Society of St. Pius X Roman Catholic priestly society Actions Share Share Share to social media Facebook X URL https://www.britannica.com/topic/Society-of-St-Pius-X Share Share Share to social media Facebook X URL https://www.britannica.com/topic/Society-of-St-Pius-X Also known as: Priestly Society of St. Pius X, SSPX Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica Last Updated: Sep 11, 2024 • Article History Table of Contents In full: Priestly Society of St. Pius X (Show more) Society of St. Pius X (SSPX), Roman Catholic priestly society founded in 1969 in Fribourg, Switzerland, by Marcel Lefebvre, a conservative French archbishop who had dissented from the reforms of the Second Vatican Council (1962–65). Lefebvre was excommunicated in 1988 for consecrating new traditionalist bishops in the Society of St. Pius X without the approval of the Holy See. His act of defiance caused a schism and therefore made the SSPX canonically illegitimate. Although the Vatican has since made concessions to the society, its priests do not legitimately exercise priestly functions in the view of the church (that is, they ...(100 of 742 words)

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