In June 1988, Mgr Marcel Lefebvre, founder and superior general of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius 2009 by Benedict XVI.
While one of the four illicitly ordained bishops, Bernard Tissier de Mallerais, considered the theologian of the Fraternity, died on Tuesday October 8, what does the SSPX really represent, 36 years after the schism? It has more than 700 priests (compared to around 200 in 1988) throughout the world, including 180 in France where it has“around 250 places of worship”according to Father Benoît de Jorna, superior of the district of France. A census, carried out in 2021 by the newspaper At Nefclose to traditionalist circles, estimated the number of Catholics attending SSPX churches at 35,000.
Internal renewal
Difficult to support with objective data “the happy start” and the “rejuvenation” claimed by the abbot of Jorna. On the ground, several priests of the fraternity evoke signals which would go in this direction. “In the provinces, we quite clearly feel a growth linked to the pandemicnotes one of them. Particularly because we were the only ones to keep our chapels open at all costs. »
In Paris, it seems more difficult to get an idea “due to the comings and goings”, believes Abbot Grégoire Célier, prior of Notre-Dame-de-Consolation in the 16th arrondissement: “But we see some Catholics arriving here who are worried about what is happening around Traditionis custodes (pope decree restricting the celebration of the Tridentine Mass, the only one celebrated in the SSPX, Editor’s note) and the Synod on synodality. Despite our canonical situation, we are given a certain consistency and this leads to a small positive dynamic. »
A renewal within it
Can we, however, speak of a growing weight of the Fraternity of Saint-Pie-X in France? Nothing is less certain. “The SSPX renews itself above all within itself through generational reproduction”, nuance Paul Airiau, historian of Catholicism. It is in fact mainly attended by large families where it is not uncommon for a child to enter the seminary.
Young people are also often educated in non-contract schools served by the FSSPX, from primary to high school, which today accommodate around 2,200 students, according to figures from the fraternity.
Discussions with Rome at a standstill
Situated outside the Catholic Church, not being in full communion with the Vatican and the Pope, contacts with the dioceses are minimal and are often limited to canonical questions, for example for the registration of marriages in the registers. “It is a completely autonomous institution which has within itself all the means to survive.notes a priest who left the SSPX around fifteen years ago. She lives completely parallel to the Church. »
Likewise, contacts with Rome are – at present – almost non-existent. The doctrinal discussions initiated by Benedict XVI in the 2010s did not result in a rapprochement. A warming of relations in 2015, then 2017, may have appeared when Pope Francis made “valid and lawful” first the sacrament of confession then the marriages celebrated by the fraternity.
The FSSPX torn internally
But no doctrinal progress has been ratified, everyone sticking to their positions. “Criticism of Vatican II and modernism is still as strong among the SSPX, which increasingly sees its realization in Francis,” deciphers Paul Airiau.
Internally, the SSPX is itself torn between a current favorable to rapprochement with the Holy See and those who take a hard line, ruling out any agreement as long as Rome does not reject the Second Vatican Council. “She is condemned to immobility to ensure her survival, because that will never happen,” cowardly, resigned, an observer.
Towards new ordinations of bishops?
This survival also requires the renewal of its priests… and its bishops. The SSPX still has three bishops, now aged 65 and 77, who will in the medium term struggle to ordain and confirm in the fraternity’s houses around the world. Thirty-five years after the schism, rumors are once again swirling in fundamentalist circles of upcoming episcopal ordinations: when will they take place? Will they be authorized by the Pope?
Without confirming or denying the rumors that are circulating, the superior of the district of France does not hide that they will ultimately be essential. “The argument of necessity invoked by Mgr Lefebvre to preserve doctrine and tradition will always be the same”affirms Father Benoît de Jorna. “The SSPX will ask for the agreement of Rome, but if it does not obtain it it will do it anyway”, added another of its members.
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Between the SSPX and Rome, the impossible understanding
The Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X (FSSPX) was created in 1970 by Mgr Marcel Lefebvre, former archbishop of Dakar, in reaction to the Second Vatican Council which he violently opposes. He was sanctioned five years later for ordaining priests without the agreement of Rome.
In 1988, he was excommunicated after the illegal ordination of four bishops: Mgr Bernard Fellay, Mgr Bernard Tissier de Mallerais, Mgr Alfonso de Galarreta and Mgr Richard Williamson (since excluded).
Excommunications lifted in 2009without however confirming the return “to full communion” with Rome. Doctrinal discussions then took place until 2012. The categorical refusal of the teachings of Vatican II by the SSPX brought about the end of this attempt at rapprochement.
