Open Letter to Cardinal Arborelius in Response to the
Statements of 15 August 2025
Your Eminence,We have taken note of the two statements concerning our priestly fraternity that were made public by Your Eminence on the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
Animated by the zeal for the salvation of souls and in the spirit of filial devotion to our Holy Mother the Church and Her institutions we would like to make our thoughts and intentions known in the form of an open letter that we hope will foster a greater understanding for the nature of our work and benefit many of the Catholic faithful in Sweden.
Standing of the pastoral activities of the FSSPX according to Church authorities
No. 6 of Your Eminence's Clarification states that the sacraments celebrated by our priests are “valida sed illicita” - valid but illicit (i.e. inadmissible). We are grateful for this clarification, which shows, for the benefit of all the faithful, that Your Eminence agrees with us that all our sacraments are valid.
Concerning the liceity (admissibility) of the sacraments celebrated by our priests, we would like to point out that on 1st September 2015 “motivated by the need to respond to the good of these faithful”, the Holy Father Pope Francis granted faculties for hearing confessions validly and licitly to all the priests of our priestly fraternity. At first, this was granted for the duration of one year (the Year of Mercy) and then in the Apostolic Letter Misericordia et misera, dated 20 November 2016, extended until further notice for “the pastoral benefit” of the faithful who attend our churches. These faculties have not been revoked by the Holy See to date.
The Church and the Holy Father certainly do not consider it a “good of the faithful” or a “pastoral benefit” to reassure those faithful who are about to do what is objectionable or inadmissible. But as Confessions are usually heard immediately before Holy Mass, it stands to reason that most of the faithful who come to our priests for Confession have the intention of attending Holy Mass celebrated by one of our priests immediately afterwards.
Furthermore, in the letter of the Pontifical Commission “Ecclesia Dei” signed 27 March and published 4 April 2017, the Holy Father's decision to authorize Local Ordinaries the possibility to grant faculties for the celebration of marriages of faithful who follow the pastoral activity of the FSSPX was promulgated. The letter explicitly mentions that the purpose of this decision was “to reassure the conscience of the faithful” and that the Mass celebrated following such a marriage ceremony, “may” or “is to be” celebrated by a priest of the FSSPX. Now, the Church and the Holy Father do not reassure the conscience of those who do something inadmissible or objectionable.
Therefore, it is evidently not the view of the Holy See that it is inadmissible or objectionable to follow the pastoral activities of the FSSPX.
In No. 2 of Your Eminence's Clarification, it is stated that the FSSPX does not live and work in communion with the Holy See. This statement is manifestly false and amounts to a grave calumny. The members of the FSSPX are Catholics in virtue of their baptism, Catholic faith and submission to the authority of the pope. This submission, however, does not imply a limitless obedience.
Your Eminence's use of the expression “not living and working in communion with the Holy See” amounts to the accusation that we are in schism. As false as this accusation is, it is at least a clear and precise statement concerning canonical status: someone in schism is separated from the Church. But in the very same sentence it is also said that our canonical status is unclear. How can we at the same time be in schism and in a canonical status that is “unclear”?
Statements by the Holy Fathers Benedict XVI and Francis, and especially their way of dealing with matters concerning our priestly fraternity as matters internal to the Church, clearly show that they considered us as Catholics and part of the Church. Examples of this are the doctrinal discussions between the Vatican and the FSSPX from 2009 to 2012 and the faculties granted by Pope Francis in 2015, 2016 and 2017.
It has been clearly emphasized, especially by Pope Benedict XVI, that the “problem” between the Holy See and the FSSPX is of a doctrinal, not disciplinary nature. In other words, the reason why our fraternity is denied an official canonical status is not some refusal on our part to recognize the pope, to live in communion with the rest of the Church, that we keep doing things without permission, or in bad faith or anything of that nature. Pope Benedict XVI stated in the Letter to the Bishops of 10 March 2009: “the problems now to be addressed are essentially doctrinal in nature and concern primarily the acceptance of the Second Vatican Council and the post-conciliar magisterium of the Popes”. In the letter of 1 September 2015, Pope Francis stated concerning the FSSPX: “From various quarters, several Brother Bishops have told me of their good faith and sacramental practice”.
Well-respected bishops of the Church have expressed support for the FSSPX, defended its adherence to the Church's traditional teachings and advocated its recognition by Church authorities.
