There have been several controversies surrounding the Society of St. Pius X, many of which concern political support for non-democratic regimes, alleged antisemitism, and the occupation of church buildings. The Society of St. Pius X is an international organisation founded in 1970 by the French traditionalist Catholic archbishop Marcel Lefebvre.

Political controversies France There is an overlap in French society between the SSPX's constituency of support and support for reactionary political positions. In the French context, such positions include: Condemnation of the 1789 French Revolution and of the French Republic, accompanied by support for the restoration of the absolutist French monarchy. Archbishop Lefebvre vocally condemned the French Revolution, the ensuing dechristianization of France, and Reign of Terror by the Jacobin Club. The Archbishop called the Revolution's principles "Masonic and Anti-Catholic". He expressed regret that the extreme classical liberalism personified by the Revolution had entered "mitered heads", before, during, and after Vatican II. Lefebvre's close associate and right hand Fr. Paul Aulagnier, who has since left the SSPX and been reconciled with the Church hierarchy, was quoted in an SSPX periodical in 2001 as saying, while serving in Belgium (a constitutional monarchy): "I am pleased to be in Brussels – I who detest the republic and hate democracy.""Je suis content d’être à Bruxelles, moi qui déteste la république et qui hais la démocratie" Les croisés de l’Occident chrétien . Support for the Vichy government (1940–1944). Lefebvre spoke approvingly of the "Catholic order of Pétain", referring to the Vichy Premier Marshal Philippe Pétain, who was later convicted of treason and collaboration with Nazi Germany. The Society organises pilgrimages to Pétain's tomb,See here on the 2007 pilgrimage, with links to video footage. and during the 1987 pilgrimage the Archbishop referred to him as having "restored [France] spiritually and morally". Furthermore, Archbishop Lefebvre offered public prayers of devotion and intercession to Pétain at I'lle d'Yeu in 1987, pronouncing his belief that Marshal Pétain was in heaven. The antisemitic French historian Bernard Faÿ, who was appointed director of the anti-Masonic services and propagandist for the Vichy government, is credited with inspiring the Archbishop to found what became the SSPX in 1970. The Society's official journal in Belgium has denounced the anti-Vichy trials conducted after World War II by the mainstream republican followers of Charles De Gaulle.The journal is called Pour qu’Il Règne, and is quoted here The trials resulted in 791 executions and almost 50,000 forfeitures of civil rights. There have also been allegations that the SSPX had links with Vichy functionary Paul Touvier and that Vichy songs were learned at a scout camp of the Society (see below). Support for the Front National political party and its former leader, Jean-Marie le Pen, who is on the far right of the French political spectrum.Berntson, M., 2006-08-11 "National Preference, Gender Complementarity, and the Family Policy of France’s Front National" Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association, Montreal Convention Center, Montreal, Quebec, Canada Online <PDF>. 2008-10-09 from http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p104814_index.htmlFar-right leader Le Pen hints at retirement , AFP report, 11 September 2008 In 1985, Lefebvre was quoted in the French far-right periodical Présent as endorsing Jean-Marie Le Pen, though his endorsement was made on the basis that Le Pen was the only major French politician who unambiguously condemned abortion. In 1991, the then SSPX priest Fr. Philippe Laguérie called the Front National "the party least removed from the natural law"."Philippe Laguérie qui établissait dès 1991 que le Front National était «le parti le moins éloigné du droit naturel»" (Internet Centre Anti-Racism Europe: Actualité 24/08/2005 ). Civitas, the far-right political association in France founded in 1999, has historical, formal, and informal ties to the SSPX. It maintained the status of political party in France from 2016-2023 before it was suppressed as a party by the French government for antisemitism. Civitas maintains integralist, Maurrassian principles of thought stemming from the pro-Vichy intellectual and activist Jean Ousset, an influence on Lefebvre's thought and who also supported Archbishop Lefebvre's movement until they parted ways over differing views of Catholic Action. Nonetheless, the SSPX in France has maintained ties with Ousset's work and inheritance, including Civitas. The group is currently led by Belgian far-right activist Alain Escada, who has been influenced by the SSPX and its teachings. Abbe Xavier Beauvais, former pastor of Saint-Nicolas-du-Chardonnet and priest of the SSPX, speaks at Civitas events. Civitas left the official oversight of the SSPX in 2017 for the Capuchin Friars of Morgon, who have collaborated with them in political action along far-right lines. As of 2023, the Capuchins of Morgon are led by former SSPX district superior of France, Regis de Cacqueray. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Civitas spread conspiracy and opposed pandemic mitigating measures.

