Vatican Efforts to Reconcile with the Priestly Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX)

On January 21, 2009, Pope Benedict XVI, through the Vatican Congregation of Bishops, lifted the excommunications of four bishops who had been ordained by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, founder of the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX). These ordinations, which occurred on June 30, 1988, were conducted in violation of directives to the contrary by Pope John Paul II. Consequently, all the parties were excommunicated by the him the next day. The Society, founded as a repudiation of the teachings of the Second Vatican Council, rejects the ecumenical and interreligious outreach of the Council, which it believes contradicts its understanding of Catholic "Tradition."

The four bishops—whose ordinations were valid but not licit—are Richard Williamson, Bernard Tissier de Mallerais, Bernard Fellay and Alphonso de Galarret. The controversy generated by the pope's action was intensified by an interview given by one of the bishops, Richard Williamson, in which he reiterated his denial that the Shoah (Holocaust) had resulted in the deaths of six million Jews in gas chambers.

On March 10, 2009, Pope Benedict sent an extraordinary letter to the world's Catholic bishops in which clarified that his outreach to the SSPX was part of the papal work of unity and that he was unaware of Richard Williamson's attitudes toward the Holocaust. The Pontifical Commission "Ecclesia Dei" would discuss with the SSPX the Society's doctrinal difficulties with the Second Vatican Council in an effort to reconcile it with the Catholic Church. The conversations over the following years between the Vatican and the SSPX have apparently been difficult.

This page charts the relevant developments.