Custos Traditos: On the SSPX, Rome, and Tradition

On the Feast of the Precious Blood of Our Savior, July 1st, 2026, the Fraternal Society of St. Pius X (FSSPX or SSPX) consecrated four men to the episcopate without express permission from Rome. The next day, the Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Rome responded with an excommunication not only for the consecrating and consecrated bishops, but also for the clergy and lay faithful attached to the SSPX more generally. While the facts of the matter are fairly straightforward, the underlying tensions and reasons behind these events are cause for both sorrow and bewilderment, both on the side of the SSPX and the Holy See. 

It must be said that the point of contention between the SSPX and Rome is not primarily liturgical. In simpler terms, the SSPX is not in its current predicament due to its usage of the traditional liturgy. While the previous pontiff greatly restricted access to – and celebration of – the Usus Antiquior, the various traditional societies (both the various Ecclesia Dei communities and the SSPX) remained largely unaffected by these dictates from the Holy See. Furthermore, despite the “rad-trad” stereotype surrounding the SSPX’s liturgies, in truth, the SSPX is rather reformist in its attitude toward the traditional liturgy, rigidly adhering to the 1962 rubrics. There are a number of canonically regular communities who are far more “traditional” in the celebration of the liturgy in comparison to the SSPX, with the Institute of Christ the King, Sovereign Priest (ICKSP) and the Benedictine monastery of Nursia being two prominent examples.¹ 

What, then, has driven this wedge between Rome and the SSPX? The matter has been, and remains, an issue of doctrine. The SSPX, from its origins under Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre to the present, has maintained that certain parts of the Second Vatican Council are not in congruence with the tradition of the Church, and that Rome must address these discrepancies in accord with the Church’s tradition. The SSPX has not, nor currently does, outright reject the Second Vatican Council. Rather, as it would for any other Ecumenical Council, it recognizes its authority in light of tradition, that is, the teaching of the Church as handed down through the centuries. In the opinion of the SSPX, those parts of Vatican II pertaining to religious liberty (Dignitatis Humanae) and ecumenism (Nostra Aetate) constitute major ruptures from the Church’s perennial tradition, denying the Social Kingship of Christ and the primacy of the Church in the economy of salvation. From this rupture, in the mind of the SSPX, spring the manifold tragedies that occurred in the wake of the Second Vatican Council, from the construction of the New Liturgy and its accompanying abuses, the evaporation of religious communities, the general loss of faith in the West, and the ‘spirit of modernism’ amongst the prelates of the Roman Church. These constitute the ‘state of emergency’ that the SSPX uses to justify their actions. Most recently, they fabricated a mandatum for the recent episcopal consecrations in which it was stated that they are authorized to “take the means necessary” to “transmit” the tradition of the Apostles in “entirely exceptional circumstances.”² 

However, while the SSPX takes issue with certain facets of the “modernist Church,”³ it is not a sedevacantist society. They profess to recognize Pope Leo XIV as the current pope and place themselves under his direction, and they do not, as is commonly believed, ‘reject’ the entire Second Vatican Council prima facie. Rather, the SSPX rejects certain parts of the Second Vatican Council and view themselves as the only guarantors of the tradition of the Church. The SSPX believes – as should all Catholics – that the Church “brings forth life” and spiritual graces through Her defense of Sacred Tradition.⁴ The SSPX, however, believes that “the modernist church is a desert” that “kills everything that it touches,” including “the sources of grace.”⁵ This alleged defense of Tradition from that which “kills” it, in their minds, justifies their disobedience and their blatant disregard for the Code of Canon Law. 

To be clear, the SSPX are excommunicate. In fact, in issuing a formal decree of excommunication against not just the consecrating and consecrated bishops, but also against all clergy and lay faithful attached to what the Vatican called a “schismatic” movement, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith clarified that any lay faithful that “formally adhere to the SSPX… are to be considered schismatic and excommunicated.”⁶ Indeed, in doing so, Rome went further than it did in 1988 when the SSPX consecrated its first set of auxiliary bishops against the express wishes of Pope St. John Paul II. It is clear, then, that Rome is taking a hard line against the most recent schism involving the SSPX. Thus, this exposition of the SSPX’s position is in no way meant to justify the actions of the SSPX, but rather to shed more light on what is a heartbreaking event in the life of the Church. 

Rome is not guiltless or blameless in this matter. The various offices of the Curia have routinely ignored various requests from the SSPX throughout its history. Most recently, these have been the requests by Fr. Davide Pagliarani, the current Superior General of the SSPX, to meet with the current Pontiff. This attitude is particularly curious, considering that the recent pontiffs have been very warm and proactive in their reception of and dialogue with various schismatics, heretics, and pagans (the most recent meeting of Pope Leo with the so-called archbishop of Canterbury being a poignant example). Now of course, the pope is free to meet with whomever he pleases, and the SSPX should not presume that their threat of imminent schism (before July 1st) gives them the right to a meeting with him. Pope Leo made it clear that he desired to speak to the SSPX “with a paternal heart,” and indeed he pleaded with them – to no avail – to “turn back!”⁷ Even with such overtures, however, negotiations between the SSPX and Rome have been ongoing for almost 40 years, and with no end in sight, it seems that dialogue broke down, and we are left in the same situation that we were in in 1988, with the SSPX in open schism and the body of the Church wounded. 

What, then, are we to make of this matter?  

