Editing Marcel Lefebvre (section)

== Society of Saint Pius X ==
{{Main|Society of Saint Pius X}}

===Lawful formation===

After retiring from the post of Superior General of the Holy Ghost Fathers, Lefebvre was approached by [[Traditionalist Catholic|traditionalists]] from the French Seminary in [[Rome]] who had been refused [[tonsure]],<ref>[http://la.revue.item.free.fr/interview_aulagnier_wanderer_anglais.htm The Wanderer Interviews Fr. Aulagnier, SSPX] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304023117/http://la.revue.item.free.fr/interview_aulagnier_wanderer_anglais.htm |date=4 March 2016 }}, Luc Gagnon, 18 September 2003</ref> the rite by which, until 1973,<ref>[http://www.ewtn.com/library/PAPALDOC/P6MINORS.HTM motu proprio "Ministeria quaedam"]. Ewtn.com. Retrieved on 1 November 2013.</ref> a seminarian became a cleric. They asked for a conservative seminary to complete their studies. After directing them to the [[University of Fribourg]], Switzerland,<ref name="seminary" /><ref name="own2003-09">{{cite web|url=http://www.sspxafrica.com/documents/2003_SepOct/Monsignor_Lefebvre_in_his_own_words.htm |title=Monsignor Lefebvre in his own words |access-date=7 December 2003 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031207045935/http://www.sspxafrica.com/documents/2003_SepOct/Monsignor_Lefebvre_in_his_own_words.htm |archive-date=7 December 2003 }}. Society of St. Pius X – South Africa. sspxafrica.com. September/October 2003.</ref> Lefebvre was urged to teach these seminarians personally.<ref name="own2003-09" /> In 1969, he received permission from the local bishop to establish a seminary in Fribourg which opened with nine students, moving to [[Écône]], Switzerland in 1971.<ref name="own 2003-11">{{cite web|url=http://sspxafrica.com/documents/2003_NovDec/Monsignor_Lefebvre_in_his_own_words.htm |title=Monsignor Lefebvre in his own words |access-date=8 January 2004 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040108184813/http://sspxafrica.com/documents/2003_NovDec/Monsignor_Lefebvre_in_his_own_words.htm |archive-date=8 January 2004 }}. Society of St. Pius X – South Africa. sspxafrica.com. November/December 2003.</ref> {{irrelevant citation|reason=This sentence is not backed up by article.|date=August 2022}}

Lefebvre proposed to his seminarians the establishment of a society of priests without vows.<ref name="own2003-09" /> In November 1970, Bishop [[François Charrière]] of [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Lausanne, Geneva and Fribourg|Fribourg]] established, on a provisional (''ad experimentum'') basis for six years, the [[Society of Saint Pius X|International Priestly Society of Saint Pius X]] (SSPX) as a "[[Association of the Christian faithful#Terminology|pious union]]".<ref>''Pia unio'' – the preliminary stage towards becoming an officially recognized [[religious institute]] or [[Society of Apostolic Life]]. For the decree see{{harnvb|Davies|1980|loc=[http://www.sspxasia.com/Documents/Archbishop-Lefebvre/Apologia/Vol_one/Appendix_V.htm Appendix V]}}</ref> He chose the name of [[Pope Pius X|Pope Saint Pius X]] as the patron saint of the society, because of his admiration for the pontiff's stance on modernism.<ref>{{cite book|date=1999 |page=134 |publisher=Angelus Press |title=Archbishop Lefebvre and the Vatican, 1987-1988}}<!-- auto-translated from Spanish by Module:CS1 translator --></ref>

