I was at the SSPX Chartres-Paris pilgrimage. It made me realize they are not ‘schismatic’

Attending the pilgrimage destroyed every lie we're told about the Society of St. Pius X.

Chartres pilgrimsLifeSiteNews

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Marie
Lacroix

Wed May 27, 2026 - 1:38 pm EDT

(LifeSiteNews) — Just months before the consecration of new bishops on July 1st, the SSPX is again making headlines for being “schismatic.”

But are they really?

I decided to go on their famous pilgrimage from Chartres to Paris to dig deeper.

Saturday morning, 6:30 a.m.

Already, crowds have gathered in front of the Chartres Cathedral, carrying huge backpacks with everything they’ll need to sleep outside, eat, and treat blisters and sunburns for the next three days.  

The organizers are expecting over 6,000 pilgrims this year, and the enthusiasm around me is palpable. I hear German, English, and French spoken by young pilgrims from all over the world, waving banners of their patron saints and Vatican flags.

After a beautiful traditional Mass celebrated in front of the Cathedral (during which we pray for the Pope at the Canon), the pilgrimage organizers announce the order of departure. We pick up our banners, ready for our first day of walking in the extreme heat, and leave Chartres through its quiet streets, singing songs to Our Lady.

Every few hours, we’re given the luxury of being able to sit down in a field to rest, and volunteers meet us along the way to encourage us and give us bottles of water.

Hours pass.

We walk, we drink water, we pray, we sing, we talk, and we support each other, even perfect strangers.

The sun gets hotter, and fatigue starts to set in. Next to me I overhear a fellow pilgrim encouraging his little brother by reminding him of Jesus’ sufferings on the Cross. I see young scouts walking with their troops, proudly waving banners without a murmur of complaint about their painful feet.

At every break throughout the day, volunteer doctors and nurses, and even nuns in full habit, care for pilgrims. Priests in cassocks walk with us, offering encouragement and confession.

By the time we reach the campsite, my exhaustion is complete. I find my tent and fall quickly asleep.

The next two days follow a similar program. We pilgrims get up early, drop off tents and equipment, and set out again, every painful step bringing us closer to Paris.

On Pentecost Sunday, Bishop Bernard Fellay, one of the last surviving bishops consecrated by Monsignor Marcel Lefebvre, celebrates a beautiful Pontifical High Mass in a field large enough to accommodate thousands of us pilgrims and the many visitors who have joined us.  

I approach one of the numerous priests stationed around the field and ask for confession. He smiles and says, “That is why we are here.” Afterwards I return to kneel at my place, a muddy spot in the field covered in roughly cut grass and wild mint, and my eyes fill with tears at the sheer beauty of the liturgy and the angelic choir.

The following day, we triumphantly enter Paris, our accumulated exhaustion forgotten in our joy at having walked and suffered under the banner of Christ the King.

Many Catholics have been lied to about the SSPX. I know, because I was one of them. We’ve heard it all: the SSPX is schismatic, heretical, and its founder deliberately defied Rome to create his own church and follow his own rules.  

But attending the pilgrimage destroyed every lie we’re told about the Society.  

If the SSPX and its founder had truly wanted to break away from the Catholic Church, why would they pray for Leo XIV during the Canon of the Mass? Why would they fly the Vatican flag or make pilgrimages to Rome or reaffirm their allegiance to Roman Catholicism? 

All these actions point to fidelity to Tradition in a time of crisis, not rebellion.

The theme of this year’s pilgrimage was the need for vocations. The message was one of urgency and underlined the Society’s reason for consecrating new bishops: Without bishops, there would be no priests. And without priests, there would be no sacraments.

Despite harsh criticism from all sides, even from Catholic bishops, the priests and bishops of the SSPX I’ve listened to have always spoken charitably about the hierarchy of the Church (while nevertheless condemning doctrinal errors as is their duty).

I come away from my first pilgrimage with the SSPX convinced that their mission is and always has been the same: to ensure the survival of the Catholic Church founded by Jesus Christ and bring souls to God through the traditional liturgy.

BREAKING: Letter to Pope Leo XIV by Archbishop Vigano’

 

Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò to Leo XIV

•  2026 Lettere
•  Jun 15, 2026

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A few weeks ago, I made public the events surrounding my request to meet with Leo – specifically, his initial acceptance, his sudden rescission, and then his definitive cancellation. While a Catholic Archbishop was deemed unworthy of being received in Audience, an abortionist and heterodox figure – in the guise of an Anglican “Archbishop” – merited not only the full honors of Vatican protocol but was even permitted to engage in “communicatio in sacris” with Leo and other Prelates, going so far as to impart a “blessing” within the shrine of the Prince of the Apostles. This serves only as further proof of the double standard applied by the proponents of the “synodal church.” I do not believe it is necessary to dwell on this with further commentary...  After long months of silence, the time has come to make known the contents of my letter to Leone of January 25thof this year, thereby establishing a documentary record of the matter.

                Holiness,

With this letter, I wish to offer for your consideration the salient events of my personal and ministerial life, so that you may get to know me and understand the intentions that motivate me.

