The SSPX was founded in 1970 against the reforms of the Roman Catholic Church in the 1960s, in what is known as the Second Vatican Council. It is thought that the Society has about 600,000 worshipers worldwide.
Reacting to the Vatican order, Rita Reid, an SSPX priest from Jersey in the Channel Islands, said: “It actually makes me feel really strong.
“Before the anointing yesterday I said to my husband, “You know what? Even if they kick us out, go ahead, bring it, it won’t make a difference.”
The Society rejects the changes made to the way Mass is celebrated – for example it still conducts its services in Latin rather than the everyday language, and priests face the altar instead of the congregation.
In the SSPX Mass the communion bread must be given by the priest directly to the mouths of the kneeling worshipers, as opposed to the parishioners being able to stand and hold it themselves.
The women in the group also tend to cover their heads to receive services and SSPX fans tend to be polite in general.
The SSPX also opposes the position of the modern Catholic Church regarding further dialogue with other Christian sects and other religions.
For Rita, 76, the SSPX celebrations are “deep”, where she feels “the true presence of Jesus”.
He says there is no comparison with the regular Catholic Mass, which he describes as “weak and just a dream”.
The retired B&B owner used to attend modern Catholic and SSPX services, but complained that at regular Masses social norms – such as abstinence from premarital sex – are no longer taught.
“I think there are a lot of young adults now new order [the standard liturgy] think ‘oh, okay, we can do these things’.”
The Association’s main presence is in the US and France but it conducts Masses in 26 locations around the UK, from Lerwick in Shetland down to Devon, with its main center in Wimbledon, South London.
At one point in the 1980s, the bishops of the League were excommunicated for disobedience to Rome, but that decision was later reversed.
Recently, efforts have been made to reconcile with the SSPX, but the Vatican’s reaction to this week’s events has been more aggressive than ever, and worse than predicted.
It was widely expected that Wednesday’s event in Geneva would lead to the dismissal of the bishops involved.
But the expulsion of all those churchgoers who continued to be part of the SSPX surprised many, the traditionalist group is now as far removed from the power center of the Roman Catholic Church as it has ever been.
Excommunication is one of the most severe punishments that the Church can give, excommunicating the offender from the religion and excluding him from Catholic life.
It means that the baptized follower is “out of communion” with the Church – meaning that they cannot receive the sacraments, for example go to confession, or marry within the Roman Catholic Church.
The Vatican said on Thursday: “Holy priests of the Society of St Pius X administer the sacraments illegally, while the sacrament of penance they administer and the marriages they officiate are invalid.”
It means that SSPX members now have to choose whether to remain part of the “dissident” group, or leave behind what they believe to be right in order to remain part of the Catholic Church.
However, it is clear that many members of the SSPX believe that it is the Vatican that has departed from true teaching, not them.
