There have been severalcontroversies surrounding the Society of St. Pius X, many of which concern political support for non-democratic regimes, allegedantisemitism, and the occupation of church buildings. TheSociety of St. Pius X is an international organisation founded in 1970 by the Frenchtraditionalist CatholicarchbishopMarcel Lefebvre.
There is an overlap in French society between the SSPX's constituency of support and support forreactionary political positions. In the French context, such positions include:
Support for the Vichy government (1940–1944). Lefebvre spoke approvingly of the "Catholic order ofPétain", referring to theVichy Premier Marshal Philippe Pétain, who was later convicted of treason andcollaboration withNazi Germany.[3] The Society organises pilgrimages to Pétain's tomb,[4] and during the 1987 pilgrimage the Archbishop referred to him as having "restored [France] spiritually and morally".[5] Furthermore, Archbishop Lefebvre offered public prayers of devotion and intercession to Pétain at I'lle d'Yeu in 1987, pronouncing his belief that Marshal Pétain was in heaven.[6] The antisemitic French historianBernard Faÿ, who was appointed director of theanti-Masonic services and propagandist for the Vichy government, is credited with inspiring the Archbishop to found what became the SSPX in 1970.[7] The Society's official journal in Belgium has denounced theanti-Vichy trials conducted after World War II by the mainstream republican followers ofCharles De Gaulle.[8] The trials resulted in 791 executions and almost 50,000 forfeitures of civil rights. There have also been allegations that the SSPX had links withVichy functionaryPaul Touvier and that Vichy songs were learned at a scout camp of the Society(see below).
Support for the Front National political party and its former leader, Jean-Marie le Pen, who is on thefar right of the Frenchpolitical spectrum.[9][10] In 1985, Lefebvre was quoted in the French far-right periodicalPrésent as endorsingJean-Marie Le Pen, though his endorsement was made on the basis that Le Pen was the only major French politician who unambiguously condemnedabortion. In 1991, the then SSPX priest Fr.Philippe Laguérie called theFront National "the party least removed from the natural law".[11]
Civitas, the far-right political association in France founded in 1999, has historical, formal, and informal ties to the SSPX. It maintained the status of political party in France from 2016-2023 before it was suppressed as a party by the French government for antisemitism.[12]Civitas maintainsintegralist,Maurrassian principles of thought stemming from the pro-Vichy intellectual and activistJean Ousset, an influence on Lefebvre's thought[13] and who also supported Archbishop Lefebvre's movement until they parted ways over differing views ofCatholic Action.[14] Nonetheless, the SSPX in France has maintained ties with Ousset's work and inheritance, including Civitas. The group is currently led by Belgian far-right activistAlain Escada, who has been influenced by the SSPX and its teachings. Abbe Xavier Beauvais, former pastor of Saint-Nicolas-du-Chardonnet and priest of the SSPX, speaks at Civitas events.[15] Civitas left the official oversight of the SSPX in 2017 for theCapuchin Friars of Morgon, who have collaborated with them in political action along far-right lines. As of 2023, the Capuchins of Morgon are led by former SSPX district superior of France, Regis de Cacqueray. During theCOVID-19 pandemic, Civitas spread conspiracy and opposed pandemic mitigating measures.[16]
Archbishop Lefebvre's first biographer, the English traditionalist writerMichael Davies, wrote in the first volume of hisApologia Pro Marcel Lefebvre:
“In France political feeling tends to be more polarized, more extreme, and far more deeply felt than in England. ...Since the [Second World] war, and especially since Vatican II, the official French Church has veered sharply to the left. ...Thus, a large proportion of right-wing Catholics was predisposed to support any religious movement opposed to the policies of the French hierarchy. The political views of some of the French Catholics who support the Archbishop would certainly be odious to many English-speaking traditionalists – although such views are more understandable (if not acceptable) within the French context. However, if they wish to support the Archbishop (and not necessarily for the right reasons) there is nothing he can do about it. ...The French hierarchy has replaced [Catholic] social teaching with dilutedMarxism to such an extent that anyone adopting the Catholic position is now automatically accused of fascism.”