===Early opposition===
In November 1972, the bishops of France, gathered as the Plenary Assembly of French Bishops at Lourdes, whose theological outlook was quite different from Lefebvre's, treated the then-legal [[The International Seminary of Saint Pius X|Écône seminary]] with suspicion and referred to it as ''Séminaire sauvage'' or "Outlaw Seminary".<ref name="seminary">{{cite book |last=Lefebvre|first=Marcel|date=1986|title=Open Letter to Confused Catholics|url=http://www.sspxasia.com/Documents/Archbishop-Lefebvre/OpenLetterToConfusedCatholics/Chapter-19.htm|chapter= Ch. 19, The Seminary of Ecône and Rome}}</ref><ref name="Apologia2">{{harnvb|Davies|1980|loc=[http://www.sspxasia.com/Documents/Archbishop-Lefebvre/Apologia/Vol_one/Chapter_2.htm Chapter 2]}}</ref> They indicated that they would incardinate none of the seminarians.<ref name="Apologia4">{{harnvb|Davies|1980|loc=[http://www.sspxasia.com/Documents/Archbishop-Lefebvre/Apologia/Vol_one/Chapter_4.htm Chapter 4]}}</ref> [[Cardinal Secretary of State]] [[Jean-Marie Villot]] accused Lefebvre before Pope Paul VI of making his seminarians sign a condemnation of the Pope, which Lefebvre vigorously denied.<ref>{{cite book |title=Fideliter No.59|pages= 68–70}}</ref>

===Apostolic Visitors===
[[File:Jean-Marie Villot 1978.jpg|thumb|right|Cardinal Secretary of State Jean-Marie Villot]]
In November 1974, two Belgian priests carried out a rigorous inspection on the instructions of a commission of cardinals,<ref name="Apologia4" /> producing, the SSPX claims, a favourable report.<ref>Archbishop Lefebvre was told that this examination was very positive and that he just had to come to Rome and clarify some questions. [http://www.angelusonline.org/Article2283-thread-order1-threshold0.phtml Conference of Father Franz Schmidberger, Superior General of the Society of St. Pius X] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090131121407/http://www.angelusonline.org/Article2283-thread-order1-threshold0.phtml |date=31 January 2009 }} at Rockdale, Sydney, Australia 16 October 1990 by Father Gerard Hogan and Father François Laisney</ref> In what he later described as a mood of "doubtlessly excessive indignation",<ref name="Apologia4" /> on 21 November 1974, Lefebvre wrote a "Declaration" in which he attacked the [[modernism (Roman Catholicism)|modernist]] and [[Liberalism|liberal]] trends that he saw in the reforms being undertaken within the church at that time:<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sspx.org/SSPX_FAQs/appendix_I._declaration.htm |title=The Declaration of Archbishop Lefebvre |access-date=13 October 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061013232352/http://www.sspx.org/SSPX_FAQs/appendix_I._declaration.htm |archive-date=13 October 2006 }}. sspx.org. 21 November 1974.</ref>
{{Blockquote|We adhere with all our heart and all our soul to Catholic Rome, guardian of the Catholic Faith and the traditions necessary to maintain it, and to Eternal Rome, mistress of wisdom and truth. On the other hand we refuse and have always refused to follow the Rome of the neo-Modernist and the new Protestant trend which was clearly evident in the Second Vatican Council and, after the Council in all the reforms which flowed from it.}}

The Commission of Cardinals declared in reply that the declaration was "unacceptable on all points".<ref name="seminary" /> At the same time, the French episcopate indicated that they would not [[Incardination|incardinate]] any of Lefebvre's priests in their dioceses.

In January 1975, Bishop [[Pierre Mamie]], who had succeeded Charrière in Fribourg in 1970, determined that the SSPX's status as a "pious union" should end. On 24 January 1975, he asked the prefect of the [[Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life|Sacred Congregation for Religious]], Cardinal [[Arturo Tabera]], to terminate its status as a "pious union".<ref name="lessard">{{cite web | access-date = 18 September 2021 | url= https://ruor.uottawa.ca/bitstream/10393/37735/1/Lessard-Thibodeau_John_%202018.pdf | title = Arriving at the Juridic Status of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X | first = John G. | last = Lessard-Thibodeau | date = 2018 | website = Faculty of Canon Law, Saint Paul University, Ottawa | pages= 6n, 8–9 }}</ref>

