The Superior General of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X (FSSPX), Father Davide Pagliarani, has made public this Thursday, May 14, feast of the Ascension, a Catholic Declaration of Faith addressed to Pope Leo XIV, dated in Menzingen (Switzerland), the general headquarters of the Fraternity.
The document, written in a filial but doctrinally firm tone, is presented as «the minimum indispensable» required by the FSSPX to be in communion with the Church and, in the words of its Superior, to truly call themselves Catholics and «sons» of the Roman Pontiff. Pagliarani laments that, after more than fifty years of conversations with the Holy See, the Fraternity’s positions «have received no truly satisfactory response» and denounces that canon law has been used, in his view, «not to confirm in the faith, but to distance from it.»
The Declaration reaffirms classic points of the pre-conciliar magisterium—unicity of the true religion, necessity of the Catholic Church for salvation, propitiatory character of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, social kingship of Christ, condemnation of secularism, and rejection of any «blessing» for same-sex couples—and implicitly lays out a doctrinal roadmap for the new Pontiff for an eventual canonical normalization.
Below, we reproduce in full the translation into Spanish of the text sent to Leo XIV.
Catholic Declaration of Faith Addressed to His Holiness Pope Leo XIV by Father Davide Pagliarani, Superior General of the FSSPX
Most Holy Father:
For more than fifty years, the FSSPX has strived to present to the Holy See its case of conscience regarding the errors that destroy the Catholic faith and morals. Unfortunately, all the conversations undertaken have yielded no result, and all the concerns expressed have received no truly satisfactory response.
For more than fifty years, the only solution truly contemplated by the Holy See seems to be that of canonical sanctions. With great regret on our part, it seems to us that canon law is therefore used not to confirm in the faith, but to distance from it.
Through the text that follows, the FSSPX is pleased to express to Your Holiness, in a filial and sincere manner, in the present circumstances, its adherence to the Catholic faith, hiding nothing from either Your Holiness or the universal Church.
The Fraternity places this simple Declaration of Faith in Your hands. It seems to us to correspond to the minimum indispensable to be able to be in communion with the Church, to call ourselves truly Catholic, and consequently, Your sons.
We have no other desire than to live and be confirmed in the Roman Catholic faith.
«Thus, remaining firmly rooted and established in the true Catholic faith, strive to always be worthy ministers of the divine sacrifice and of the Church of God, which is the Body of Christ. For, as the Apostle says: ‘Whatever does not proceed from faith is sin’ (Rom 14:23), schismatic and outside the unity of the Church.» (Roman Pontifical, Monition to those to be ordained to the subdiaconate.)
CATHOLIC DECLARATION OF FAITH
In the name of Our Lord Jesus Christ, divine Wisdom, incarnate Word, who willed one religion, who definitively rendered the Old Covenant obsolete, who founded one Church, who triumphed over Satan, who overcame the world, who remains with us until the end of time, and who will return to judge the living and the dead.
He, the perfect Image of the Father, Son of God made man, has been constituted the sole Redeemer and Savior of the world by the Incarnation and by the voluntary offering of the sacrifice of the Cross. Our Lord satisfies divine justice by shedding his most precious Blood, and it is in this Blood that he establishes the New and Eternal Covenant, abolishing the Old. He is, consequently, the sole Mediator between God and men and the only way to reach the Father. Only he who knows him knows the Father.
By divine decree, the Most Holy Virgin Mary has been directly and intimately associated with the entire work of the Redemption; therefore, to deny this association—in the terms received from Tradition—is equivalent to altering the very notion of Redemption as Divine Providence has willed it.
There exists only one faith and one Church through which we can be saved. Outside the Roman Catholic Church, and without the profession of the faith that it has always taught, there is neither salvation nor remission of sins.
Consequently, every man must be a member of the Catholic Church to save his soul, and there exists only one baptism as the means to be incorporated into it. This necessity concerns all humanity without exception and includes Christians, Jews, Muslims, pagans, and atheists indistinctly.