Bishop Athanasius Schneider has been reported in the press as stating that only “a very narrow, legalistic view of the reality of the Church” could lead one to believe the FSSPX is schismatic and that those who state as much are “putting the letter of the Canon Law above the importance, the primary importance of the fullness of the Catholic faith and of the traditional liturgy.” Further, that the FSSPX continually exhibits “canonical community with the Pope” by praying for the pope during Mass and offering other public prayers for him and that the lack of a canonical recognition is not a barrier to Catholics receiving sacraments from FSSPX clergy.
Particularly telling is the story of Bishop Vitus Huonder, former diocesan Bishop of Chur in Switzerland, who was tasked by Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller, then Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, to initiate dialogue with the FSSPX. This mandate led to regular contact with members of the FSSPX, allowing him to understand our fraternity from within, moving beyond media portrayals. His journey culminated in his retirement to our house in Wangs, Switzerland, a decision made with the explicit permission and blessing of Pope Francis. In a series of video talks, he expressed deep admiration for our founder, Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre. He also stated that Pope Francis personally told him the FSSPX is not in schism. Bishop Huonder died on Easter Wednesday, 2024, and was buried in Écône alongside Archbishop Lefebvre.
In No. 3 of the Clarification, the often-heard contention is made that the FSSPX is not in full communion with the Holy See and the Pope. The use of the expression “full communion” in this context is a novelty and the distinction between “full” and “imperfect” communion is an innovation of the second Vatican Council. The Church's traditional teaching is very simple: Catholics belong to the Church by fulfilling the three classic conditions: baptism, Catholic faith, submission to the hierarchy. The FSSPX acknowledges the authority of the pope, and its priests pray for him at every Mass. True obedience consists in accepting the authority of the pope as pope, in praying for him, and respecting his person while actively resisting any bad orientations he might wish to impart to the Church. Such is the attitude of the FSSPX, and we are therefore indeed in a state of submission to the pope.
Obligation of registering sacraments
In No. 5 of the Clarification it is stated that sacraments celebrated by our priests (which are admitted to be valid - see above) cannot be entered into the sacramental records of the diocese and that this will affect the possibility for the faithful to receive baptismal and confirmation certificates.
Catholic sacramental theology and Canon Law impose an unequivocal obligation to keep track of the reception of certain sacraments, especially those that can only be received once without sacrilege, such as Baptism, Confirmation and Holy Orders.
Canon law (535 §2) prescribes that notations of confirmation, marriage, reception of sacred orders, etc. are always to be noted on a baptismal certificate.
We cannot imagine that Your Eminence really intends to forbid valid confirmations to be entered in the sacramental records and included on baptismal certificates, as this will inevitably lead to confusion and uncertainty as to whether a member of the faithful has or has not received the sacrament of Confirmation and therefore pose the risk of sacrilegious repetition of the conferral of Confirmation. Such a policy would clearly be against the prescriptions of Canon Law and would amount to an abuse of power making life difficult and causing fear and uncertainly for Catholic faithful who have no other wish than to profess their Catholic Faith and live in full accordance with it.
We will of course assure the faithful concerned that a confirmation certificate can always be obtained directly from us, should the Catholic Diocese of Stockholm actually choose to ignore the theology and Law of the Church in this matter.
State of grave spiritual necessity
The Priestly Fraternity of St. Pius X considers the carrying out of those of its pastoral activities that lack the approval of church authorities to be justified by the existence of a state of grave spiritual necessity caused by the current crisis in the Church.
For their salvation and sanctification souls are in need of the true, unadulterated Catholic Faith and the sacraments of the Catholic Church celebrated in the dignified, awe-inspiring and uplifting rites of the traditional Missal, Ritual and Pontifical that truly lead hearts and minds to the realm of the supernatural and the things of God, as they have done for centuries for so many of the Church's most loved and venerated Saints.
Every member of the Church has the right to receive from it the doctrine and the sacraments necessary for salvation. This includes the right to be warned against errors that put the faith in danger as well as the right to be taught the fulness of the Catholic faith.
In the Church of today, many errors previously condemned by the Church's magisterium are being allowed to spread practically unchecked, with an immense number of contemporary theologians and even bishops and cardinals openly denying or questioning the dogmas of the Catholic Church. The liturgical reforms have led to a loss of respect for the sacred, as the new forms largely fail to lift the soul to God and rather bring what should be considered sacred and approached with respect and awe down to the level of the mundane and everyday. The practice of receiving Holy Communion in the hand and standing not only occasions many sacrileges, but is also at least partly responsible for the loss of faith of many Catholics in Christ's Real Presence in the Blessed Sacrament.