Occupation of the Church of Saint Nicolas du Chardonnet in Paris
Various French municipal authorities have had ownership of the older churches in France since the enactment of the1905 French law on the Separation of the Churches and the State, though the buildings are permitted to be used by the appropriate religious denominations. Ducaud-Bourget maintained thatTraditionalist Catholics represented by the SSPX were the true heirs of the Catholics of 1905. Although the occupation was declared illegal by French courts,[17] the authorities reached the conclusion that, in contrast to forcibly evicting the SSPX, the continuing occupation would cause less disturbance to public order. A 1993 SSPX attempt to occupy another Paris church,Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois, was unsuccessful.
The views of BishopWilliamson have been a particular source of controversy. For example, the bishop has written:
“However, until they re-discover their trueMessianic vocation, they may be expected to continue fanatically agitating, in accordance with theirfalse messianic vocation ofJewish world-dominion, to prepare theAnti-Christ's throne inJerusalem. So we may fear their continuing to play their major part in the agitation of the East and in the corruption of the West. Here the wise Catholic will remember that, again, theex-Christian nations have only their ownLiberalism to blame for allowing free circulation withinChristendom to the enemies of Christ.”[18]
In an interview withSwedish Television in November 2008, whose broadcast on 21 January 2009, the day theHoly See lifted theexcommunication of the four SSPX bishops, gained wide publicity, Williamson repeated his opinion that the generally accepted history ofthe Holocaust is wrong. He accepted an estimate of only 200,000-300,000 Jews had perished in Naziconcentration camps, and denied that any were killed ingas chambers.[19] Subsequently, former SSPX seminarians have come forward with additional information about Williamson's Jewish views. One former seminarian characterized Williamson as "a sick man" with "a horrible attitude toward women and a horrible attitude toward Jews."[20] The Vatican has repudiated Williamson's views as "intolerable and altogether unacceptable."[21]
Williamson's views on this and other subjects are controversial, even within Traditionalist Catholicism. After his interview, broadcast by Swedish Television on 21 January 2009, both the Superior General of the SSPX, Bishop Fellay, and the District Superior of the SSPX in Germany, Fr.Franz Schmidberger, stated that Williamson's views represented his own personal opinions;[22] and Bishop Fellay, as superior general of the Society, "prohibited him, pending any new orders, from taking any public positions on political or historical questions."[23]
Although the SSPX authorities have thus distinguished Williamson's views from those of the Society, theAnti-Defamation League has accused the SSPX of being "mired in anti-Semitism",[24] and journalistJohn L. Allen Jr., has said it would be misleading to consider Williamson an isolated case: FatherFlorian Abrahamowicz, who after being the superior in Italy has since been expelled from the Society also said he was not sure the Nazis had used gas chambers for anything other than disinfection, seemed to cast doubt on the number of six million Jews killed, complained that the Jews had exalted the Holocaust above other genocides, and called the Jews first "the people of God" and then the "people ofdeicide", to be converted toJesus Christ at theend times.[25]
Williamson was forced out of the SSPX on 23 October 2012 for the "common good of the society", following his refusal to submit to the group's leadership.[26]
During a radio interview on 28 December 2013, the then-Superior General BishopBernard Fellay said "Who, during that time, was the most opposed that the Church would recognize the Society? The enemies of the Church. The Jews, theMasons, theModernists."[27] His statement angered a lot of people, particularly the Jewish people, and took it as an attack to them. Various media outlets also covered the statement. The Vatican also denounced Fellay and his religious sect, reaffirming theirecumenical dialogue with the Jews. The Vatican chief spokesman, FatherFederico LombardiSJ, said that it was "meaningless" and "unacceptable" to label Jews as "enemies" of the Catholic Church.[28]