I was born in Varese on January 16, 1941, into a deeply Catholic family, thanks to which I was able to grow up practicing my Faith daily, receiving a solid higher education, and maturing my vocation to the Priesthood. I was ordained a priest on March 24, 1968, and, after a brief period of parish ministry in Pavia, I was invited by the then-Substitute of the Secretariat of State, Archbishop Giovanni Benelli, to enter the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy, where I was admitted in October 1971. I served five Popes: first in the Nunciatures of Baghdad, Kuwait, and London; then from January 1978 in the Secretariat of State for over ten years as Secretary to three Substitutes; and then as Permanent Observer to the Council of Europe and the European Parliament in Strasbourg (1988-1992). After my episcopal consecration, received from the hands of John Paul II, I was sent to Nigeria as Apostolic Nuncio (1992-1998), then recalled to the Secretariat of State as the Delegate for Pontifical Representations (1998-2009). In 2009, Pope Benedict XVI appointed me Secretary General of the Governorate of Vatican City State, and then in 2011 as Apostolic Nuncio to the United States of America until 2016.

It was in my role as Delegate for Pontifical Representations that I found myself handling the investigative processes for promotions to the Episcopate, both in the Roman Curia and in the Nunciatures, as well as the most confidential and delicate cases concerning Bishops and Cardinals, including the dossier of Theodore McCarrick and other homosexual prelates. My actions in this area led to my removal from the Secretariat of State and my transfer to the Governorate as Secretary General, where Pope Benedict entrusted me with combating mismanagement and the vast network of financial corruption. Even in that case, despite having brought the Governorate’s budget, in the space of a year and a half, from a deficit of 15 million Euros to a profit of 35 million, and despite the Pope wanting to promote me to the Presidency of the Pontifical Council for Economic Affairs of the Holy See, I was removed from the Roman Curia and sent to Washington as Nuncio. My actions disturbed people who at the time were very powerful and capable of overriding the will of Pope Benedict.

In 2016, exactly on my seventy-fifth birthday, Bergoglio ordered me to leave the Nunciature in Washington and forbade me from returning to the Vatican, where John Paul II had permanently assigned me an apartment; he also forbade me from residing in the Roman residence for retired Nuncios that was specially prepared by Pope Benedict. Before his death, Bergoglio also had my Vatican citizenship and passport revoked; he prevented me from accessing the healthcare services provided to members of the Diplomatic Service, even though I had always regularly paid my contributions; and he ordered that my car be removed from the Vatican Vehicle Registry and prevented the renewal of my Vatican driver’s license, which I had held continuously since 1973, causing me serious difficulties and effectively condemning me to house arrest.

In August 2018 I published the explosive memorandum about Theodore McCarrick and the extensive network of corruption and complicity within the Roman Curia, which directly involved Jorge Mario Bergoglio himself. Subsequently, I lived for several years in secret locations, as Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke advised me to do, given the threats I received and the fact that my immediate predecessor in Washington, Nuncio Pietro Sambi, had died under very suspicious circumstances after having had heated confrontations with then-Cardinal McCarrick when informing him of the measures taken by Benedict XVI to counter his crimes as a serial abuser.

The corruption, blackmail, deception, and betrayals I have had to confront have led me to question the deep origins of the disastrous state of the Catholic Church.

More: Exsurgedomine.it

Pacelli’s Prophecy

In 1933, Eugenio Cardinal Pacelli (the future Pope Pius XII) gave a prophetic warning concerning the tampering of the liturgy:

“This persistence of the Good Lady in face of the danger that threatens the Church is a divine warning against the suicide that the alteration of the Faith, in its liturgy, its theology, and its soul, would represent.

I hear around me innovators who wish to dismantle the Sacred Chapel, destroy the universal flame of the Church, reject her ornaments, and make her remorseful for her historical past. 

Well, my dear friend, I am convinced that the Church of Peter must affirm her past, or else she will dig her own grave.

I will fight this battle with the greatest energy on the inside of the Church, just as outside of it, even if the forces of evil may one day take advantage of my person, my actions, or my writings, as they try today to deform the history of the Church.”

-Cardinal Pacelli, Secretary of State.

Saint Tom of Northern Virginia? Father who died saving son's life considered for canonization

 Story by David Fawcett

Saint Tom of Northern Virginia? Father who died saving son's life considered for canonization

One afternoon in the spring of 2022, Keith Henderson met his former priest for lunch when a timely topic arose during their conversation.

Father Jerome Fasano, the retired pastor of St. John the Baptist Church in Front Royal, mentioned to Henderson that their diocese could have its first saint.

Desiring additional details, Henderson listened as Fasano recounted the story of Tom Vander Woude and his selfless act. On Sept. 8, 2008, Vander Woude died at the age of 66 while rescuing his son Joseph after he fell into a septic tank on the family farm in Nokesville.

Vander Woude pushed 19-year-old Joseph, who has Down Syndrome, out of the sewage, but he then slipped back beneath the surface as toxic gas filled up his lungs. Attempts were made to revive him after he was pulled out, but Vander Woude died later that day at the hospital.

