| Superior General of the Society of Saint Pius X | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Abbreviation | SG |
| Member of | Society of Saint Pius X |
| Residence | General House, Menzingen, Switzerland |
| Term length | 12 years |
Superior General of the Society of Saint Pius X is the title given to the head of the traditionalist Society of Saint Pius X (or SSPX) founded by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre in 1970.
The Society of Saint Pius X was founded in 1970, and Archbishop Lefebvre became interim Superior General. In this time, he wrote the Constitution of the Society of Saint Pius X. The Superior General resides at the SSPX General House in Menzingen, Switzerland. [1]
The Society of Saint Pius X meets every twelve years at their general chapter to elect a new Superior General or vote to reelect the current Superior General. [2]
On July 11, 2018, Davide Pagliarani was elected for a 12 year term as Superior General of the Society of Saint Pius X. [3] This position was previously held by Bishop Bernard Fellay, a Swiss Catholic Bishop. [4]
| No. | Name | Portrait | Took office | Birthplace [lower-alpha 1] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Marcel Lefebvre |  | 1970 | Tourcoing, France |
| 2 | Franz Schmidberger |  | 1982 | Riedlingen, Germany |
| 3 | Bernard Fellay |  | 1994 | Sierre, Switzerland |
| 4 | Davide Pagliarani | 2018 | Rimini, Italy | |
Marcel François Marie Joseph Lefebvre was a French Catholic archbishop who influenced modern traditionalist Catholicism. In 1970, five years after the close of the Second Vatican Council, he founded the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX), a community to train seminarians in the traditional manner, in the village of Écône, Switzerland. In 1988, Pope John Paul II declared that Archbishop Lefebvre had "incurred the grave penalty of excommunication envisaged by ecclesiastical law" for consecrating four bishops against the pope's express prohibition but, according to Lefebvre, in reliance on an "agreement given by the Holy See ... for the consecration of one bishop."
Traditionalist Catholicism is a movement that emphasizes beliefs, practices, customs, traditions, liturgical forms, devotions and presentations of teaching associated with the Catholic Church before the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965). Traditionalist Catholics particularly emphasize the Tridentine Mass, the Roman Rite liturgy largely replaced in general use by the post-Second Vatican Council Mass of Paul VI.
The Society of Saint Pius X is a canonically irregular traditionalist Catholic fraternity of priests founded in 1970 by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre. Lefebvre was a leading traditionalist at the Second Vatican Council with the Coetus Internationalis Patrum and Superior General of the Holy Ghost Fathers until 1968. The society was initially established as a pious union of the Catholic Church with the permission of François Charrière, the Bishop of Lausanne, Geneva and Fribourg in Switzerland.
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The International Seminary of Saint Pius X in Écône, Valais, Switzerland, is the premier seminary of the Roman Catholic traditionalist Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX). The seminary is one of the six houses for formation for the future priests of the Society of Saint Pius X. The Seminary was founded in 1970 by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, and his tomb can be found there.
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There have been several controversies surrounding the Society of St. Pius X, many of which concern political support for non-democratic regimes, alleged antisemitism, and the occupation of church buildings. The Society of St. Pius X is an international organisation founded in 1970 by the French traditionalist Catholic archbishop Marcel Lefebvre.
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The canonical situation of the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX), a group founded in 1970 by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, is unresolved. The Society of Saint Pius X has been the subject of much controversy since 1988, when Bernard Fellay, Bernard Tissier de Mallerais, Richard Williamson and Alfonso de Galarreta were illicitly consecrated at Ecône, at the International Seminary of Saint Pius X as bishops in violation of canon law. Lefebvre and the four other SSPX bishops individually incurred a disciplinary latae sententiae excommunication for the schismatic act; the excommunications of the four living SSPX bishops were remitted in 2009.
Niklaus Pfluger, SSPX, is a Catholic priest and First Assistant of the Traditional Catholic Society of St. Pius X.
Monseigneur Lefebvre, un évêque dans la tempête is a 2012 documentary film by French director Jacques-Régis du Cray, primarily based on the biography A biography of Archbishop Lefebvre written by Bishop Bernard Tissier de Mallerais.
Vitus Huonder was a Swiss prelate of the Catholic Church. A Traditionalist Catholic, he served as Bishop of Chur from 2007 to 2019; after his retirement he joined the Society of Saint Pius X.
Donald J. Sanborn is an American sedevacantist bishop who is known for his advocacy of sedevacantism and sedeprivationism. He currently serves as the superior general of the sedevacantist Roman Catholic Institute (RCI) and rector of the sedevacantist Most Holy Trinity Seminary, which was relocated to Reading, Pennsylvania, United States, in 2022.
The Sisters of the Society of Saint Pius X are a semi-contemplative order of religious sisters founded by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre on September 22, 1974. The motherhouse is located in Saint-Michel-en-Brenne, France, with additional houses in Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Switzerland and the United States. As of 2018, the current Superior General is Mother Maria Jean Bréant.
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