Archbishop Lefebvre's first biographer, the English traditionalist writer Michael Davies, wrote in the first volume of his Apologia Pro Marcel Lefebvre:In France political feeling tends to be more polarized, more extreme, and far more deeply felt than in England. ...Since the [Second World] war, and especially since Vatican II, the official French Church has veered sharply to the left. ...Thus, a large proportion of right-wing Catholics was predisposed to support any religious movement opposed to the policies of the French hierarchy. The political views of some of the French Catholics who support the Archbishop would certainly be odious to many English-speaking traditionalists – although such views are more understandable (if not acceptable) within the French context. However, if they wish to support the Archbishop (and not necessarily for the right reasons) there is nothing he can do about it. ...The French hierarchy has replaced [Catholic] social teaching with diluted Marxism to such an extent that anyone adopting the Catholic position is now automatically accused of fascism.

Occupation of the Church of Saint Nicolas du Chardonnet in Paris In 1977, a group of SSPX priests and laypeople led by Monsignor François Ducaud-Bourget entered the parish Church of Saint Nicolas du Chardonnet in central Paris and celebrated Mass. They subsequently refused to leave, and the church remains in the possession of the SSPX to this day.

Various French municipal authorities have had ownership of the older churches in France since the enactment of the 1905 French law on the Separation of the Churches and the State, though the buildings are permitted to be used by the appropriate religious denominations. Ducaud-Bourget maintained that Traditionalist Catholics represented by the SSPX were the true heirs of the Catholics of 1905. Although the occupation was declared illegal by French courts,"Le Conseil de Paris ... Emet le vœu :- que le Maire de Paris et le Préfet de police mettent tout en œuvre pour faire cesser l'occupation illégale de l'église Saint-Nicolas-du-Chardonnet par des personnes diffusant une propagande raciste, antisémite, sexiste et antidémocratique" the authorities reached the conclusion that, in contrast to forcibly evicting the SSPX, the continuing occupation would cause less disturbance to public order. A 1993 SSPX attempt to occupy another Paris church, Saint-Germain-l'Auxerrois, was unsuccessful.

Antisemitism and Holocaust denial

Bishop Richard Williamson

The views of Bishop Williamson were a particular source of controversy. For example, the bishop wrote:The Gulf War However, until they re-discover their true Messianic vocation, they may be expected to continue fanatically agitating, in accordance with their false messianic vocation of Jewish world-dominion, to prepare the Anti-Christ's throne in Jerusalem. So we may fear their continuing to play their major part in the agitation of the East and in the corruption of the West. Here the wise Catholic will remember that, again, the ex-Christian nations have only their own Liberalism to blame for allowing free circulation within Christendom to the enemies of Christ.In an interview with Swedish Television in November 2008, whose broadcast on 21 January 2009, the day the Holy See lifted the excommunication of the four SSPX bishops, gained wide publicity, Williamson repeated his opinion that the generally accepted history of the Holocaust is wrong. He accepted an estimate of only 200,000–300,000 Jews had perished in Nazi concentration camps, and denied that any were killed in gas chambers. Subsequently, former SSPX seminarians have come forward with additional information about Williamson's Jewish views. One former seminarian characterized Williamson as "a sick man" with "a horrible attitude toward women and a horrible attitude toward Jews." The Vatican repudiated Williamson's views as "intolerable and altogether unacceptable."

Williamson's views on this and other subjects remain controversial, even within Traditionalist Catholicism. After his interview, broadcast by Swedish Television on 21 January 2009, both the Superior General of the SSPX, Bishop Fellay, and the District Superior of the SSPX in Germany, Fr. Franz Schmidberger, stated that Williamson's views represented his own personal opinions;Fellay's letter; Schmidberger's statement and Bishop Fellay, as superior general of the Society, "prohibited him, pending any new orders, from taking any public positions on political or historical questions."

Although the SSPX authorities have thus distinguished Williamson's views from those of the Society, the Anti-Defamation League has accused the SSPX of being "mired in anti-Semitism", and journalist John L. Allen Jr., has said it would be misleading to consider Williamson an isolated case: Father Florian Abrahamowicz, who after being the superior in Italy has since been expelled from the Society also said he was not sure the Nazis had used gas chambers for anything other than disinfection, seemed to cast doubt on the number of six million Jews killed, complained that the Jews had exalted the Holocaust above other genocides, and called the Jews first "the people of God" and then the "people of deicide", to be converted to Jesus Christ at the end times.The Lefebvrite case

Williamson was forced out of the SSPX on 23 October 2012 for the "common good of the society", following his refusal to submit to the group's leadership.

Bishop Bernard Fellay During a radio interview on 28 December 2013, the then-Superior General Bishop Bernard Fellay said "Who, during that time, was the most opposed that the Church would recognize the Society? The enemies of the Church. The Jews, the Masons, the Modernists." His statement angered a lot of people, particularly Jewish people, and took it as an attack to them. Various media outlets also covered the statement. The Vatican also denounced Fellay and his religious movement, reaffirming their ecumenical dialogue with the Jews. The Vatican chief spokesman, Father Federico Lombardi , said that it was "meaningless" and "unacceptable" to label Jews as "enemies" of the Catholic Church.

Paul Touvier