Vatican Issues Procedures for the Reconciliation of SSPX Priests and Faithful

CONGREGATION FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH:

PROCEDURES FOR THE RECONCILIATION OF PRIESTS FROM THE PRIESTLY FRATERNITY OF SAINT PIUS X

The procedure followed by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, effective July 1, 2026, stipulates that a priest who has decided to leave the Priestly Fraternity of St. Pius X and is willing to accept the Second Vatican Council and the legitimacy of the novus ordo Missae—even while remaining attached to the usus antiquior—must:

1) Find an Ordinary (diocesan bishop, major superior of religious institutes of pontifical right, and of societies of apostolic life of pontifical right, etc.) willing to accept him ad experimentum.

2) Write a letter in his own hand to the Holy Father in which he introduces himself and requests the remission of the censures incurred due to having been ordained by an excommunicated or irregular bishop, or—having been validly and legitimately ordained—subsequently joining the Priestly Fraternity of St. Pius X.

3) Attach the certificate of priestly ordination.

4) Attach the Professio fidei and the Formula adhaesionis, dated and signed (cf. Attachments A–B).

5) Have the Ordinary send the three aforementioned documents to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith; in the accompanying letter, the Ordinary must express his willingness to admit the individual on a trial basis (ad experimentum) into his own diocese or institute.

As soon as the three documents are received from the Ordinary, the Dicastery drafts the Rescript of remission of censures, which will be signed by the Prefect and the Secretary of the Doctrinal Section.

The Dicastery will send this Rescript to the Ordinary along with an accompanying letter authorizing him to accept the requesting priest for a probationary period of at least one year and no more than three, at the end of which his incardination may proceed.

It was recently decided that if the established probationary period is not successful, the Ordinary shall return the Rescript to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, attaching a report explaining the reasons for the failure to incardinate.

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PROCEDURES FOR THE RECONCILIATION OF CERTAIN LAY PEOPLE FROM THE PRIESTLY FRATERNITY OF SAINT PIUS X

This procedure relates to the question of accountability or the degree of subjective responsibility of lay faithful who have formally joined or attend the Priestly Fraternity of St. Pius X and who seek to enter into full communion with the Catholic Church.

The imposition of a penalty on laypeople belonging to the Priestly Fraternity of St. Pius X cannot be assumed automatically, but must be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

Since accountability requires full awareness and deliberate consent, examples of proven accountability may include:

1. Laypeople who are members of the Third Order of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Pius X;

2. Laypeople who habitually participate in the celebrations of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Pius X, formally sharing its doctrinal positions.

Conversely, the following are not to be considered accountable:

3. Laypeople who have attended the Priestly Fraternity of St. Pius X solely for liturgical or spiritual reasons;

4. Laypeople who, while aware of the tensions with the Holy See, do not reject the Magisterium or the authority of the Roman Pontiff.

Any procedure to be followed for laypeople belonging to the Priestly Fraternity of St. Pius X who have been subjected to a penalty and who request to enter into full communion with the Catholic Church involves a formal act of full adherence to doctrine and obedience to the Catholic hierarchy, under the jurisdiction of the local Ordinary, who is the guarantor of the unity of the particular Church.

Therefore, a lay faithful, as referred to in nos. 1–2, who has decided to leave the Priestly Fraternity of St. Pius X must: Submit to the local Ordinary the Professio fidei and the Formula adhaesionis, dated and signed (cf. Annexes A–B).

Once the documentation has been received, the local Ordinary will proceed to welcome the lay faithful member in the manner and within the timeframe he deems most appropriate, using, for example, the Rite of Admission to Full Communion with the Catholic Church for Those Who Have Already Been Validly Baptized, duly adapted.

As for the lay faithful referred to in nos. 3–4, it will suffice for them to approach a priest in full communion, with the decision not to attend the Priestly Fraternity of St. Pius X in the future.

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PROFESSION OF FAITH

I,___________________, firmly believe and profess all and each of the things contained in the Creed, namely:

I believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible, and in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, born of the Father before all ages, God from God, light from light, God from God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father, through whom all things were made, who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven, and was incarnate of the Holy Spirit from the Virgin Mary, and became man; for our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate, he suffered death and was buried; and rose again on the third day according to the Scriptures, and ascended into heaven, is seated at the right hand of the Father, and will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, of whose kingdom there will be no end; and in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets; and in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church. I confess one baptism for the remission of sins, and I look forward to the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen. I also firmly believe all those things which are contained in the written or transmitted Word of God and are proposed by the Church, either by solemn judgment or by its ordinary and universal Magisterium, to be believed as divinely revealed.

I also firmly embrace and hold all and every one of the things that are taught definitively by the same Church concerning doctrine on faith or morals. Furthermore, I adhere with religious submission of will and intellect to the doctrines which the Roman Pontiff or the College of Bishops sets forth when they exercise their authentic Magisterium, even if they do not intend to proclaim them by a definitive act.

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FORMULA OF ADHESION

I,___________, Promise fidelity to the Catholic Church and to the Roman Pontiff, the Supreme Pastor of the Church, Vicar of Christ, Successor of the blessed Peter in his Primacy and Head of the College of Bishops, abstaining from any public declaration that would oppose his person or his Magisterium (cf. cann. 1373 and 1365 CIC).

I accept the doctrine taught in no. 25 of the Dogmatic Constitution Lumen Gentium of the Second Vatican Council on the Magisterium of the Church and the obedience due to it. Regarding certain doctrines taught by the Second Vatican Council, or concerning later reforms of either the Liturgy or Canon Law, which some find difficult to reconcile with previous declarations of the Magisterium, I assume the obligation to follow the positive approach to interpreting doctrine under the guidance of the Magisterium, so that no one may separate it from the rest of the sacred deposit of the Church’s teaching.

I also declare that I accept the validity of the Sacrifice of the Mass and of the Sacraments celebrated with the intention of doing what the Church does, and according to the rites found in the typical editions of the Roman Missal and the Rituals published by Popes Paul VI and John Paul II.

I finally promise to adhere to the common discipline of the Church and its laws, especially those contained in the Code of Canon Law promulgated by Pope John Paul II.

All of which I have subscribed with my own hand,

Place: ________________________

Date: _______________________