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Where Peter Is

SSPX Consecrations: The Good, the Bad, and the Uncertainty

In some sense this is an “after the fact” rewrite of my recent return to canon law and Catholic commentary. I am attempting to reflect and write as I grapple with an event overshadowing my celebration of Canada Day with friends and family. Early this morning I woke up to the following news:...

Decree of Excommunication for the SSPX

The official decree from the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith declaring the excommunication of the clergy of the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) was published in the early morning hours today. Below is an unofficial working translation of the decree and the explanatory note into English: DECREE (Original Italian) Dicastery...

Pope Leo’s Prayer for July: Respect for Human Life

During the month of July, Pope Leo XIV is asking us to join him in praying that human life will be respected. The Catholic Church has long taught that respect for the sanctity of human life is a fundamental response to our faith in Christ. The roots of this belief are deeply theological...

Seven Years in the SSPX

On a sunny Santa Clara mountainside, I stood in shocked silence. It was lunchtime at the retreat center, and the buffet was ready. Prayers were said, and everyone stood. An unassuming woman in a loose-fitting dress leaned over to me and to the other women, and said, “Stand by your chairs until the...

July 1: Pope Leo XIV faces the SSPX schism

Note: This article was originally published June 27, 2026 in Spanish by the Spanish digital media outlet EL ESPAÑOL as “León XIV, ante el cisma de los ‘tradicionalistas’ de la Sociedad de San Pío X: dan misa en latín y quieren sus propios obispos.” Translated into English and published on Where Peter Is...

Is Vatican II Binding? The SSPX and the Optional Council

While speaking with reporters on the evening of Tuesday, June 16, outside Castel Gandolfo, Pope Leo XIV was asked about the decision of the leadership of the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) to consecrate four new bishops without papal approval on July 1 in Écône, Switzerland. The pope replied: “We are still considering making another...

Traditionalists in the Tempest: A Review of Faith in Crisis

Faith in Crisis is an auspicious book which may serve many Catholics navigating the present chaotic conditions of the World and the Church. I have found this project much needed, especially as a Catholic Worker that still feels an increasingly idiosyncratic identification with traditionalist and integralist thought, even as both categories seem eclipsed...

Pope St. Paul VI on the binding nature of Vatican II teaching

[Editor’s Note: On June 16, Pope Leo XIV commented on the divisions between the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) and the Catholic Church, noting of the SSPX that “they refuse to accept certain fundamental elements of the Church, starting with various points of the Second Vatican Council.” Many SSPX sympathizers have resurrected...

Sexuality Is Not the Church’s Only Moral Issue

For decades, public discourse about Christianity — especially Catholicism — has revolved around sexuality: who people sleep with, who they marry, what they do with their bodies, what is permitted, what is sinful. In the age of social media and constant polarization, those debates have only become louder. Scroll through enough debates online...