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Rebel Catholics Defy Vatican’s Calls to Return to Mainstream Church
The New York Times • • world
Key Points:
- The Vatican recently excommunicated the priesthood of the Society of St. Pius X, a conservative rebel faction, aiming to reunify its followers with the mainstream Roman Catholic Church.
- Followers of the Society, including members in Argentina, Italy, Switzerland, and France, have largely responded with defiance, insisting they represent "pure, authentic Catholicism."
- The Society of St. Pius X was founded in 1970 to oppose the reforms of the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965), particularly changes to the Catholic Mass.
- The group continues to celebrate the Traditional Latin Mass, rejecting the council's allowance of vernacular languages in services as a loss of reverence and mystery.
- This conflict highlights a longstanding 56-year impasse between the Vatican and the Society over the direction and modernization of Catholic worship practices.
