Pope condemns SSPX for violating universal Church law

• Pope Leo XIV has condemned the SSPX for planning a series of sermons without the approval of the Vatican
• The Vatican has reviewed the SSPX’s plan to hold sermons in violation of Church law
• SSPX has been linked to the 1988 consecrations of Catholic bishops without papal approval

Pope Leo XIV, the new pontiff, has ordered the Vatican to investigate the SSPX’s activities and to take action against them. In a letter addressed to the Vatican Secretariat, Pope named the matter as “a grave violation of the Church’s unity.”

According to the letter, Leo XIV instructed the Secretariat to examine the SSPX’s plan for holding new sermons without the prior approval of the Vatican. In particular, the Pope said that the sermons are intended to spread a “dangerous doctrine” and to undermine the Church’s unity.

According to the Vatican, the SSPX was founded in 1970 by Catholic priests who opposed the modernizing reforms of the Catholic Church, following their break from the Vatican. The group has long been accused of resisting the Church’s authority and of conducting its own liturgical practices.

In 1988, the SSPX’s archbishop Marcel Lefebvre consecrated four bishops without papal approval. Vatican officials said the new bishops would be recognized as legitimate in 2009.

Meanwhile, the SSPX does not have canonical status in the Catholic Church, and its leaders are not allowed to hold public religious services. The Vatican said the group’s activities violate Church law, and that the SSPX must comply with the universal Church’s regulations.

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