Nov. 1, 1970:
The Society of Saint Plus X is officially recognized by the Bishop of Lausanne, Geneva, and Fribourg, Bishop Charriére. It is therefore truly a new little branch pushed forth by the Church.

 
Feb. 18, 1971:
Cardinal Wright, Prefect of the Sacred Congregation for the Clergy, issues a decree praising the wisdom of the Society's statutes.

 
June 10, 1971:
Archbishop Lefebvre announces, together with the staff of the Seminary of Saint Plus X at Ecône, the refusal to adopt the Novus Ordo Missae (cf, QUESTION 5).

 
1971-1974:
Following on Cardinal Wright's letter are other sure signs of Rome's full acceptance of the Society of Saint Plus X:1. allowing its houses to be erected canonically in one Italian and two Swiss dioceses.

2. allowing three outside priests to join the Society and to be incardinated1 directly into it.
 

Was this tolerance shown the SSPX because it was in its early stages or because Bishops outside of the U.S. are generally more sympathetic to them?

quote from:
http://www.holycrossseminary.com/Most_Asked_Questions_Question_2.htm

Whatever squabbles they have on the surface, SSPX and Rome work exceedingly well together, kind of like George W. Bush and Obama.  Or maybe Ron Paul and Obama would be a more accurate comparison.

Where is the quote from, Darcy?  I am not positive about the dates, nor the names, but I believe SSPX was recognized at first, "officially," as a THIRD ORDER or pious union.  Pious unions are the lowest possible kind of order, they are usually congregations of laymen, for instance, fishermen or coopers or other tradesmen who want to be part of a group of like-minded Catholics.  

Somehow SSPX tried to turn this into a mark of legitimacy.  Don't ask me why they have any interest at all in how Rome perceives them, since that is something I'll never know.  SSPX has a sadomasochistic relationship with Rome and seems to alternate wildly and incoherently between caring and not-caring what they think.  They will boast in one breath about being recognized by Rome, or having "excommunications" lifted, and then in the next they'll boast about being excommunicated and play the martyr card... They seem to be addicted to the feeling of "legitimacy" that they get by being recognized in any way by Rome, even in negative ways, as compared to the backwoods hillbillies, the sedevacantists, who are not acknowledged at all because they are small-fries who are beneath contempt.  It's so Emperor's New Clothes that it's not even funny, and it is pathetic to witness these people truckling to illegitimate impostors just because they appear to have power.  

Only in the mind of certain higher-ups at SSPX does it make sense to take a third-order designation and somehow evolve from this into operating as the de facto Church, complete with a marriage tribunal that overrules decisions of Vatican II -- the same Vatican II they claim they still believe is the Church.  There are so many contradictions here it's mind-boggling.  I truly fear, not so much for the laymen who aren't expected to understand all these issues, but for the clergy of the SSPX, because there is much that savors of heresy or near-heresy here, although "heresy" isn't quite exact.  SSPX is a peculiar mix of Gallicanism ( disobedience towards the men they say represent the true Church in order to create their own alternate, separate power structure ) and borderline Old Catholicism ( they all but deny papal infallibility by Pharisaically reducing it to ex cathedra statements )... SSPX is its own beast, just like Vatican II is its own beast, these are things never seen before in history.