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Fr. Rousseau is a priest of the Resistance based in France.
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The Society of Saint Pius X, Yesterday (1988) and Today (2026)
Here are four texts:
– The first, signed by the major superiors of the Society of Saint Pius X, the day after the sentence pronounced by John Paul II, concerning the consecrations of June 30, 1988;
– The second, of March 7, 2026, by Father Pagliarani, Superior General of the Society of Saint Pius X, on the eve of the consecrations announced for July 1, 2026.
– The third, from the current Superior General, Father Pagliarani: a text from February 2026.
– The fourth, from the Superior General (1982 – 1994) who succeeded Archbishop Lefebvre, Father Schmidberger: a text from October 1991.
Is it the same spirit that animates these ecclesiastics?
Confrontation via the texts.

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1 –
Open letter from the Superiors of the FSSPX to Cardinal Gantin,
Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, of July 6, 1988
Écône, July 6, 1988
Your Eminence,
Gathered around their Superior General, the Superiors of the districts, seminaries and autonomous houses of the Priestly Society of Saint Pius X think it good to respectfully express the following reflections to you.
You thought it necessary, by your letter of July 1st last, to make known to His Excellency Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, to His Excellency Bishop Antonio de Castro Mayer and to the four bishops whom they consecrated last June 30th at Ecône, their excommunication latæ sententiæ. Please judge for yourself the value of such a declaration coming from an authority which, in its exercise, breaks with that of all its predecessors up to Pope Pius XII, in the worship, teaching and government of the Church.
As for us, we are in full communion with all the popes and all the bishops who preceded the Second Vatican Council, celebrating exactly the Mass that they codified and celebrated, teaching the catechism that they composed, standing against the errors that they condemned many times in their encyclicals and their pastoral letters. Please judge, therefore, on which side the rupture lies. We are extremely saddened by the blindness of spirit and the hardness of heart of the Roman authorities.
On the other hand, we have never wished to belong to this system which calls itself the Conciliar Church, and defines itself by the Novus Ordo Missæ, indifferentist ecuмenism and the secularization of all Society. Yes, we have no part, nullam partem habemus, with the pantheon of religions of Assisi; our own excommunication by a decree of Your Eminence or of another dicastery would only be the irrefutable proof of it. We ask for nothing better than to be declared ex communione from the adulterous spirit which has been blowing in the Church for twenty-five years, excluded from impious communion with infidels. We believe in the one God, Our Lord Jesus Christ, with the Father and the Holy Ghost, and we will always be faithful to His unique Spouse, the One, Holy, Catholic, Apostolic and Roman Church.
Therefore, to be associated publicly with the sanction which strikes the six Catholic bishops, defenders of the faith in its integrity and its wholeness, would be for us a mark of honor and a sign of orthodoxy before the faithful. The latter have, in effect, a strict right to know that the priests to whom they address themselves are not of the communion of a counterfeit Church, evolutionary, pentecostalist, and syncretist. United with these faithful, we make our own the words of the prophet (1 Kings, vii, 3): Preparate corda vestra Domino et servite Illi Soli: et liberabit vos de manibus inimicorum vestrorum. Convertimini ad Eum in toto corde vestro, et auferte deos alienos de medio vestri. "Firmly attach your heart to the Lord and serve Him Alone: and He will deliver you from the hands of your enemies. It is with all your heart that you must return to God; remove foreign gods from your midst."
Trusting in the protection of Her who has crushed all heresies throughout the entire world, we pray you to accept, Your Eminence, the assurance of our devotion to Him who is the only way of salvation.
At Ecône, July 6, 1988
Following are the signatures of the Superior General, of all the Superiors of districts, seminaries and autonomous houses of the Priestly Society of Saint Pius X throughout the whole world:
• Father Franz Schmidberger, Superior General,
• Fathers Paul Aulagnier, Superior of the District of France,
• Franz-Joseph Maessen, Superior of the District of Germany,
• Edward Black, Superior of the District of Great Britain,
• Anthony Esposito, Superior of the District of Italy,
• François Laisney, Superior of the District of the United States,
• Jacques Emily, Superior of the District of Canada,
• Jean-Michel Faure, Superior of the District of Mexico,
• Gérard Hogan, Superior of the District of Australia and New Zealand,
• Alain Lorans, Director of the Seminary of Écône,
• Jean-Paul André, Director of the Seminary of Flavigny,
• Paul Natterer, Superior of the Seminary of Zaitzkofen,
• Andrés Morello, Superior of the Seminary of La Reja,
• William Welsh, Director of the Seminary of the Holy Cross in Australia,
• Michel Simoulin, Rector of the Saint Pius X Institute in Paris,
• Patrice Laroche, Vice-Rector of the Seminary of Écône,
• Philippe François, Superior of the Autonomous House of Belgium and Luxembourg,
• Roland de Mérode, Superior of the Autonomous House of the Netherlands,
• Georg Pfluger, Superior of the Autonomous House of Austria,
• Guillaume Devillers, Superior of the Autonomous House of Spain,
• Philippe Pazat, Superior of the Autonomous House of Portugal,
• Daniel Couture, Superior of the Autonomous House of Ireland,
• Patrick Groche, Superior of the Autonomous House of Gabon,
• Franck Peek, Superior of the Autonomous House of Southern Africa.
(Extract from Fideliter N° 64 of July-August 1988, pages 11 and 12)

