Society of Saint Pius X

The Society of Saint Pius X is a Catholic fraternity of priests with traditionalist views. Marcel Lefebvre, a French priest founded it in the 1970s, because he thought that the Second Vatican Council had given up many of the these traditions. It is against many of the changes the Second Vatican Council introduced, namely the dialogue with leaders of other religions and the communal relation of different Christian groups. Since 1975, the Society of Saint Pius X no longer has canonical mandate. In 1988, the society consecrated new bishops, which by canonical law, led to the excommunication of those consecrating, and those consecrated. Pope Benedict XVI annulled the excommunications in the 2000s, after all involved affirmed that the Pope was the head of the Catholic Church. As of 2020, the society has 680 priests and 217 seminarians.