Cardinal Müller Shakes Up the Consistory: “We Must Respond to the SSPX”

Former CDF Prefect proposes formal response to SSPX Profession of Faith and re-establishment of the Pontifical Ecclesia Dei Commission

VATICAN CITY, 27 June 2026 — Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller has urged the Holy See to issue a formal response to the Society of St. Pius X’s latest challenge to Rome and proposed establishing a new Ecclesia Dei structure to receive members expected to leave the Society following its planned episcopal consecrations on 1 July.

The former prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith made the proposal on the opening day of the extraordinary Consistory of Cardinals being held at the Vatican June 26-27.

The development was reported this morning by Italian journalist Nico Spuntoni in Il Giornale.

An English translation of Spuntoni’s article follows below.

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Schism Rocks the Consistory: “We must respond to the Lefebvrists”

by Nico Spuntoni

Müller immediately shakes up the Consistory: "We must respond to the Lefebvrists." He also proposes a new Ecclesia Deito receive those who break away. The inside story in @ilgiornale.

Leo XIV had asked the cardinals to speak candidly. Some took him at his word. As we can reveal, although the agenda made no mention of the imminent schism involving the Lefebvrists, one cardinal took it upon himself, on the very first day of the Consistory to point out the elephant in the room: the Society of St. Pius X’s open challenge to Rome.

The intervention

On the eve of the Consistory, the fraternity founded by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre threw down another gauntlet to the Pope and the cardinals by sending them a profession of faith that, in effect, accuses Rome of having departed from the perennial tradition and magisterium of the Church.

Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller, former Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, urged that this j’accuse be firmly rejected. He proposed that a formal response to the Lefebvrists be prepared, reaffirming that Rome has never abandoned the path of tradition, contrary to their claims. His intervention was all the more significant given that he formerly headed the dicastery responsible for matters arising from precisely this rupture.

A new Ecclesia Dei

The cardinal also addressed the implications of one of the scenarios we reported in recent days: should the Society of St. Pius X formally enter into schism following the episcopal consecration of new bishops without a pontifical mandate, many Lefebvrists are expected to seek reconciliation with Rome.

He therefore stressed the need to prepare for their reception, proposing a structure modeled on the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, established in 1988 by St. John Paul II to welcome those who wished to return to full communion with Rome after Archbishop Lefebvre’s illicit episcopal consecrations.

Preparing to receive those who leave the Society has become an important concern, and one that is already under consideration by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith. Among members of the Society there is growing anxiety over the prospect of excommunication which, unlike thirty-eight years ago, might not be limited to the bishops performing and receiving the illicit consecrations.

If the penalty were confined to the bishops alone, for example, Fr. Davide Pagliarani, Superior General of the Society of St. Pius X and the principal advocate of its hard-line position, would not be affected. At present, however, there is no certainty regarding the precise response that will come from the former Holy Office. Nevertheless, it is expected that a number of priests, religious, and sisters will leave the schismatic body and seek restoration to full communion with Rome.

Liturgy

Thanks to the work carried out at the time by the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, the Church today includes institutes that celebrate the traditional liturgy while remaining in full communion with Rome and accepting the Second Vatican Council. Ecclesia Dei was suppressed by Pope Francis in 2019.

In 2021, further restrictions on celebrations of the traditional liturgy were introduced through Traditionis Custodes. Today, however, a more tolerant approach appears to be gaining ground within the College of Cardinals. This is due in part to the fact that, as Vatican correspondent Diane Montagna revealed about a year ago, the majority of bishops consulted before the decree was issued had opposed the proposed restrictions.

Müller’s intervention, like the others, was met without comment. Yet, according to sources, after the session concluded several cardinals from across the theological spectrum appeared to agree with his remarks and expressed appreciation for the frankness of the German prelate, widely regarded as one of the most authoritative figures in the College by virtue of both his scholarship and his ecclesiastical career.