The Society of Saint Pius X
The Priestly Society of Saint Pius X is a society of common life without vows, founded by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, and legitimately erected on November 1, 1970, in the diocese of Fribourg by Bishop Charrière, the local ordinary. It was commended in a letter from the Congregation for the Clergy dated February 18, 1971.
The Society has 6 seminaries. With 175 priories in 31 countries served by more than 550 priests, the Society helps many Catholics to keep Tradition and to live according to unchangeable Truth.
The priests of the Society celebrate exclusively the Traditional Mass, also known as “the Tridentine Mass,” in Latin, the sacred language of the Roman Church.
The Founder’s opposition to the novelties introduced by the Second Vatican Council has earned for Archbishop Lefebvre and his priests many rebuffs and several condemnations from the Church hierarchy since 1975.
Despite the penalties and censures, the work of Society kept growing, proving by its vitality and good fruits that it remained a life-giving branch of the Holy Catholic Church.
The Superior General
Bishop Bernard Fellay was born on April 12, 1958, in Switzerland. He grew up not far from the seminary of Ecône, which he entered in October 1977. On June 29, 1982, he was ordained a priest and was immediately appointed Bursar General of the Society. He also served as chaplain for several youth groups, ministered in parishes, and made several apostolic journeys to mission countries. On June 30, 1988, he was consecrated a bishop and retained his position as Bursar General until his election as Superior General of the Society in July 1994. He was re-elected for a second 12-year term of office on July 12, 2006.
The First Assistant General
Fr. Niklaus Pfluger was born in Oensingen, in the canton of Soleure, on November 3, 1958. A Swiss citizen, he was ordained a priest on July 1, 1984 in Zaitzkofen (Bavaria). After five years of apostolic work in Oberriet, then in Basel, he was appointed Superior of the District of Switzerland in 1989, then rector of the seminary in Zaitzkofen from 1991 to 1998, before returning to Switzerland as Superior of the District from 1998 to 2004. Appointed Superior of the District of Germany in 2004, he was elected First Assistant General at the Chapter in 2006.
The Second Assistant General
Fr. Alain-Marc Nély, who is French, was born in La Ferté-sous-Jouarre on February 18, 1950. Ordained a priest on June 29, 1985, he spent ten years as a teacher at Saint-Joseph des Carmes School near Carcassonne before being appointed prior in Marseilles, a position that he would also hold for ten years (from 1994 to 2004). Appointed Superior of the District of Italy in 2004, he was elected Second Assistant General at the Chapter in 2006.