Ultra-conservative Society of St Pius X, notorious for its Holocaust-denying bishop, attacks Francis over his stance on doctrine

This article is more than 4 years old

This article is more than 4 years old

A controversial traditionalist Catholic group that split from the Vatican has accused Pope Francis of spreading confusion and errors about the faith, joining a chorus of conservative criticism over his perceived lax doctrine and emphasis on mercy at the expense of morals.

A statement from the schismatic Society of St Pius X suggested that a new attempt at reconciliation with Rome had stalled, or that the society itself was divided over next steps and decided at least to take a hard line against Francis.



The organisation has become notorious for its anti-semitism, Holocaust denial, and support for far-right parties such as the Front Nationale and fascist regimes including the Nazi collaborationist Vichy government in France and Spain under Franco. It was founded by a French archbishop, Marcel Lefebvre, in 1970 in response to the liberal reforms of the Catholic church that began with the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s.

The statement, issued after a meeting of the society’s superiors, said its members were not primarily looking for a legal resolution to their schismatic status but eager to return Catholic tradition to a church where “great and painful confusion” reigned.

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It claimed errors had made their way into doctrine “unfortunately encouraged by a large number of pastors, including the pope himself”.

“The Society of St Pius X prays and does penance for the pope, that he might have the strength to proclaim Catholic faith and morals in their entirety,” it said.

In 1988, the Vatican excommunicated Lefebvre and four other bishops after Lefebvre consecrated them without papal consent.

Pope Benedict XVI, Francis’s predecessor, had made reconciliation a priority, but three years of negotiations over doctrinal differences collapsed in 2012. Talks resumed in 2014 and Francis met with the head of the society, Bishop Bernard Fellay, in April, signalling possible progress.

But Francis is no friend of Catholic traditionalists. He has riled them and other conservatives with a host of comments they claim are sowing confusion about core church teachings on family, sex and other contentious issues.

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The pope fuelled those criticisms this month during an off-the-cuff session with Rome priests and laity, where he criticised rigid readings of doctrine and suggested that he approved of pre-marital cohabitation so young couples knew what they are getting into when they married.

“I have seen so much loyalty in these cohabitations, so much loyalty, and I’m sure that this is a true marriage. They have the grace of marriage simply because of the loyalty that they have,” he said.

Such couples, he has argued, should be accompanied by church pastors and encouraged to enter into a sacramental marriage, not shunned as people living in sin.

In its statement, the society said the resolution of its status “cannot happen without the support of a pope who concretely favours the return to sacred tradition,” but regardless it would continue working to spread the faith.