BREAKING: SSPX Issues Open Letter to Pope Leo XIV and the College of Cardinals

The letter, accompanied by a 28-page Profession of Faith, comes on the eve of the Pope’s second meeting with the Sacred College.

(Superiors of the Society of St Pius X)

ROME, 24 June 2026 — On the eve of the Extraordinary Consistory of Cardinals at the Vatican on 26–27 June, and just one week before the Society of Saint Pius X’s planned episcopal consecrations at Ecône, the SSPX has issued an open letter to Pope Leo XIV and the members of the Sacred College.

The letter, accompanied by a 28-page Profession of Faith, was first published in Italian today by the Italian site, Messa in Latino. The publication stated that it had received the documents from what it described as “sources at the highest levels” and indicated that the full text of the accompanying doctrinal declaration would be published later today.

Presenting the accompanying 28-page Profession of Faith, the SSPX leaders write that they hope it may one day “serve as the basis for a frank discussion with the Holy See, in a peaceful, fraternal, and charitable spirit.” They add that the document is “not the sterile litany of a group of nostalgics, but the necessary expression, peaceful yet resolute, of our faith.”

Dated 24 June 2026, the Feast of the Nativity of Saint John the Baptist, the letter is signed by Superior General Davide Pagliarani together with the Society’s principal superiors and former superiors general.

Below is my English translation of the open letter. An English translation of the Profession will be published as soon as possible.

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Open Letter to His Holiness Pope Leo XIV

and to the Cardinals of the Holy Church

Most Holy Father,
Your Most Reverend Eminences,

On the eve of the Consistory scheduled for the end of this month, and only days before the episcopal consecrations planned for 1 July at Ecône, it seems to us that the time has come for the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X to make an integral profession of the Catholic faith, which we wish to place into the hands of Your Holiness and of each of the Cardinals.

Today the Church suffers under the pressure of new forces, arising both from within and from without, which are driving her in every possible direction except—so it seems to us—the right one. Faced with such suffering, we cannot remain indifferent.

It does not belong to the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X to indicate the path to be followed, but rather to the Church’s bimillennial Tradition, faithfully preserved and handed down by the Apostolic See throughout the centuries, and which many now regard, in practice, as an outdated reality, subject to continual evolution.

It is in the name of this same Tradition, and in its light alone, that we today formulate this profession of the Catholic faith in the face of the principal errors and the gravest dangers of our time.

We are convinced that Tradition contains all the remedies for the deepest evils from which the Church and the world suffer, and for which solutions are sought in vain outside it. The immutable and integral faith is the principle, the foundation, and the root of the salvation of souls. This faith, contained in Tradition and taught by the Church’s constant Magisterium, constitutes the true foundation of the Church’s unity and, consequently, the necessary means of establishing union and communion among the members of the Mystical Body of Christ.

Above the changes and vicissitudes of time stands immutable Tradition, the echo within history of eternal Truth.

We can only hope and implore that this Tradition and the purity of the faith may once again be placed at the foundation of the Church’s life, so that from them an authentic regeneration may begin. It is for this intention that we pray with insistence.

We are convinced that, within the unstable and extremely dangerous circumstances now before our eyes, the greatest contribution that can be offered to the universal Church is that of a sincere and integral profession of the Catholic faith.

We hope that one day this doctrinal text may serve as the basis for a frank discussion with the Holy See, in a peaceful, fraternal, and charitable spirit.

The text that we present to you is not the sterile litany of a group of nostalgics, but the necessary expression, peaceful yet resolute, of our faith.

Non enim possumus aliquid adversus veritatem sed pro veritate.

“For we can do nothing against the truth, but only for the truth.”

And according to the Psalmist, as taken up by Saint Paul:

Et nos credimus propter quod et loquimur.

“We too believe; therefore we speak.”

With gratitude for the attention that you will be willing to devote to this text, we assure you of our constant prayers for you and for the universal Church.

Menzingen, 24 June 2026, Nativity of Saint John the Baptist

Davide Pagliarani
Superior General

+ Alfonso de Galarreta
First Assistant General

Christian Bouchacourt
Second Assistant General

+ Bernard Fellay
First General Councillor
Former Superior General

Franz Schmidberger
Second General Councillor
Former Superior General

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