(ZENIT News / Vatican City, 0 7.02.2026).- On July 2, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith published two documents outlining the procedures for welcoming into the Catholic Church clergy and certain lay members of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X who desire reconciliation and a return to communion with the Pope. This follows the excommunication imposed after the ordinations performed without a papal mandate on July 1 in Écône. We present the English translation prepared by ZENIT regarding the document on the reception of priests.
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Procedures for the reconciliation of priests from the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X
The procedure to be followed by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith starting July 1, 2026, stipulates that a priest who has decided to leave the Priestly Fraternity of St. Pius X, and who is willing to accept Vatican Council II and the legitimacy of the Novus Ordo Missae, while remaining attached to the usus antiquior, must:
- Find an Ordinary (diocesan Bishop, Major Superior of Clerical Religious Institutes of Pontifical Right or Clerical Societies of Apostolic Life of Pontifical Right, etc.) willing to accept him ad experimentum.
- Write a letter in his own hand to the Holy Father, introducing himself and requesting the remission of the censures incurred due to his Ordination received by an irregular excommunicated Bishop, having been ordained validly and legitimately before entering subsequently in the Priestly Fraternity of St. Pius X.
- Attach his certificate of priestly ordination.
- Attach the Professio fidei and the Formula adhaesionis, dated and signed (cf. Annexes A-B).
- Have the three aforementioned documents forwarded to the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith by the Ordinary, who must state in a covering letter his willingness to accept the priest ad experimentum into his Diocese or Institute.
Upon receipt of the three documents from the Ordinary, the Dicastery will draft the Rescript remitting the censures, which will be signed by the Prefect and the Secretary of the Doctrinal Section.
The Dicastery will send the said Rescript to the Ordinary, accompanied by a letter authorizing him to accept the requesting priest for a probationary period of at least one year and no more than three years, at the end of which his incardination may proceed.
It has recently been decided that, should the established probationary period not reach a successful conclusion, the Ordinary shall return the Rescript to the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, enclosing a report on the reasons for the non-incardination.
Translation of the Italian original into Spanish by ZENIT’s Editorial Director and, into English, by Virginia M. Forrester
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