It is well known that the schismatic Society of Saint Pius X plans to consecrate four bishops on July 1, 2026, in Écône, Switzerland — despite being warned explicitly that to do so would incur excommunication for both those ordained and those performing the ordinations. We have been here before. In 1988 Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre did the same, also consecrating four bishops. In selecting four again the leadership of the SSPX seems to be pointedly paying homage to Lefebvre, who once wrote of “the See of Peter and the posts of authority in Rome being occupied by anti-Christs.”
There is no point in analysis. The members of the Society have been told they are canonically in a state of schism, and that excommunication will follow the consecrations. The advice to Rome of their intentions, and the submissions of dossiers of the ordinands, done, in the Society’s words, “in a spirit of respect toward the supreme authority of the universal Church,” is anything but respectful. Indeed, they express contempt for the supreme authority of the universal Church.
The Catholic reaction to the coming has varied from sympathy toward the Society to utter indifference.[1] As a former priest of the SSPX, I put myself in the category of “concerned but dispassionate.”
Again, we have been here before. The Society has no crossroad to meet, no Rubicon to cross. The Society and its adherents crossed the Rubicon 37 years ago. Heck, they have built a five-star hotel, wine bar, and Walmart on the opposite bank of the Rubicon! They are not in danger of entering a state of schism, for they are already in a state of schism. In reading the very short and incomplete bios of the ordinands that the leaders of the SSPX presented to their followers it is evident that, unlike in 1988, none of the new bishops will have any significant experience of normal parish life. They, or their parents on their behalf, will have made life choices uninformed by the authentic teaching of the Church.
It is not that I am heartless toward the unhappy state of my former confreres, nor aloof to the tragedy of schism and excommunication. If we see a friend fall into a state of depravity of their own making, we rightly grieve. Our pain for them is all the greater when they have been warned, and have been the recipient of kindly, sympathetic attention. But when that friend persists, our one hope for them may very well be that, having plunged to the lowest depth, they may at last realize their plight, and call out to be rescued.
In traditionalist circles the political position of the SSPX toward Rome is termed “Recognize and Resist”; that is, recognize the existence and authority of the Roman See but act as if it had no authority. It is of course a theologically untenable stance, and any intelligent individual purporting to profess the Catholic faith must, at some point, acknowledge that fact.
I remember the former Superior General Bernard Fellay admitting the conundrum in a circular to priests some 30 years ago. If one accepts the premise that Vatican II and the sacramental rites contain error, and at the same time attempts to maintain the doctrine of the indefectibility of the universal Church and that of the Seat of Peter in particular, they must logically be drawn to one of two conclusions. The first is that the pope and bishops have lost their faith and offices, for the true Church cannot fail to transmit the faith and the means to attain salvation. That conclusion means sedevacantism, with its own set of theological contradictions.
The other conclusion leads one to conclude that Jesus Christ did not found a Church, let alone guarantee its integrity to the end of time. The Catholic Church then becomes a sham, and it is better to seek the truth elsewhere, if not to surrender to despair altogether. The SSPX hemorrhages clergy from both ends of the theological spectrum. The SSPX publishes the number of priests as of 2025 at 733. However, the number of priests who have continually left since the inception of the Society in 1970, though undocumented officially, would easily exceed a hundred. Even accepting an attrition rate due to old age, the SSPX does not have an especially high retention rate when it comes to its clergy. Human frailty or lack of vocation doubtless accounts for a small number of defections. I maintain that the bulk is due to the impossibility of defending the theological inconsistencies in the Recognize and Resist position.
Of course, there is a third conclusion a member of the SSPX might come to. If one is faced with a theological impossibility then obviously the premise that led to that impossibility is false. So the Second Vatican Council is the authentic voice of the universal Church, and all the reforms that proceeded forth are Catholic. That admission requires an act of submission to Christ and his vicar on earth. To admit that means for many traditionalists the overcoming of a certain spiritual pride. And the danger of pride lies in the fact that the proud man does not realize he is proud. By the grace of God I returned to full communion, but it might have gone an entirely different way, and very nearly did.
Barring a miracle of grace, the two remaining SSPX bishops will lay hands on four men and call them bishops of the true Church. Yet the Bride of Christ will remain unsullied, her splendid robes of Ophir untorn, reflecting the majesty of her divine Spouse. I will not be wringing my hands. I will not cry lamentation. I will pray quietly for those unfortunate souls — of whose number I might very well have remained to this day — and for the Church of Christ, that her light would continue to enlighten the world, show the path to God and to peace, and to embrace all who feel lost and unloved. The Church is not marked or defined by her enemies. Rather, it is the Church who sees her enemies as they are — her beloved children.
[1] Indeed, most Catholics are blissfully unaware of the Society’s existence. The SSPX operates as if it were the center of the universe, and I experienced something of a culture shock when I left the Society in 1999. I discovered that only a handful of Catholics had ever heard of it!
Image: “SSPX Confirmation, June 21, 2010 (CC BY 2.0) by Jim, the Photographer
Gary Campbell is a freelance writer living in Australia, writing history and educational literature. He has also worked as a schoolteacher. Gary was a member of the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) for 12 years, including as an ordained priest for five years. He was reconciled to Rome in 1999 and laicized.
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