The Superior General of the Society of Saint Pius X has responded to Pope Leo XIV following the decree of excommunication issued by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.

In a letter sent from Écône on 3 July 2026, Fr Davide Pagliarani responded to the notification signed by the Prefect of the Dicastery, Cardinal Víctor Fernández.

Fr Pagliarani opens his letter with a pointed reference to St Luke’s Gospel, asking whether a father would give his son a stone instead of bread, a serpent instead of a fish, or a scorpion instead of an egg.

He applies this imagery to the Society’s recent appeals to the Holy See. The decision, he suggests, demonstrates the difficult situation facing the universal Church. He goes on to explain that what the SSPX has done, and continues to do, is simply an effort to save souls amid confusion. The Society does not seek to replace the Church but only to remain faithful to her. He writes that, in conscience, the SSPX could not ignore its duty towards souls, a point previously made to the Pope both privately and publicly. The letter continues by explaining that the Society had asked only for “a measure of understanding for a sincere case of conscience”.

“We are certain that one day a Pope will wish to employ it for the good of the universal Church,” Fr Pagliarani states.

Despite the sanctions, Fr Pagliarani renewed an earlier promise made to the Holy Father. He quotes from his personal letter of 21 November 2025:

“The Society promises You […] to devote all its energies to preserving Tradition and placing it at the service of the Church. In doing so, the Society of Saint Pius X does not merely maintain ancient customs; it fosters and preserves priestly vocations, religious vocations, and large, deeply Christian families—in a word, everything that manifests the vitality of the Church, of grace, and of the Catholic faith. Our intention is not to offer the Church a museum of antiquities, but rather the entirety of Tradition: fruitful, a source of spiritual life, embodied and lived out within souls.”

The SSPX promises not to receive the new sanctions “with bitterness or revolt”. Instead, Fr Pagliarani writes, the suffering will be offered for the good of souls and of the Church. The sanctions, he says, compel the Society to love the Church more deeply and to provide for her needs with even greater determination.

Looking ahead, the Superior General of the SSPX expressed confidence that a future Pope will adopt St Pius X’s programme, Instaurare omnia in Christo (“To restore all things in Christ”). On that day, the Holy Father will find in the SSPX “not a nest of serpents and scorpions, but a small army of loyal sons, ready to do anything to sustain Him in the restoration of all things in Our Lord, and to vindicate before all mankind the imprescriptible rights of Christ the King over all souls and over all nations”.

Those souls, he adds, are bound to the Church not upon the “shifting sands of an ambiguous dialogue”, but upon “the rock of the faith of Peter”.

Fr Pagliarani asks the Blessed Virgin Mary to hasten that day and prays that Pope Leo XIV may soon experience the joy it will bring. In the meantime, he humbly requests a blessing “as Your sons”, despite the recent decision. “For us, nothing has changed, and nothing ever will change.”

The letter closes with an expression of trust in Divine Providence, which sees into every heart, and is signed as the Pope’s “most devoted son in the Lord”.

This response comes after the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) issued its decree on 2 July. The document declares the excommunications incurred automatically by those involved in the recent consecrations. It refers to earlier admonitions addressed to the Superior General and cites the canonical penalties for the schismatic act.

The explanatory note accompanying the decree reviews the history of reconciliation efforts since Pope Paul VI, noting that the latest consecrations without pontifical mandate have worsened the situation. It reaffirms the 1988 judgment that such disobedience constitutes a schismatic act and sets out the implications for ministers and faithful associated with the SSPX, including the illicit administration of the sacraments and the invalidity of marriages assisted by its clergy. The note nevertheless presents the Church as a loving mother, open to those seeking full communion.

“Notwithstanding the admonitions addressed to the Superior General of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X, Bishop Alfonso de Galarreta, having performed a schismatic act by means of the episcopal consecration of four priests, without pontifical mandate and against the will of the Supreme Pontiff, has incurred ipso facto the penalties provided for in can. 1387 and can. 1364 §1 CIC 2021.”

Signed by Cardinal Fernández, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, Mons. Armando Matteo, Secretary for the Doctrinal Section, and Archbishop John J. Kennedy, Secretary for the Disciplinary Section, the decree continues:

“It is therefore declared, for all legal effects, that the aforementioned Bishop Alfonso de Galarreta, as well as Pascal Schreiber, Michael Goldade, Michel Poinsinet de Sivry, and Marc Hanappier, have incurred ipso facto the penalty of latae sententiae excommunication reserved to the Apostolic See.”

The decree goes further than the excommunications declared in 1988 by stating that “clergy and lay faithful are admonished not to adhere to the schism of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X, lest they incur ipso facto the penalty of latae sententiae excommunication.” Accordingly, SSPX faithful may also incur the excommunication declared by Rome. Unlike in 1988, when the decree was issued by the Congregation for Bishops, this decree has been issued by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.

The explanatory note further advises the faithful against formal association with the Society, stating:

“Finally, all the faithful are exhorted to remain steadfast in communion with the Roman Pontiff, with the bishops in communion with him, and with the whole Church (cf. Lumen Gentium, 22; can. 751 CIC), and to abstain from participating in the celebrations and activities promoted by the aforementioned Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X.”

The explanatory note also raises further questions for SSPX faithful by stating:

“It is finally noted that the Holy People of God are informed that the sacred ministers of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X administer the sacraments and the sacrament of Penance illicitly, and that the marriages assisted by them are invalid.”

Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre founded the SSPX to preserve traditional priestly formation and liturgy in the years following the Second Vatican Council. The 1988 episcopal consecrations without papal approval led to the original break. Periods of dialogue followed under successive popes, including the lifting of the bishops’ excommunications in 2009 as a gesture intended to facilitate reconciliation. Nevertheless, differences over authority, doctrine, and the role of Tradition have persisted.