46°09′22″N7°12′15″E / 46.1562435°N 7.2042985°E /46.1562435; 7.2042985
TheInternational Seminary of Saint Pius X inÉcône,Valais,Switzerland, is the premierseminary of the Roman Catholic traditionalistSociety of Saint Pius X (SSPX). The seminary is one of the six houses for formation for the future priests of the Society of Saint Pius X. The Seminary was founded in 1970 byArchbishop Marcel Lefebvre, and his tomb can be found there.
SSPX was founded, with the canonical approval of theBishop ofFribourg, in 1970 byFrenchArchbishopMarcel Lefebvre, formerSuperior General of theHoly Ghost Fathers (1962-1968), a Father of theSecond Vatican Council and one of the best-knownprelates inAfrica, where he spent much of his early pastoral ministry. He retired as head of the Holy Ghost Fathers in 1968 when the order began revisions of its constitutions, which Lefebvre consideredmodernist.
Shortly after his resignation, Archbishop Lefebvre was approached byseminarians from theFrench Seminary inRome who, he said, were being persecuted for their adherence to traditional beliefs and doctrines.[1] They sought advice on a conservative seminary to complete their studies. He directed them to theUniversity of Fribourg,Switzerland.
In 1970, urged by theAbbot ofHauterive and theDominican theologian and priest, Fr.Marie-Dominique Philippe, to teach these seminarians personally, Lefebvre approached the Bishop of Fribourg, who, three months before resigning his see, approved, with a document predated by six days to 1 November 1970, the founding of SSPX at the level of apia unio, the preliminary stage towards becoming an officially recognizedreligious institute orSociety of Apostolic Life. Affluent Swiss laymen offered the seminary atÉcône in Switzerland to the newly formed group.
The seminary received a reputation as a "wildcat seminary" for its teaching of centuries old practices which were being abandoned in most other parts of the church.[2] The statements made by twoapostolic visitors to the seminary in November 1974 resulted in Lefebvre's "Declaration" as a rebuttal.[3] At the seminary, in 1988, heconsecrated four bishops without papal approval, an act by which he incurredexcommunicationlatae sententiae.[4] Lefebvre resided in a private apartment on the property until his death in 1991 and is buried in a tomb nearby, which was visited by CardinalSilvio Oddi in 1992.
The success of Ecône provided so dramatic a contrast to this débâcle that its very existence became intolerable for some French bishops. They referred to it as Le Séminaire Sauvage—the Wildcat Seminary—giving the impression that it had been set up illegally without the authorization of the Vatican. This appellation was seized upon gleefully by the Liberal Catholic press throughout the world and soon the terms 'Ecône' and 'Wildcat Seminary' became synonymous.
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