  

 
“In 2025, China perpetuated particularly severe violations of religious freedom,” states the 2026 Annual Report of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom. “Chinese authorities sought to exert complete control over religion through an extensive web of laws, regulations, and policies that do not conform to international human rights standards.”  See https://www.uscirf.gov/annual-reports?country=36  

Chinese President Xi Jinping, the government of Communist China and the Chinese Communist Party must not have any role in appointing bishops for the Catholic Church in China nor have any role in the internal operations of the Catholic Church in China.   

 
The Catholic Church did not grant Nero, Diocletian, Hitler, Stalin and Mao Zedong any role in appointing Catholic bishops nor should the Church grant Chinese President Xi Jinping or any other Chinese Communist official any role in appointing bishops for the Catholic Church in China.  

 
If the Vatican is going to excommunicate the SSPX leadership (who pledge fealty to Christ and are working to promote his Kingdom) for appointing bishops, then the Vatican must also deny any role for the Chinese Communist Party (who hate Christ and is actively trying to destroy religion) in appointing Catholic bishops in China.