Vatican City - In the wake of the episcopal consecrations carried out at Écône without a pontifical mandate, and the subsequent declaration that those involved had incurred latae sententiae excommunication, the former Holy Office has taken a further step. The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith has sent a document to Apostolic Nunciatures around the world setting out, from 1 July 2026, the procedure for reconciling priests and lay faithful who wish to leave the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X.
The text, seen by Silere non possum, is divided into two sections. The first concerns priests. A cleric who accepts the Second Vatican Council and the legitimacy of the novus ordo Missae, while remaining attached to the usus antiquior, must first find an Ordinary willing to receive him ad experimentum. He must then write personally to the Holy Father requesting the remission of the censures, enclosing his ordination certificate, the Professio fidei and the Formula adhaesionis, each dated and signed. It will then fall to the Ordinary to forward the three documents to the Dicastery, which will prepare the rescript lifting the censures. The document is to be signed by the Prefect and the Secretary of the Doctrinal Section.
This is followed by a period of trial lasting no less than one year and no more than three, after which incardination may take place. Should the trial not prove successful, the Ordinary must return the rescript to the Dicastery, together with a report setting out the reasons why incardination has not taken place.
The second section deals with the position of the lay faithful and draws a distinction that deserves attention. The Dicastery makes clear that a penalty cannot be presumed to apply automatically, but must be assessed case by case, since imputability requires full knowledge and deliberate consent. This may apply, for instance, to lay people who belong to the Fraternity’s Third Order or who regularly attend its liturgies while formally sharing its doctrinal positions. Their reconciliation requires the submission of the Professio fidei and the Formula adhaesionis to the local Ordinary.
Those who have attended the Fraternity’s chapels solely for liturgical or spiritual reasons, without rejecting the Magisterium or the authority of the Roman Pontiff, incur no penalty. It will be sufficient for them to approach a priest in full communion with the Church, having resolved not to attend the Fraternity in future.
The message sent from the Palazzo del Sant’Uffizio to pontifical representatives across the world is clear. The firmness of the censure imposed on those who consecrated bishops without a mandate is accompanied by an open door for individual priests and lay faithful.