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Holy
Cross Seminary
Most
Asked Questions About the Society of Saint Pius X
Question
2: What
is the Society of Saint Pius X?
| 1969: |
A
"retired" archbishop, mgr. Marcel Lefebvre, agrees
to help a handful of young seminarians who are disconcerted
by the direction being taken in post-Vatican II seminaries
in their priestly formation. He does this, not only by undertaking
their training, but also by founding a Society aiming at fostering
a priestly life according to the wise norms and customs of
the Church of previous days.
|
| Nov.
1, 1970: |
The
Society of Saint Plus X is officially recognized by the Bishop
of Lausanne, Geneva, and Fribourg, Bishop Charriére.
It is therefore truly a new little branch pushed forth by
the Church.
|
| Feb.
18, 1971: |
Cardinal
Wright, Prefect of the Sacred Congregation for the Clergy,
issues a decree praising the wisdom of the Society's statutes.
|
| June
10, 1971: |
Archbishop
Lefebvre announces, together with the staff of the Seminary
of Saint Plus X at Ecône, the refusal to adopt the Novus Ordo
Missae (cf, QUESTION
5).
|
| 1971-1974: |
Following
on Cardinal Wright's letter are other sure signs of Rome's
full acceptance of the Society of Saint Plus X:
1.
allowing its houses to be erected canonically in one Italian
and two Swiss dioceses.
2.
allowing three outside priests to join the Society and to
be incardinated1
directly into it. |
During
the same years the French Episcopal Conference was maneuvering to
have the Society and its seminary suppressed (cf,
QUESTION 3).
| Nov.
1, 1980: |
By
its tenth anniversary, the Society of Saint Pius X has 40
houses on two continents.
|
| Nov.
1, 1995: |
By
its 25th Anniversary, the Society of Saint Pius X numbers four
Bishops, 332 priests, 50 brothers, 120 sisters and 53 oblate
sisters, all living in 140 houses in 27 countries. Together
they seek the goal of the priesthood: the glorification of God,
the continuation of Our Lord's redemptive work, the salvation
of souls. They accomplish this by fidelity to Christ's testament-the
Holy Sacrifice of the Mass (see Appendix
III). |
1.
incardinated. Accepted by the Church as being a cleric belonging
either to a diocese or to a religious institute. Without incardination
a cleric is a "vagabond" and has no right to exercise
his ministry.
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