Abbe Beauvais, who served as the SSPX priest and pastor of Saint-Nicolas-du-Chardonnet from 2003 to 2014, publicly praises CatholicRexist Party founder and Waffen-SS officerLeon Degrelle.[33][34] Degrelle had a lengthy postwar career inSpain underFrancisco Franco, where he was allowed to promote Nazi ideology, Catholicintegrism, and Holocaust denial.[35] Abbe Beauvais also quotes approvingly from Degrelle’s bookBurning Souls as an inspirational source in an editorial found in the SSPX publication,Le Chardonnet.[36]
The Society was reported to have perpetuated theJewish deicide andJewish world domination plotcanards in its official newsletters and on several of its international websites (although the offending websites have been removed since the controversy surrounding the bishops' reinstatement).[38]
The website of the SSPX in theUnited States carried a 1997 article fromThe Angelus titled "The Mystery of the Jewish People in History"[39] which theOverland Express ofMelbourne said "methodically repeats every slur of medieval anti-Semitism."[40] The piece was written by British priests Michael Crowdy and Kenneth Novak.[39]
SSPX'sThe Angelus is known to sell antisemitic publications in their bookstores such as "Liberalism Is a Sin" by Fr.Félix Sardà y Salvany, "The Jews" byHilaire Beloc, "Freemasonry unmasked" by Monsignor George Dillon, "The Mystery of Freemasonry Unveiled", "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion", and "The Kingship of Christ and Organized Naturalism" by the Rev.Denis FaheyC.S.Sp.[41] TheAngelus Press also sells a book published by the Society entitledChristian Warfare, which recommends under the heading of “Good Reading Material” the works of Fr.Denis Fahey andLeon de Poncins, known antisemitic writers who spreadJewish Bolshevik conspiracy theories in the 20th century.[42]
Statements by SSPX clerics about Church authorities
One of the Society's four bishops,Bernard Tissier de Mallerais, has stated thatPope Benedict XVI "has professed heresies in the past! He[...] has never retracted his errors. When he was a theologian, he professed heresies, he published a book full of heresies."[43] In the same interview, Bishop Mallerais said of theSecond Vatican Council: "You cannot read Vatican II as a Catholic work. It is based on the philosophy ofImmanuel Kant.[...] I will say, one day the Church should erase this Council. She will not speak of it anymore. She must forget it. The Church will be wise if she forgets this Council."[43]
Similarly, Bishop Richard Williamson has said ofPope Benedict XVI: "His past writings are full ofModernist errors. Now, Modernism is the synthesis of all heresies (Pascendi,Pope St. Pius X). So Ratzinger as a heretic goes far beyondLuther's Protestant errors, as Bishop Tissier de Mallerais said." Williamson added that the documents of the Second Vatican Council "are much too subtly and deeply poisoned to be reinterpreted. The whole of a partly poisoned cake goes to the trash can!"[44]
A number of groups whose following overlaps with that of the SSPX, such as theScouts d'Europe, have been accused of extremist leanings.[45] In 1998, theAssociation Française de Scouts et Guides Catholiques faced international scrutiny following an accident atPerros-Guirec that claimed the lives of fourmarine Scouts and a sailor who died in an attempt to save them.[46] A media frenzy followed, and it was alleged that Fr. Cottard, the SSPX priest responsible for the children, had subjected them to a harsh disciplinary regimen, forcing them to spend the night before their deaths sleeping on a pebbled beach. Fr. Cottard had also failed to call emergency services for almost 8 hours, and did not take basic safety precautions such as properly checking the weather forecast.