On 13 February, Lefebvre was invited to Rome for a meeting with the commission of cardinals,<ref name="seminary" /> which he described as "a close cross examination of the judicial type", regarding the contents of his "Declaration", followed by a second meeting on 3 March.<ref name="seminary" /> In May, the commission announced it approved Mamie's plan. Lefebvre contended that canon law gave the pope alone the authority to suppress a religious congregation, and only by his direct decree.<ref name="seminary" />

Tabera responded in April expressing full agreement and telling Mamie to proceed himself, and Mamie suppressed the SSPX on 6 May 1975, effective immediately.<ref name="lessard" />{{efn|Pope Paul canonically suppressed the SSPX and its seminary in 1975.<ref>{{cite web | first = Pete | last =Vere |url=http://www.envoymagazine.com/backissues/4.6/lefebvre.htm |title=My Journey out of the Lefebvre Schism |access-date=2 September 2006 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050829105819/http://www.envoymagazine.com/backissues/4.6/lefebvre.htm |archive-date=29 August 2005 | work =Envoy Magazine | volume =4| issue =6 }}</ref>}} This action was upheld by Pope Paul, who wrote to Lefebvre in June 1975. Lefebvre nevertheless continued his work citing legal advice from canon lawyers that the Society had not been "legally suppressed" and that the Society continued to enjoy the privilege of incardinating its own priests.<ref name="Apologia11">{{harnvb|Davies|1980|loc=[http://www.sspxasia.com/Documents/Archbishop-Lefebvre/Apologia/Vol_one/Chapter_11.htm Chapter 11]}}</ref> Lefebvre also argued that there were insufficient grounds for suppression as the Apostolic Visitors, by the Commission's own admission, delivered a positive report, and that since his Declaration had not been condemned by the [[Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith]], he appealed, twice, to the [[appellate court]] of the church, the [[Apostolic Signatura]].<ref name="seminary" /> Lefebvre later wrote that Cardinal Villot blocked the move,<ref name="seminary" /> and one of his supporters wrote that Villot threatened the Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura, Cardinal [[Dino Staffa]], with dismissal if the appeals were not denied.<ref>{{cite book |title= Vatican Encounter|last= Hanu|first= José|pages= 85, 191}}</ref>

In 1976, Mamie warned Lefebvre that saying Mass though Catholic Church authorities had forbidden him from exercising his priestly functions would further exacerbate his relationship with Rome.<ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.nytimes.com/1976/07/05/archives/a-french-bishop-continues-defiance-holds-mass-in-latin.html |title=A French Bishop Continues Defiance, Holds Mass in Latin |date=5 July 1976|work=[[New York Times]]|access-date=17 September 2021}}</ref>

=== Disagreement with the Vatican ===
[[File:Marcel Lefebvre 1981.jpg|thumb|Lefebvre in 1981]]

During the [[Papal consistory|consistory]] of 24 May 1976, [[Pope Paul VI]] criticized Lefebvre by name and appealed to him and his followers to change their minds.<ref name="shuster" /><ref>{{harvnb|Pope Paul VI|24 May 1976}}</ref>

