In a official statement, Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernandez, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, reiterates the position of the Holy See regarding the episcopal ordinations announced for July 1 by the Priestly Fraternity of St. Pius X, whose members are known as “Lefebvrians”.
The Vatican warns that such appointments lack the corresponding pontifical mandate, which places the Fraternity in a position of rupture with ecclesiastical authority.
Canonical and theological consequences
The Prefect's note underlines the gravity of this action. He points out that this gesture will constitute “a schismatic act”, taking refuge in what the Pope has established. John Paul II in the document “Ecclesia Dei".
The repercussions for those who participate in this movement are severe according to Church law:
- Divine offense: It is considered that “formal adherence to schism constitutes a grave offense to God”.
- Excommunication: The act entails the “excommunication established by the law of the Church”, as indicated in the aforementioned letter “Ecclesia Dei” and in the Explanatory Note of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts dated August 24, 1996.
The Holy Father's call
In the face of what is described as a “very serious decision”, the statement indicates that the Holy Father continues to pray that the Holy Spirit enlighten the leaders of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Pius X so that they “reverse” their current plans and avoid the consummation of the fracture with the Catholic Church.
The last warning
The note from the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith does not come as a surprise. In February 2026, Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernandez met with the Superior General of the institution, Father Davide Pagliarani, following the announcement of the episcopal ordinations that the Fraternity wants to celebrate on July 1.
After receiving the news, the Prefect held an audience with Pagliarani, in which he warned him of the consequences that such ordinations would have. Therefore, he suggested that between the Holy See and the Fraternity to initiate “a path of specifically theological dialogue” that will help the members of the Lefebvrian institution to recover communion with the Catholic Church, pointing out some “minimum requirements”.
The response of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X
Following the meeting, the General Council of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Pius X published a letter affirming that “doctrinal dialogue has always been - and continues to be - desirable and useful”, even if consensus is not reached.
However, the “Lefebvrians” refuse to hold this conversation because the Holy See has requested as a necessary condition that episcopal ordinations be suspended. Moreover, the General Council of the Fraternity affirms in its letter that it does not see the likelihood of reaching an agreement with the Holy See to restore communion with Rome.
Among the arguments put forward by the Priestly Fraternity of St. Pius X are:
- The disagreement of the “Lefebvrians” with the Second Vatican Council “does not derive from a mere difference of opinion, but from a genuine case of conscience, arising from what has turned out to be a break with the Tradition of the Church.”.
- There can be no dialogue on the interpretation of the Second Vatican Council since this “has already been clearly established in the post-conciliar period and in the successive documents of the Holy See”. The Fraternity affirms that the post-conciliar documents signed by the Popes “show that the doctrinal and pastoral framework in which the Holy See intends to situate any debate is already firmly established.”.
- The Priestly Fraternity of St. Pius X has asked for the opening of dialogue on several occasions. However, “only when episcopal consecrations are mentioned is an offer made to resume dialogue, which therefore seems dilatory and conditional.” According to the “Lefebvrians”, “this threat is now public, which generates a pressure hardly compatible with a genuine desire for fraternal exchanges and constructive dialogue”.
- The “Lefebvrians” affirm that there cannot be a dialogue to establish the minimum requirements for communion with Rome “simply because this task does not correspond to us”. They consider that these criteria cannot “be the object of a joint discernment through dialogue”.
- The Fraternity warns that all attempts at dialogue have ended up being fruitless, since the last time the process was opened “everything finally ended drastically, with the unilateral decision of Cardinal Müller, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, who, in June 2017, solemnly established, in his own way, ‘the minimum requirements for full communion with the Catholic Church,’ explicitly including the entire Council and the post-conciliar period. This situation, they continue, shows that “if one persists in a doctrinal dialogue that is too forced and lacks sufficient serenity, in the long run, instead of achieving a satisfactory result, it only worsens the situation.”.
Call for charity
For all these reasons, the Pius X Priestly Fraternity calls for “charity towards souls and towards the Church”. They stress that “the Society is an objective reality: it exists” and ask that the Fraternity “be allowed to continue to do this same good to the souls to whom it administers the holy sacraments”.
In the letter, the General Council affirms that they do not ask for “neither privileges, nor even a canonical regularization which, in the present situation, is unfeasible due to doctrinal divergences”. They claim to be fulfilling a mission to achieve “the survival of Tradition, at the service of the Holy Catholic Church”.
Finally, the “Lefebvrians” allude to the attitude of listening promoted by Pope Francis and are grateful for the attention given by the Prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.
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