SSPX pilgrimage for Jubilee endorsed by Vatican despite canonical dispute

The Vatican’s official Jubilee 2025 calendar is currently listing a pilgrimage by the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X (SSPX), with the occasion marking a rare moment of visible accord following long-running tensions between SSPX and the Vatican.

According to the SSPX website for Great Britain, the pilgrimage on 21 August will include a public Rosary at Colle Oppio, a Solemn High Mass at 9.30 a.m., and a procession entering the Holy Door of the Archbasilica of St John Lateran.

The SSPX, founded by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre in November 1970 in Switzerland, operates with a mission to preserve the Traditional Latin Mass and pre-Vatican II liturgy, which includes training priests committed to tradition and what the organisation describes as the "Mass of All Time".

Despite being declared canonically irregular by the Vatican, with one of the main controversies being Archbishop Lefebvre’s 1988 consecration of bishops without papal mandate, the SSPX remains active. Guided by its current Superior General, Fr Davide Pagliarani, SSPX had over 700 priests, 268 seminarians and a total membership exceeding1,100 as of 2022.

SSPX has staged similar visits to Rome and the Vatican before. In 1975 and in 2000, SSPX pilgrims were permitted to enter the major basilicas, including St Peter’s. In 2014, the group was allowed to celebrate Mass in the Chapel of the Presentation at the altar under which St Pius X is entombed.

Though this is the first time in recent memory that the SSPX has appeared in official online Jubilee listings, which are maintained by theVatican’s evangelisation office. At the same time, the Holy See has previously stressed that inclusion does not imply endorsement.

During a 2024 controversy over a Vatican-listed LGBT pilgrimage, Vatican spokesperson Agnese Palmucci told Reuters: “They are not sponsored activities.”

The 2025 Jubilee – which began on 24 December 2024, with the opening of the Holy Door at St. Peter's Basilica and which will conclude on 6 January 2026, with the closing of the Holy Door at the same basilica – saw 545,000 people pass through St Peter’s Holy Door in the first two weeks, with more than1.3 million throughout the Jubilee's opening month.

Organisers anticipate that between 30 to 32 million pilgrims will come during the entirety of the Jubilee. A range of eclectic Jubilee-themed celebrations are already woven into the Vatican's calendar, including participation by artists, missionary priests and families, alongside all manner of cultural events.

Despite the death of Pope Francis in April 2025 in the midst of the Jubilee getting started, festivities have continued uninterrupted. Recent highlights include a jubilant Jubilee of Youth at Tor Vergata, when hundreds of thousands of young Catholics gathered for a Mass and evening vigil.

Traditional Latin Mass groups are already participating in the Jubilee year, with the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest (ICKSP) having undertaken a pilgrimage to Rome from 8 to 10 May.

Given that the underlying tensions between the SSPX and the Vatican remain unresolved, the rare moment of visibility for the former could prove significant by bringing to the surface longstanding tensions between tradition and ecclesiastical unity, as well as the internal Church debates going on over potential reconciliation.

Photo: Pilgrims hold a cross during a pilgrimage to the Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica as part of the Catholic Jubilee Year 2025, Vatican, 22 February 2025. (Photo by ANDREAS SOLARO/AFP via Getty Images.)

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