A Filipino archbishop has publicly confirmed that three nuns from a Dominican community have broken with their congregation to join the traditionalist Society of St Pius X (SSPX).
In a circular dated 17 October 2025, Archbishop Victor B. Bendico of Capiz said the three sisters, members of the Dominican Sisters of the Most Holy Rosary, also known as the Rosarian Dominican Sisters, had “publicly and deliberately affiliated themselves with the Society of St Pius X (SSPX), an institute which presently has no canonical recognition in the Catholic Church and whose situation is irregular with respect to ecclesial communion”.
The Archbishop said that by “abandoning their association without permission and choosing to live in an irregular community”, the women “have forfeited the rights and obligations proper to their association” and have therefore “lost membership in the Rosarian Dominican Sisters and are prohibited from wearing its habit or insignia”.
The sisters were identified as Sally R. Adrias (Sr Ma Phillip R. Adrias), Jocelyn Deluso Marinay (Sr Mary Joseph Marinay) and Jenny Marie Valiente Pajudpod (Sr Ma Theresa Pajudpod).
In the same letter, Archbishop Bendico warned the faithful not to support or be misled by the breakaway sisters.
“I further clarify that any request for financial or material assistance made by them is not in any way connected with nor endorsed by the Rosarian Dominican Sisters or the Archdiocese of Capiz,” he wrote.
He called on priests and pastoral workers to “guide the faithful with clarity and charity, so that no one may be misled”, urging prayers for the sisters’ conversion and “fidelity to the Church, in communion with the Successor of Peter and the bishops in union with him”.
The Society of St Pius X was founded in 1970 by the late French Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, who rejected aspects of the Second Vatican Council – particularly its teachings on liturgical reform, religious liberty and relations with non-Catholics.
Although Pope Francis has granted faculties to SSPX priests for confessions and marriages under certain conditions, the society remains without canonical recognition.
The apparent “defection” by the nuns highlights once again the delicate relationship between Church unity and movements seeking to preserve pre-conciliar traditions, a debate that remains alive more than half a century after the close of the Second Vatican Council.
Archbishop Bendico’s circular concludes with a pastoral appeal: “May the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church, keep us united in faith, hope, and love.”
Photo: Nuns walk down a street near St Peter's Basilica in the Vatican, 23 April 2025 (Photo by ANDREJ ISAKOVIC/AFP via Getty Images)
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