The Priestly Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) has issued an open letter to Pope Leo XIV and the College of Cardinals accompanied by a 28-page profession of faith, just days before the society plans to consecrate new bishops without the Holy See’s permission and as the Pope prepares to meet with cardinals in Rome.
The letter, dated June 24, the feast of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, was signed by SSPX Superior General Davide Pagliarani along with the society's principal superiors and former superiors general. It was first published in Italian by the website Messa in Latino, according to a June 24 report from Holy See journalist Diane Montagna.
In the letter, according to Montagna's English translation, SSPX leaders said they wished to place an "integral profession of the Catholic faith" into the hands of Pope Leo and the cardinals ahead of an extraordinary consistory scheduled for June 26-27 at the Vatican.
The publication comes one week before the society's planned episcopal consecrations at Ecône, Switzerland, on July 1, a move that has drawn renewed attention to the relationship between the SSPX and the Holy See.
Founded by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre in 1970, SSPX has long maintained that many of the Church's current difficulties stem from departures from Catholic tradition following the Second Vatican Council. While relations between Rome and the society have improved in certain respects over recent decades, full canonical regularization has not been achieved.
In their letter, SSPX leaders argued that the Church is facing profound internal and external challenges and said that a return to tradition offers the remedy for the crises confronting both the Church and society.
"Today the Church suffers under the pressure of new forces, arising both from within and from without, which are driving her in every possible direction except — so it seems to us — the right one," the letter states.
The superiors said they were not seeking to propose their own path for the Church but rather to point to what they described as the Church's "bimillennial Tradition, faithfully preserved and handed down by the Apostolic See throughout the centuries."
The accompanying doctrinal text, described as a profession of faith, addresses what the society calls the "principal errors and the gravest dangers of our time."
At the same time, the SSPX emphasized that the document is intended as an invitation to discussion rather than a declaration of separation.
"We hope that one day this doctrinal text may serve as the basis for a frank discussion with the Holy See, in a peaceful, fraternal, and charitable spirit," the letter states.
The authors also rejected the notion that their position is rooted merely in nostalgia for past eras of Church life.
"The text that we present to you is not the sterile litany of a group of nostalgics, but the necessary expression, peaceful yet resolute, of our faith," they wrote.
The letter concludes by assuring Pope Leo XIV and the universal Church of the society's prayers.
As of publication, the Vatican had not publicly responded to the letter, nor has the full text of the society's accompanying profession of faith been released in English.
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