Canonical Analysis: The 2026 DDF Decree on the SSPX

By the Canon of Shaftesbury, a judicial vicar in a major archdiocese. [This contribution is of the sole responsibility of its author; it does not represent the official position of Rorate Cæli.]

The question is whether the Decree and Explanatory Note issued by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) on July 2, 2026 actually accomplished what many have said, namely, the excommunication of six bishops, over seven hundred priests, and an unspecified number of the faithful. The short answer, reading the documents against the Code of Canon Law, is that they did not.

DICASTERY FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH: PROCEDURE FOR THE RECONCILIATION OF PRIESTS AND LAY FAITHFUL COMING FROM THE SSPX (Full translations)

 There will be no new Ecclesia Dei commission -- instead, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, following the publication of the Decree of Excommunication and its Explanatory Note, has published a "Procedure for the Reconciliation of Priests of the Society of Saint Pius X", and another for the Lay Faithful, with Profession of Faith and Formula of Adherence.

This is our translation of the Italian and Latin original - first, the text relative to priests; followed by the procedure relative to some of the lay faithful; followed by the texts of the Profession of Faith and Formula of Adherence in Latin, and in our translation:

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DICASTERY FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH

PROCEDURE FOR THE RECONCILIATION

OF PRIESTS COMING FROM

THE PRIESTLY FRATERNITY OF SAINT PIUS X

The procedure followed by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, effective July 1, 2026, provides that a priest who has decided to leave the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X, who is willing to accept the Second Vatican Council and the legitimacy of the Novus Ordo Missae, while remaining attached to the usus antiquior, must: 

Casualties of Legalism: Truth and Charity - Guest Article

(photo source)

The following guest article is written by Michael Kakooza, Ph.D. (Wales), who has written for Rorate in the past. It represents the view of its author and not the official stance of Rorate.

In necessariis unitas, in dubiis libertas, in omnibus caritas. [In necessary things, unity, In doubtful things, liberty, In all things, charity]

But should not the great Church also allow herself to be generous in the knowledge of her great breadth, in the knowledge of the promise made to her? Should not we, as good educators, also be capable of overlooking various faults and making every effort to open up broader vistas? And should we not admit that some unpleasant things have also emerged in Church circles? At times one gets the impression that our society needs to have at least one group to which no tolerance may be shown; which one can easily attack and hate. (Letter of Pope Benedict XVI to the World’s Catholic Episcopate on Remission of Excommunication of the four SSPX Bishops, 10^th March 2009)

 

A RORATE CÆLI EDITORIAL -- Traditionis Custodes IS the State of Emergency: While it Exists, the Ecclesial Situation of Traditional Catholics Remains Precarious

There were many reasons for Summorum Pontificum, the motu proprio document by Benedict XVI that gave back full rights of citizenship to the Traditional Liturgies of the Latin Church in our age.

Justice, for one. The then-Cardinal Ratzinger had written extensively on the mistakes of the Pauline liturgical reform. But also, and very importantly, the situation of the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX).

The SSPX had long defended the full freedom of the Traditional Mass as one of its conditions for a final settlement with the Apostolic See. Then, Benedict XVI accomplished the other condition: the lifting of the excommunications of the four SSPX bishops consecrated by Abp. Marcel Lefebvre in 1988; and the German response to the lifting of one of them (that of Bp. Richard Williamson) created one of the gravest storms of the Ratzinger Pontificate. The reaction gave rise to one of the most traumatic writings ever composed by a Pontiff in the modern age:

The Kingship of Christ and the Aporias of the Roman Church — Guest Article by Vigilius

[Editor: The following texts reflects the personal opinion of the authors.]

Prefatory note: Ever since the SSPX announced the forthcoming illicit consecrations of bishops, many aspects have been discussed. One aspect, however, which lies at the core of the SSPX’s argumentation—namely, their concept of the origin of episcopal power of governance and its theological consequences—has not yet received the attention it deserves. The subject is sensitive because it concerns the First Vatican Council. I personally consider this essay, which was first published at https://einsprueche.substack.com/, to be truly fundamental: the author’s central intention is to defend the priesthood, the sacrifice, and the rite, and he does so with great consistency. The second part will follow soon, which returns to the question of the papacy and then draws conclusions on the Society of St. Pius X. We must begin to discuss these issues with intellectual honesty and without glossing over existing contradictions. —PAK
 

The Kingship of Christ and the Aporias of the Roman Church

Vigilius

URGENT - Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX) Announces Future Consecrations for July 1st, 2026

A news item of the SSPX; full communique at the bottom:

On this February 2, 2026, the Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin, Father Davide Pagliarani, Superior General of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X, during the ceremony of the imposition of the cassocks, which he presided over at the International Seminary of Saint-Curé-d’Ars, in Flavigny-sur-Ozerain, France, publicly announced his decision to entrust to the bishops of the Fraternity the task of proceeding with new episcopal consecrations, on July 1st next.

First Public Acknowledgement of the Consecration of New Bishops for the SSPX - Letter by SSPX France Superior: Get Ready

Last September, Rorate Caeli first published the rumors of a Consecration of new bishops for the traditional Catholic Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX). The SSPX last consecrated bishops in June 1988, and currently has three of those then consecrated still performing duties for the Society. As is to be expected, those three bishops are now much older, and considerably overstretched. 

As is well remembered, those 1988 consecrations were deeply controversial, unleashing forces throughout the Church -- including the regularization and foundation of several religious institutes (including the FSSP and Le Barroux), and leading to the second major document on the "liberalization" of the Traditional Mass, the motu proprio "Ecclesia Dei".

Now, the Superior of the Society for France (the second largest, after the US, and still most influential District of the SSPX), Father Benoît de Jorna, is the first leader of the SSPX to publicly acknowledge the reality that consecrations will be needed soon, if only for realistic reasons of human affairs. [Our translation.]

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Letter to friends and benefactors n. 95: let us be strong!

Father Benoît de Jorna

June 19, 2024

The virtue of strength will be sorely needed on a crucial occasion: the announcement of new consecrations to continue the "operation-survival" of Catholic Tradition.

Dear friends and benefactors,

Thirty-six years ago, on June 30, 1988, Archbishop Lefebvre performed "operation-survival" on Catholic Tradition by consecrating four auxiliary bishops for the Society of St. Pius X.

Heard in the SSPX Priories: A Consecration of New Bishops for the SSPX is coming, sooner rather than later

 We can't add much more right now, but talk is growing.

The SSPX leadership will obviously request Rome's approval, as Abp. Lefebvre himself requested in 1987/1988 (with unclear, then clear, results...), but what exactly will unfold is unclear at the moment.

We'll have more to add soon.