Up until this point, Henderson, who lives in Warren County, knew nothing about Vander Woude. But so moved by what he learned, Henderson met with Fasano again and agreed Vander Woude should be a saint.

Then, he took it one step further. Retired with extra time on his hands, Henderson felt called to do something else: Help lay the groundwork that could ultimately lead to Vander Woude's canonization.

There was no guarantee, of course, Vander Woude would become a saint, but Henderson wanted to give it a try. It was the least he could do for someone he believed worthy of consideration.

"Tom was a wonderful model of a devout and faithful Catholic man," Henderson told InsideNoVa, "a man that our diocese needed to honor as a servant of God and hopefully much more if it is God's will."

The process

Becoming a saint in the Catholic church is no easy task. It requires extensive background work and meeting specific criteria and protocols.

Sometimes, the canonization process moves quickly, like it did for Mother Teresa. She became a saint in just under 19 years after she died in 1997. Mostly, though, the process takes a while, with no definitive end date as it moves through four stages once a cause for sainthood has been opened.

Currently, there are 11 canonized U.S. saints, the most recent being in 2015. All of them lived from the 17th century through the mid-20th century.

Traditionally, people became saints through two categories: martyrdom and heroic virtue. But in July 2017, Pope Francis opened a third option: the offer of one's life. Vander Woude's life and action fit this category best.

The path toward sainthood starts at the diocesan level before moving to the Vatican for final approval.

To get Vander Woude's case off the ground, Henderson formed a nonprofit in July 2022 called the Tom Vander Woude Guild. The guild began with a four-person board of directors based in Front Royal: himself, Fasano, Rick Von Her and John Lundberg. Henderson is the guild's chairman, Fasano is the treasurer, Lundberg is the secretary and Von Her is the guild's vice chairman. All Catholic converts, Henderson, Von Her and Lundberg are friends who attend St. John the Baptist.

The next step came when the guild asked the Diocese of Arlington to consider opening a cause for sainthood for Vander Woude. The diocese oversees 21 Virginia counties and had 431,000 registered parishioners in 2025.

After obtaining enough information from the guild regarding Vander Woude, Michael F. Burbidge, the diocesan bishop, made an important decision.

In April 2024, Burbidge agreed to name the diocese as the petitioner for Vander Woude's case by signing two documents to further explore why Vander Woude should be a saint. As the petitioner, the diocese becomes the promoter of the cause and assumes the financial obligations and expenses.

More: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/saint-tom-of-northern-virginia-father-who-died-saving-son-s-life-considered-for-canonization/ar-AA24i0ZN?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=6a19b596ebf340d485911119c638e4c4&ei=13

The Spirit of Truth “outside the visible confines of the Mystical Body”

“The firm belief of the followers of the SSPX is an effect of the Spirit of truth operating outside the visible confines of the Mystical Body."

(Cf. John Paul II,Redemptor Hominis, n. 6)

Conscience and Faith

“Members of the SSPX have the sacred and inalienable right to follow their consciences in religious matters."

- Benedict XVI, Ecclesia in Medio Oriente, n. 26

The false equivalence between the SSPX and Protestant heretics like Martin Luther

Michael Sirilla:

A common misunderstanding I see among Catholics regarding the SSPX involves a facile and erroneous likening of the Society to Martin Luther and/or Protestantism in general.  The claim is made: the SSPX, like Luther, substitutes their private judgment for that of the Church’s Magisterium.

So I’d like to bring a little clarity here: the principal issue with Martin Luther, as with all heretics, is the substitution of private judgment for the Magisterium on mysteries of faith.  Luther denied the papacy, many of the sacraments, the need for good works, etc.  All of these truths of faith are matters of infallible Magisterial teaching.

The principal issue with the SSPX is fundamentally different.  With the Society, the issue is obedience and the allegation of schism, not heresy.  And this difference is significant.  They do not deny any infallibly-defined truth of faith.  They don’t, like Luther and other heretics, substitute their private judgment for Magisterial teaching.  

Regarding schism, it’s truly a difficult matter - one about which doctoral dissertations in Canon Law have been written (for example, Fr. Gerald Murray from EWTN wrote an important dissertation on the Society and schism).  The Society does not intend to set up a hierarchical/juridical structure parallel to that of Christ’s Church.  But their bishops do materially disobey the pope when consecrating new bishops (as in 1988 and, forthcoming in July).  Whether that amounts to formal (and culpable) disobedience is a matter of genuine good-faith debate.

So one of the essential questions to resolve, theologically and canonically, is whether or not that material disobedience is permissible (something all law - divine, natural, and human - has always recognized): for example, speeding in a 25 mph zone to get someone to the hospital before they bleed to death.  Honest and good theologians and canonists on all sides of this issue recognize that this is not a simple matter.  It really isn’t like Lutheranism or Protestantism at all.  And unlike in matters of defined dogmas, the Church is not infallible in her juridical decisions (see, e.g., St. Joan of Arc).

@msirilla1