Referring to the situation of the Church in 1972, Pope Paul VI said in a homily that “from some fissure the smoke of Satan has entered the temple of God”. In his 2003 apostolic exhortation Ecclesia in Europa, Pope John Paul II lamented a widespread erosion of faith marked by practical agnosticism, religious indifference and a forgetting of Christian heritage – describing it as a silent apostasy on the part of people who have all that they need and who live as if God does not exist. Benedict XVI publicly decried the “process of secularization” that “has produced a grave crisis of the sense of the Christian faith and of belonging to the Church”.
In our view, the preaching of modern Ecumenism and Religious Liberty have been especially far-reaching in its harmful consequences. A true ecumenism aims to lead souls to enter into the true Church founded by Jesus Christ, but the modern and false type of ecumenism which was promoted by the Second Vatican Council is concerned with achieving a purely human reconciliation, ignoring the need to reconcile men with God by leading souls to the means of salvation found only in the Catholic Church. Religious liberty, as taught by the Second Vatican Council, denies the rights of Our Lord Jesus Christ as King.
Many fundamental truths of the Catholic Faith are unfortunately ignored or denied in large parts of the Church, such as the infallibility of divine revelation, the importance of sanctifying grace, the reality of Hell, the power of the devil, the need for spiritual fight and the social Kingship of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
If the normal hierarchy (pastor, bishop, etc.) do not fulfill their duty, the faithful find themselves in a state of necessity that allows them to have recourse to any Catholic priest. Because of the necessity, this priest then receives directly from the Church what is called supplied jurisdiction, in order to minister to the faithful. We have always maintained that in the current crisis, supplied jurisdiction empowers traditional priests to baptize, hear the confessions of, marry, etc., Catholics who otherwise would not depend on them.
The fact that some errors are condemned, (parts of) Catholic truth is preached and the traditional liturgy is allowed to be celebrated in some places especially provided, often in an unstable manner, for faithful who have a “personal preference” or happen to be “attached to the vetus ordo”, as it is often expressed, clearly does not change the fact that the state of grave spiritual necessity remains. For the defense of the liturgical and doctrinal Tradition of the Church is nothing more nor less than the defense of the integrity of the Catholic Faith, which is the common good of the Church; by this very fact it entails the fight against modern errors which challenge fundamental truths of the Faith and thus endanger the common good of the Church. When this common good of the Catholic Faith is considered by the authorities as the object of a simple personal attachment, a state of necessity exists.
The supreme Law of the Church is the salvation of souls. The Law of the Church, just like any other just law, allows for exceptions in exceptional circumstances. Civil law forbids breaking windows, but it is not wrong to break a window in order to save an infant from a burning building. It is similarly not wrong to help feed the starving flock even if it can only be done at the cost of the disapproval of Church authorities, whose approval would have been required in normal circumstances. In the light of this, we cannot agree with Your Eminence's statement in No. 6 of the Clarification that sacraments celebrated by our priests are unauthorised and therefore should never be celebrated and avoided by the faithful. The circumstances themselves give the authorisation that is lacking from responsible authorities, making these celebrations both valid and licit.
The FSSPX provides access to the mentioned means of salvation to many thousands of Catholic faithful around the world with its priories, churches, chapels, novitiates and priestly seminaries, and we strive to do the same for souls hungry and thirsty for sanctification in Sweden and the other Scandinavian countries as well. We are especially eager to find worthy vocations to the Catholic priesthood and religious life and help them on their path to a life consecrated to God.
Our priests always pray for the Pope and the local Bishop at the beginning of the Canon of Holy Mass. We do what we do, not in the spirit of division or rebellion, but with the sole aim of the glory of God, the preservation of the invaluable treasures of the Catholic Faith and Sacraments, handed to our Mother the Church by Almighty God Himself, and the salvation and sanctification of souls. We have no other wish than to help Your Eminence and the other responsible pastors fulfil Your holy duty in the care for souls.
Most respectfully, Your humble servants in Christ the King and Mary Immaculate,
Father Karl Stehlin FSSPX
District Superior for Poland and Scandinavia
Father Håkan Lindström FSSPX
Priest responsible for the Scandinavian apostolate
22 August 2025, on the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