When formerSS CaptainErich Priebke died in October 2013, theDiocese of Rome forbade aRequiem Mass for him. The reasons cited were Priebke's involvement in murdering 335 Italians in the 1944Ardeatine Massacre, and his subsequent lack of remorse. SSPX offered to hold a funeral and issued a statement on their website saying, “A Christian who wasbaptized and received thesacraments ofconfession and theEucharist, no matter what his faults and sins were, to the extent that he dies reconciled with God and the church, has a right to the celebration of the holy Mass and a funeral.” Nevertheless, the ceremony was not held due to 500 protesters outside SSPX headquarters inAlbano. The lawyer, Paolo Giachini, told reporters outside the building that the funeral Mass had not taken place, but that he had fulfilled his obligation to arrange a funeral. “Now it's up to the authorities to decide what to do with the body,” since he was unable to find a city where Priebke could be buried.[47]
On 5 April 2017Uppdrag Granskning, a Swedishinvestigative journalism television program, reported that four different clerics of the SSPX – three priests and a former seminarian – hadmolested at least a dozen young people in several different countries.[48][49][50] The program also stated that evidence of abuse was kept secret by the SSPX, and priests were allowed to continue in ministry.[48]
In May 2020, theKansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) started an investigation against SSPX groups affiliated with, though not overseen by, the state's four Roman Catholic dioceses.[51] SSPX members inKansas were accused of either perpetrating or covering up clerical sex abuse in the state.[51] For many years, the SSPX Saint Mary’s Rectory in Kansas faced numerous sex abuse allegations.[52]In January 2023, The KBI’s four-year inquiry into allegedchild sexual abuse in four Catholic dioceses and the SSPX within the state of Kansas resulted in referral of 30 cases to county prosecutors targeting 14 members of the clergy.
An executive summary of the KBI report said no prosecutor had charged any priests named in KBI affidavits with sexual crimes, citing 2013 Kansas legislation which eliminated thestatute of limitations on certain sex crimes, but didn’t make the statute retroactive.[53]
In February 2008,Saint Mary’s College, a school inKansas affiliated with the SSPX, refused to allow a woman referee to officiate at a high-school basketball game in which their school was participating, reportedly on the grounds it wasinappropriate for a woman to be in a position of authority over male students. In response, the other referees refused to referee the game.[54] The school issued a statement denying that the refusal was due to the reported reason. It stated instead that “[the] formation of adolescent boys is best accomplished by male role models,” and that “teaching our boys to treat ladies with deference, we cannot place them in an aggressive athletic competition where they are forced to play inhibited by their concern about running into a female referee.”[55]
In May 2012, Our Lady of Sorrows Academy inPhoenix, Arizona, also affiliated with the SSPX, forfeited the Arizona Charter Athletic Association state baseball championship game rather than play against a team with a female player. The opposing team, fromMesa Preparatory Academy inMesa, Arizona, included Paige Sultzbach, playinginfield.[56] Officials at Our Lady of Sorrows issued a statement saying that the decision to forfeit was consistent with a policy againstco-ed sports. They stated that school teaches boys respect by not placing girls in athletic competition, where “proper boundaries can only be respected with difficulty.”[57]
^Berntson, M. , 2006-08-11 "National Preference, Gender Complementarity, and the Family Policy of France’sFront National"Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association, Montreal Convention Center, Montreal, Quebec, Canada Online <PDF>. 2008-10-09 fromhttp://www.allacademic.com/meta/p104814_index.html
^"Le Conseil de Paris ... Emet le vœu :- que le Maire de Paris et le Préfet de police mettent tout en œuvre pour faire cesser l'occupation illégale de l'église Saint-Nicolas-du-Chardonnet par des personnes diffusant une propagande raciste, antisémite, sexiste et antidémocratique"[1]Archived 2007-03-11 at theWayback Machine
^«Ses écrits passés sont pleins d'erreurs modernistes. Or, le modernisme est la synthèse de toutes les hérésies (Pascendi, saint Pie X). Donc, comme hérétique, Ratzinger dépasse de loin les erreurs protestantes de Luther comme l'a très bien dit Mgr Tissier de Mallerais.» Mgr Williamson estime encore que les actes du concile Vatican II «sont beaucoup trop subtilement et profondément empoisonnés pour qu'il faille les réinterpréter. Un gâteau en partie empoisonné va tout entier à la poubelle!»."Les quatre refus de la FSSPX - par Yves Chiron - Aletheia n°104 - 28 janvier 2007". Archived fromthe original on 3 October 2008. Retrieved11 May 2009.
^Les Petits Soldats du Scoutisme, Le Monde, 2 septembre 1998, par Roland-Pierre Paringaux.