The mandate received by the Apostles, to preach the Gospel to every man and to convert every man to the Catholic faith, remains valid until the end of time and responds to the most absolute and imperative need that exists in the world. «He who believes and is baptized will be saved; he who does not believe will be condemned» (Mk 16:16). Consequently, to renounce fulfilling this mandate constitutes the gravest of crimes against humanity.
The Roman Church is the only one that simultaneously possesses the four marks that characterize the Church founded by Jesus Christ: Unity, Holiness, Catholicity, and Apostolicity.
Its unity derives essentially from the adherence of all its members to the one true faith, faithfully preserved, taught, and transmitted by the Catholic hierarchy through the centuries.
The denial of a single truth of faith destroys the faith itself and makes any communion with the Catholic Church radically impossible.
The only possible way to restore unity among Christians of diverse confessions consists in the urgent and charitable call directed to non-Catholics to profess the one true faith within the one true Church.
In no way can the Catholic Church be considered or treated on equal footing with a false worship or a false church.
The Roman Pontiff, Vicar of Christ, is the sole subject holder of supreme authority over the entire Church. He alone directly confers jurisdiction over souls to the other members of the Catholic hierarchy.
«The Holy Spirit was not promised to the successors of Peter so that, under his revelation, they might make known a new doctrine, but so that, with his assistance, they might sanctify and faithfully expound the revelation transmitted by the Apostles, that is, the deposit of faith.» (Pastor Aeternus, chap. 4.)
To a unique faith corresponds a unique worship, the supreme, authentic, and perfect expression of that same faith.
The Holy Mass is the perpetuation in time of the sacrifice of the Cross, offered for many and renewed on the altar. Although offered in an unbloody manner, the holy sacrifice of the Mass is essentially expiatory and propitiatory. No other worship procures perfect adoration. No other worship not related to it is pleasing to God. No other means is sufficient for the sanctification of souls.
Consequently, the holy sacrifice of the Mass cannot in any way be reduced to a simple commemoration, a spiritual meal, a sacred assembly celebrated by the people, the celebration of the paschal mystery without sacrifice, without satisfaction of divine justice, without expiation of sins, without propitiation, and without the Cross.
The assistance rendered to souls by the sacraments of the Catholic Church is sufficient in every circumstance and era to allow the faithful to live in a state of grace.
The moral law contained in the Decalogue and perfected in the Sermon on the Mount is the only practicable one for obtaining the salvation of souls. Any other moral code—for example, founded on respect for creation or on the rights of the human person—is radically insufficient to sanctify and save a soul. In no way can it substitute for the one true moral law.
Following the example of St. John the Baptist, true charity obliges us to warn sinners and never to renounce taking the necessary means to save their souls.
He who eats the Body of Our Lord and drinks his Blood in a state of sin eats and drinks his own condemnation, and no authority can modify this law contained in the teaching of St. Paul and in Tradition.
The impure sin against nature is of such gravity that it always cries out for vengeance before God in every circumstance, and it is radically incompatible with every form of authentic and Christian love. Therefore, such a «way of life» cannot in any way be recognized as a gift from God. A couple that practices this vice must be helped to free themselves from it, and it cannot in any way be blessed—formally or informally—by the ministers of the Church.
The submission of institutions and nations as such to the authority of Our Lord Jesus Christ derives directly from the Incarnation and the Redemption. Consequently, the secularism of institutions and nations constitutes an implicit denial of the divinity and universal kingship of Our Lord.
Christendom is not a mere historical phenomenon, but the only order willed by God among men. It is not the Church that must conform to the world, but the world that must be transformed by the Church.
It is in this faith and these principles that we ask to be instructed and confirmed by Him who has received the charism to do so. With the help of Our Lord, we prefer death rather than renounce them. It is in this immutable faith that we wish to live and die, awaiting the moment when it yields its place to the direct vision of the immutable Eternal Truth.
Menzingen, May 14, 2026, on the feast of the Ascension of Our Lord.
Davide Pagliarani