[[File:Marcel Lefebvre in Cordoba, Argentina.jpg|thumbnail|left|Lefebvre in Córdoba, Argentina, in 1980]]
On 29 June 1976, Lefebvre went ahead with planned priestly ordinations without the approval of the local bishop and despite receiving letters from Rome forbidding them. As a result Lefebvre was suspended ''a collatione ordinum'', ''i.e.'', forbidden to [[ordination|ordain]] any priests. A week later, the Prefect of the [[Congregation for Bishops]] informed him that, to have his situation regularized, he needed to ask the pope's pardon. Lefebvre responded with a letter claiming that the modernization of the church was a "compromise with the ideas of modern man" originating in a secret agreement between high dignitaries in the church and senior [[Freemasonry|Freemasons]] before the council.<ref name="Apologia12letter">"Letter of Mgr. Lefebvre to Pope Paul VI" (17 July 1976), quoted in: {{harnvb|Davies|1980|loc=[http://www.sspxasia.com/Documents/Archbishop-Lefebvre/Apologia/Vol_one/Chapter_12.htm (Chapter 12)]}}</ref> Lefebvre was then notified that, since he had not apologized to the pope, he was suspended ''a divinis'',<ref>Roger McCaffrey and [[Thomas Woods]], [http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=37861 "All We Ask is for the Mass"], May 2005, Catholic World News</ref> i.e., he could no longer legally administer ''any'' of the sacraments.<ref>[http://www.catholiculture.com/docs/doc_view.cfm?recnum=5225 Holier than Thou] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090131161042/http://www.catholiculture.com/docs/doc_view.cfm?recnum=5225 |date=31 January 2009 }}, Brian O'Neel, This Rock, April 2003, Pages 18 – 24, quoting Vere and William Woestman, O.M.I., [http://home.earthlink.net/~grossklas/canonicalhistory.html Is the Society of St. Pius X in Schism?] </ref> Lefebvre remarked that he had been forbidden from celebrating the new rite of Mass.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.smac.edu/OldSite/history/sspx_anniversary/ |title=The International Priestly Society of Saint Pius X XXV Anniversary 1970–1995 A family diary |access-date=28 September 2007 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928011239/http://www.smac.edu/OldSite/history/sspx_anniversary/ |archive-date=28 September 2007 }}, Conference given by Fr. Anglés at Kansas City, 1 November 1995</ref> Pope Paul apparently took this seriously and stated that Lefebvre "thought he dodged the penalty by administering the sacraments using the previous formulas".<ref>{{harvnb|Pope Paul VI|11 October 1976|loc= Section II: ''"arbitrans te poenam istam devitare, si sacramenta administras anterioribus formulis utens''"}}</ref> In spite of his suspension, Lefebvre continued to celebrate Mass and to administer the other sacraments, including the conferral of Holy Orders to the students of his seminary.

Pope Paul received Lefebvre in audience on 11 September 1976,<ref name="Apologia14">{{harnvb|Davies|1980|loc=[http://www.sspxasia.com/Documents/Archbishop-Lefebvre/Apologia/Vol_one/Chapter_14.htm Chapter 14]}}</ref> and one month later wrote to him a letter severely admonishing him and repeating the appeal he had made at the audience. In his letter to Lefebvre, Paul VI ordered him to accept the documents of the Second Vatican Council in their obvious meaning (''sensu obvio'') and the subsequent reforms, to retract his accusations against the Roman Pontiff and his collaborators and recognise the authority of the local bishops; furthermore, he demanded that Lefebvre hand over all activities of the FSSPX to the Holy See. The Pope reminded Lefebvre of his duty of obedience to the [[Chair of Peter]], quoting the dogmatic constitutions ''[[Pastor aeternus]]'' (1870, [[First Vatican Council]]) and ''[[Lumen gentium]]'' (1964, [[Second Vatican Council]]).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Marcello Lefebvre, Archiepiscopo-Episcopo olim Tutelensi, d. 11 m. Octobris a. 1976, Paulus PP.VI {{!}} Paulus PP. VI |url=https://www.vatican.va/content/paul-vi/la/letters/1976/documents/hf_p-vi_let_19761011_arc-lefebvre.html |access-date=2024-07-19 |website=www.vatican.va}}</ref>

Following the death of Paul VI, both [[Pope John Paul I]] and [[Pope John Paul II]] made various attempts to reconcile the FSSPX with the Church; the latter received Lefebvre in audience sixty days after [[October 1978 papal conclave|his 1978 election]], where he repeatedly expressed his desire for peace.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2012-08-25 |title=Luciani tentò la riconciliazione con i lefebvriani |url=https://www.lastampa.it/vatican-insider/it/2012/08/25/news/luciani-tento-la-riconciliazione-con-i-lefebvriani-1.36387511/ |access-date= |website=[[La Stampa]] |language=it}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine | url = http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,967777,00.html | title =The Archbishop Calls It Quits | author-link=Richard N. Ostling | first = Richard N. | last = Ostling | magazine = Time | date= 27 June 1988| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20070930042949/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,967777,00.html | archive-date =30 September 2007 }}</ref>