It’s estimated that the SSPX Jubilee pilgrimage has seen around 8,000 participants parading through the Vatican today, according to reports from Rome.
The Vatican’s official Jubilee 2025 calendar listed 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 included a public Rosary at Colle Oppio, a Solemn High Mass at 9.30 a.m., followed by a procession toward the Holy Door of St John Lateran Basilica.
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 exceeding 1,100 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.
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. The Holy See has previously stressed that inclusion does not imply endorsement.
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Photo: screenshot from fsspx.uk.
