This is an accepted version of this page The Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX; Latin: Fraternitas Sacerdotalis Sancti Pii X, FSSPX)[a] is a canonically irregular traditionalist Catholic priestly fraternity founded in 1970 by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre.

The society is named after Pope Pius X, whose anti-Modernist stance it stresses,[7] retaining the Tridentine Mass and pre-Vatican II liturgical books in Latin for the other sacraments.

[citation needed] In September 1970, shortly after his retirement as Superior General of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit, Lefebvre was approached by eleven members of the Pontifical French Seminary in Rome.

[citation needed] In late 1970, at age 65, urged by the abbot of Hauterive Abbey and the Dominican theologian Father Marie-Dominique Philippe to teach the seminarians personally, Lefebvre, feeling too old to undertake such a large project, told them he would visit François Charrière, Bishop of Lausanne, Geneva and Fribourg, with a request to set up a religious society.

[citation needed] Charrière granted Lefebvre's request and, with a document predated by six days to 1 November 1970, he established the Society of St. Pius X as a pia unio (Latin, for "pious, or holy, union") on a provisional (ad experimentum) basis for six years.

[citation needed] Pia unio status was the first stage through which a Catholic organisation passed prior to gaining official recognition as a religious institute or society of apostolic life.

[citation needed] Some Swiss laymen offered the International Seminary of Saint Pius X at Écône to the newly formed group, and in 1971 the first 24 candidates entered, followed by a further 32 in October 1972.

[17] The establishment of the SSPX was unwelcome to some churchmen, most notably the French bishops, whose theological outlook differed from Lefebvre's, and who had important connections with the Holy See Cardinal Secretary of State, Jean-Marie Villot.

[citation needed] By June 1974, a commission of cardinals had been formed to inquire into the SSPX, and decided on a canonical visitation of the seminary by two Belgian priests, held 11–13 November 1974.

[citation needed] In what he later described as a mood of "doubtlessly excessive indignation", Lefebvre wrote a declaration denouncing what he considered liberal trends "clearly evident" in the council and in the subsequent reforms.

[16] In January 1975, Bishop Pierre Mamie of Fribourg wrote to Rome stating his intention to withdraw the pia unio status that his predecessor had granted.

[citation needed] Lefebvre and the society's leadership always maintained that he was treated unfairly by the Roman Curia, that the suppression of the SSPX was unjust, and that the procedures violated the 1917 Code of Canon Law.

[citation needed] The Pope considered this response inadequate, and on his instructions, the Congregation for Bishops, on 22 July 1976, suspended Lefebvre for an indefinite time from all exercise of holy orders—he could not confer any of the Sacraments, save Reconciliation or Baptism in an emergency (suspension a divinis).

[f] Earlier, Pope Pius XII, in his encyclical Ad Apostolorum principis, had described the sacramental activity of bishops who had been consecrated without papal approval as "gravely illicit, that is, criminal and sacrilegious".

[9] On the following day, 2 July, Pope John Paul II issued an apostolic letter known as Ecclesia Dei in which he condemned the Archbishop's action.

[citation needed] In twenty-five-page document, which was made public in September after receiving no reply from the Holy See, they criticized the Pope for allegedly promoting heresy through various words, actions and omissions during his pontificate.

[34] In August 2012, Bishop Richard Williamson, one of those illicitely consecrated by Lefebvre, administered the sacrament of confirmation to about 100 laypeople at the Benedictine Monastery of the Holy Cross in Nova Friburgo, Brazil, during an unauthorised visit to the State of Rio de Janeiro.

The society's South American district superior, interlanguage Christian Bouchacourt, protested against his action on the SSPX website, saying that it was "a serious act against the virtue of obedience.

"[35] In early October 2012, the leadership of the SSPX gave Williamson a deadline to declare his submission, instead of which he published an "open letter" asking for the resignation of the Superior General.

"[citation needed] In 2015, Bishop Huonder was sent by the former prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and one of Pope Francis' top advisers in the Vatican, Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller to dialogue with the SSPX.

[citation needed] He became a big supporter of the society, reporting back positive things to Pope Francis and even producing a video titled "My journey to the SSPX – with Bishop Vitus Huonder" on Youtube.

[citation needed] He was warmly received by the SSPX:"The Society of Saint Pius X appreciates Bishop Huonder’s courageous decision and rejoices to be able to provide him with the spiritual and priestly surroundings that he desires so deeply.

[39] His funeral Mass on 17 April was celebrated by Bishop Fellay, and Huonder was buried at the International Seminary of Saint Pius X in Écône next to the tomb of Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre.

Huonder's successor, Bishop Joseph Maria Bonnemain, attended the funeral, but did not take part in the celebration, due to the irregular canonical situation of the SSPX.

[51] As of March 2021[update], the society had 3 bishops and 676 priests residing in 36 countries, 760 Mass centers, 159 priories, 135 religious brothers, 82 sister oblates, 190 seminarians in six seminaries, 63 pre-seminarians in three pre-seminaries.

[54] The most recent organizational addition of the society is the Autonomous House of Central America and the Caribbean, formed from territory taken from the District of Mexico, erected on 1 October 2017.

[60] After Bishop Richard Williamson, the subject of the complaint by the Anti-Defamation League, denied the use of Nazi gas chambers to massacre Jews in a 2009 interview, the superior-general of the society said that if he repeated his denial, he would be expelled.

[68][69] On 5 April 2017, Uppdrag granskning, a Swedish television program focused on investigative journalism, alleged that four members of the SSPX—three priests and a former seminarian—had molested at least a dozen young people in several countries.

[70][73] Kevin Gerard Sloniker, the former seminarian and the only person accused by name in the program, was expelled from the society's St. Thomas Aquinas Seminary in 2005 and began serving a life sentence in 2015.

[citation needed] Nonetheless, P was the subject of a canonical trial presided over by Bishop Fellay, authorized by the Holy See in 2013; he was found guilty, and subsequently ordered to retire to a monastery.