The group that split from the Catholic Church last week in one of the largest schisms in recent memory has deep ties to Kansas and Missouri.
The Society of St. Pius X, also known as SSPX, is a conservative, traditionalist sect. Its adherents enforce strict gender roles and reject many of the reforms the Catholic Church introduced after the Second Vatican Council — such as celebrating Mass in languages other than Latin and its position on ecumenism, or cooperation among Christian religions.
The United States headquarters of the SSPX is in Platte City, Missouri, and St. Mary’s, Kansas, has become a haven for the sect’s devotees.
The SSPX formally caused a schism last week when it consecrated four bishops without the approval of Pope Leo. One of those bishops was Fr. Michael Goldade, who was raised in St. Mary’s. Goldade and the other newly-consecrated bishops, plus the priests and laypeople who backed the move, were then excommunicated from the larger Catholic Church.
Justin McLellan, a reporter for the Kansas City-based National Catholic Reporter, attended the consecration of bishops in Econe, Switzerland, last week. He said St. Mary’s is well-known among SSPX Catholics.
“At least in the common imagination of these SSPX adherents, I think St. Mary's, Kansas, has really become this model for this kind of parallel society that exists according to these traditional Catholic norms,” McLellan told KCUR’s Up To Date.
The SSPX boasts The Immaculata in St. Mary’s as its flagship church in the United States, and says 5,000 faithful attend the Latin mass there. The Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas oversees the parish.
"This development is particularly sorrowful because the Holy See has, for many years, sought reconciliation and full communion with the Society of Saint Pius X," Archbishop Shawn McKnight wrote in a letter following the schism.
"At the same time, the Church never ceases to pray and work for unity. The canonical penalties, specifically excommunication, announced by the Holy See are not intended as expressions of hostility or rejection, but as medicinal measures that reflect the seriousness of the offense and are ordered toward repentance, healing, and the eventual restoration of communion."
In 2023, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation released its summary of a four-year investigation into allegations of sexual abuse by Catholic priests in Kansas. The inquiry resulted in the referrals of 30 cases to local prosecutors, but further action was unlikely as a result of statute of limitations concerns. However, the report noted that it would continue to investigate criminal allegations into SSPX priests.
- Justin McLellan, Vatican correspondent, National Catholic Reporter
