"Reconciliation": FSSPX Priests Must Accept “Legitimacy of Novus Ordo”
The procedure, effective July 1, 2026, provides that a priest who has decided to leave the FSSPX must be willing to accept the Second Vatican Council and the “legitimacy of the Novus Ordo Missae,” while remaining attached to the usus antiquior (traditional Roman rite).
The priest must:
- Find an Ordinary (a diocesan bishop, a major superior of a clerical pontifical institute of consecrated life, a clerical pontifical society of apostolic life, etc.) who is willing to receive him ad experimentum.
- Write, in his own hand, a letter to the Holy Father introducing himself and requesting the remission of the censures incurred either because he received priestly ordination from an excommunicated or otherwise canonically irregular bishop, or because, although validly and licitly ordained, he subsequently joined the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X.
- Attach his certificate of priestly ordination.
- Attach the Profession of Faith (Creed) and a Formula of Adherence, dated and signed as prescribed by the Dicastery.
- Have the Ordinary send these documents to the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith together with a covering letter expressing the Ordinary's willingness to receive the priest ad experimentum into his diocese or institute.
The petitioner will be received for a probationary period of not less than one year and not more than three years, at the conclusion of which the priest may be incardinated.
Should the probationary period not prove successful, the Ordinary is to return the Rescript to the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith together with a report explaining the reasons why incardination did not take place.
Formula of Adherence - “Abstaining from Public Criticism of the Pope”
The mentioned Formula of Adherence requires the signer to:
- pledge fidelity to the Catholic Church and the Roman Pontiff;
- accept the teaching of the Second Vatican Council, including Lumen Gentium §25 on the "religious submission of mind and will" owed to the authentic Magisterium;
- accept the validity of the Mass and the sacraments celebrated according to the liturgical books promulgated after the Second Vatican Council;
- promise obedience to the Church's discipline and canon law.
The Formula goes beyond merely "acknowledging" the Council. It states that when teachings of the Second Vatican Council or later reforms of the liturgy or canon law appear difficult to reconcile with earlier magisterial teaching, the signer undertakes to follow a positive approach to interpreting doctrine under the guidance of the Church's Magisterium, so as not to separate the Council from the Church's doctrinal tradition.
The signer also promises fidelity to the Church and the Pope and to abstain from every public declaration contrary to the Pope or his Magisterium.
Notably, while the Formula requires acceptance of the validity of the Novus Ordo Mass, the introductory norms require a priest seeking reconciliation to accept its "legitimacy".
Reconciliation for Lay Faithful
The document stresses that canonical penalties for lay faithful associated with the FSSPX cannot be presumed automatically, but must be assessed case by case according to each person's degree of responsibility.
Examples of lay faithful whose canonical responsibility may require such assessment include members of the Third Order of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X and those who habitually participate in FSSPX liturgical celebrations while formally adhering to its doctrinal positions. Such faithful must present their bishop a Profession of Faith and Formula of Adherence.
For faithful who have attended FSSPX Masses solely for liturgical or spiritual reasons, it is sufficient to approach a priest in "full communion" with the Church and resolve not to attend the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X in the future.
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