First, the SSPX does truly love the Church’s tradition, although its self-proclaimed manner of protecting it is inherently flawed. Second, its members are, generally speaking, well-meaning people. There are a number of SSPX priests who are good and holy clergymen, and many of the SSPX faithful genuinely love the Church and simply desire to believe that which She has always taught. Third, that, in their quest to preserve tradition, the SSPX has forgotten he who is, in primis, the custos traditos, the Supreme Pontiff. Regardless of whether the Church is or is not in a state of crisis, no matter the extent of the spread of modernism amongst Her high-ranking prelates, and despite the great confusion and turmoil that has arisen in the wake of the Second Vatican Council, the Pope is – and always will remain – the successor of St. Peter, Christ’s Vicar on Earth, and the defender of the Depositum Fidei, that is, Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition. One cannot feign obedience to the Supreme Pontiff and yet, at the same time, deny his ability to properly guard the tradition of the Church, or assert that one who is not the Pope could do so in a superior manner. The very act of this consecration, which proceeded despite the fact that the rite expressly requires a sealed bull from Rome that grants permission to proceed, poses a scandalous and self-contradicting reality that – no matter how much the SSPX stresses the issues present within the Church – cannot be reconciled with Canon Law. 

Above all, we cannot fall into the spirit of despair and desperation that has driven the SSPX outside the walls of Rome. The SSPX has, several times quite rightly, observed the various failings and missteps of the Church since the Second Vatican Council. Yet, in their quest to preserve the Church and Her tradition, they have abandoned him whose office guarantees its vivacity. In the words of St. Ambrose, “Ubi Petrus, ibi Ecclesia.”⁸ Union with him guarantees union not only with Catholics around the world and across time, but membership in the Body of Christ, and access to that vivifying grace which Our Lord poured out for our salvation. If it is our lot to witness the Church continue to suffer as She has in recent years, both from within and from without, then so be it. It does not, nor can it ever, justify disregard of Canon Law, or open defiance of the Roman Pontiff. We must remember always that Our Lord promised St. Peter “upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”⁹  

Finally, as the United States celebrates her 250th anniversary of independence, there’s something to be said about freedom and the freedom of choice. The SSPX, both its bishops and its other leadership, had the unfettered freedom to do as they pleased. After all, we all have free will. We all sin against God even as we know that those sins are wrong, and yet He allows us to continue, in our freedom, to commit them. But all healthy forms of freedom reside within a structure or framework that keeps us safe. With regards to free will, this safeguard is the moral law that God laid out for us in the Bible. For the Catholic Church, this framework is the Code of Canon Law. Although the bishops of the SSPX had the freedom to make the choice that they did, a healthy exercise of that freedom would have involved them obeying the wishes of the Pope. To misuse freedom is to gravely misunderstand this gift from God. And yet, although we sin again and again, He still forgives us and takes us back. Even as we disobey the framework that He laid out, we are still embraced with His Most Perfect Love. And so it is with the Church. There is hope that the SSPX, from its bishops down to its lay adherents, will once again embark with the rest of Holy Mother Church upon the Barque of St. Peter. And then, “as a caring Mother” with Her loving embrace, the Church “will welcome [back] with sincere affection and deep concern all those who wish to return to full communion” with her.¹⁰ Therefore, let us trust in Divine Providence. Let us pray for our Supreme Pontiff Leo. Let us pray for the SSPX, its bishops, its priests, and its lay faithful. And above all, let us pray that Christ’s Will be done, in all and through all. 

1. The ICKSP, like all Ecclesia Dei communities, uses the 1962 Missal, but often reverts to practices of the pre-1955 Missal, most notably the pre-55 Holy Week, with the permissions for such being granted by the now defunct Ecclesia Dei Commission. The various religious communities attached to the Classical Roman Rite celebrate the traditional rites of their respective communities (in the case of the Monks of Nursia, the Benedictine Rite), with these rites being subject to the norms of the pre-55 Missal.  ↩︎
2. “C’est l’Église catholique et romaine, toujours fidèle aux saintes traditions reçues des Apôtres, qui, dans des circonstances tout à fait exceptionnelles, exige que nous pourvoyions au maintien de ces saintes traditions – c’est-à-dire le dépôt de la foi – et prenions les moyens nécessaires pour les transmettre fidèlement à tous les hommes pour le salut de leur âme.” Translation to English provided by the SSPX (https://fsspx.news/en/news/habetis-mandatum-apostolicum-declaration-read-episcopal-consecrations-59936)  ↩︎
3. From the homily by Bishop Michael Goldade, SSPX during Pontifical Vespers on 1st July, 2026.   ↩︎
4. Ibid. ↩︎
5. Ibid.  ↩︎
6. Nota Esplicativa del Dicastero per la Dottrina della Fede, 2nd July 2026. “Per quanto concerne i fedeli laici, sono da ritenersi scismatici e scomunicati coloro che aderiscono formalmente alla Fraternità Sacerdotale San Pio X.” The translation into English that was used was created by the authors for this piece. ↩︎
7. Letter of the Holy Father Leo XIV to the Superior General of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Pius X, 29th June 2026.  ↩︎
8. “Where Peter is, there is the Church.” Exposito in Psalmum XL.  ↩︎
9. Mt 16:18, Douay-Rheims.  ↩︎
10. Nota Esplicativa. “La Chiesa, come madre premurosa, accoglierà con sincero affetto e viva sollecitudine tutti coloro che desiderano tornare alla piena comunione.”  ↩︎