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2 –
Extract from the letter of Father Pagliarani to the members of the FSSPX, of March 7, 2026:
"If we were to come to be declared excommunicated and schismatic, this would not mean that we sought such a sanction nor that we rejoiced in it, for it would be objectively unjust. One thing is to rejoice in having a new humiliation to offer to God; another would be to rejoice, in a spirit of defiance, in an evil and an objective injustice, which provokes a scandal for the whole Church. Caritas non gaudet super iniquitatem – charity does not rejoice over iniquity."
Source : https://fsspx.news/fr/news/sacres-episcopaux-ce-que-labbe-pagliarani-aux-membres-la-fraternite-saint-pie-x-59244

Brief commentary: it is not the same state of mind that animates, at a distance of 38 years, the letter of the major superiors of the FSSPX and that of the current superior general. The former rejoiced in the alleged excommunication fulminated by conciliar Rome, the latter advocates a charity that is no longer combative.

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3 –
A second text by Father Pagliarani sheds light on his writing (February 7, at La Martinerie, Châteauroux):
"What will the Society do if Rome condemns the consecrations?
Question:
More concretely, returning to the announcement you made regarding the episcopal consecrations planned for next July 1st for the Society of Saint Pius X — consecrations which will give the power of order, that is to say the capacity to confer the sacraments, but not the power of jurisdiction — one must ask the pope for a pontifical mandate, as canon law provides.
Without indulging in prophecy or science fiction, do you think that Pope Leo XIV can accept this request? Or at least refrain from intervening, tolerating that things be done without approving them explicitly? How do you view the situation?

Response:
Everything is possible. Yes, everything is possible.
I would say this: just as Benedict XVI lifted the decrees of excommunication in 2009 — which seemed quite unexpected —, I think that a pope can understand that the Society acts with a right intention. This seems evident to me. We have a right intention. We are quite direct, as we have said: we say what we think.

The pope can therefore understand it, can even appreciate it, without necessarily sharing our position. And, if he really has concern for souls, then, for the good of all these souls who, in one way or another, directly or indirectly, have recourse to the Society, or see in it a point of reference, I think that a pope can theoretically understand this particular necessity on the part of the Society.

It is possible. Yes, it is possible. But, once again, all this depends on God, on Providence, and on the good will of the pope.

I think that the fact of announcing the consecrations five or six months in advance allows us to prepare for the worst; but it also allows the pope to reflect, and, I hope, to receive further explanations from us, in order to better understand our good will.
All this is possible. On the other hand, I do not think that the pope will adhere entirely to Tradition between now and July 1st. Humanly speaking, this is not the prospect. But that he might be able to understand, that, yes, is possible."

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4 –
In 1991, the Superior General of the Society, Father Schmidberger, had launched a prayer crusade, the intentions of which were as follows:
"The conversion of Rome and the bishops;
The return of Christ the King to formerly Christian nations;
The preaching of the faith and the construction of institutions of salvation in every country where souls call us.
The solution to the current crisis lies above all in Rome and with the bishops, imminently with the Pope himself. It would therefore be necessary to convert them especially, in the sense of a return to the full tradition of the Church, concerning doctrine, worship and government." (Cor unum, liaison bulletin of the members of the FSSPX, n° 40, October 1991, editorial)

Brief commentary: two superior generals, one in 1991, the other in 2026, do not say the same thing, and even contradict each other. Indeed: the former has prayers said for the conversion of the pope, the latter envisages only a human understanding of the necessity of episcopal consecrations.

Conclusion

It was in 2012 that the principle stated in 2006 was reversed: "No practical agreement without doctrinal agreement". To all those who wish to see clearly into the crisis that has shaken the FSSPX since then, we can only recommend the reading of the "Eleison Comments" of Bishop Williamson. At the present time, four volumes are published.
Father Dominique Rousseau
Pentecost 2026


https://havresaintjoseph-tradition.fr/la-fraternite-saint-pie-x-hier-1988-et-aujourdhui-2026/