Father Davide Pagliarani, Superior General of the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX), has condemned the Vatican’s restrictions on Marian titles and criticised the legacy of the 1986 Assisi interreligious gathering in a letter accusing Rome of undermining Catholic doctrine.
In a letter published on 4 November, marking the first anniversary of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith’s document Mater Populi Fidelis, Father Davide Pagliarani, Superior General of the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX), criticised the text, arguing that it could have significant theological and pastoral consequences.
Father Pagliarani also revisited the interreligious gathering convened by Pope John Paul II in Assisi in 1986, presenting both events as manifestations of what he described as the “spirit of Assisi”.
Entitled The Virgin Mary versus the Spirit of Assisi, the letter is addressed to the faithful, friends and benefactors of the Society. It examines the role of the Blessed Virgin Mary in defending Christian doctrine and protecting souls from religious error.
SSPX criticism of Mater Populi Fidelis #
Father Pagliarani’s principal criticism concerns Mater Populi Fidelis, which addressed the use of Marian titles including Co-Redemptrix and Mediatrix of All Graces. The document advised against using these titles, arguing that they risked obscuring Christ’s unique role in Redemption and did not adequately express Catholic doctrine.
Father Pagliarani described the intervention as “disastrous” and “devastating both in its content and in its inevitable pastoral consequences”.
Nevertheless, he argued that the controversy had produced one positive effect by drawing renewed attention to the importance of theological formulas and titles. He criticised what he characterised as modernist approaches to religion, which, in his view, reduce faith to a personal and intimate experience of God and consequently diminish the importance of precise doctrinal language.
The 1986 Assisi gathering #
The letter also examines the interreligious gathering held in Assisi in 1986 at the initiative of Pope John Paul II. Father Pagliarani described the event as a “disastrous paradigm” for subsequent ecumenical and interreligious meetings.
He recalled an episode involving pilgrims from southern Italy who had travelled to Assisi carrying a statue of Our Lady of Fatima. According to the letter, the pilgrims were turned away by the organisers because the statue’s presence would have interfered with the scheduled ceremonies.
Father Pagliarani cited the incident as an example of what he considers the marginalisation of the Blessed Virgin Mary at certain interreligious gatherings, arguing that her role in Catholic doctrine presents difficulties for approaches that place different religious traditions on an equal footing.
“This is why [Our Lady] is the missing voice at ecumenical meetings: she is inconvenient; she cannot be invited.”
The SSPX superior argued that Mary’s role as Mother and Queen necessarily points to Christ’s exclusive claims over humanity and to the Church’s responsibility to uphold revealed truth in the face of religious error.
Mary’s role in defending revealed truth #
The letter develops its theological argument around a liturgical invocation describing the Blessed Virgin Mary as the one who has overcome heresies throughout the world:
“Rejoice, O Virgin Mary, for thou alone hast crushed all heresies in the whole world.”
Father Pagliarani argued that this invocation reflects Mary’s mission to lead souls to Jesus Christ, whom he identified as the incarnate Truth. He maintained that her maternal mission involves not only communicating supernatural life but also protecting it from doctrines that could undermine knowledge of Christ.
The letter describes supernatural life in terms of the Christian understanding of God’s own life as an eternal act of contemplation and love. Father Pagliarani wrote that God contemplates Himself as the supreme Truth and supreme Good, and that this contemplation constitutes His divine life.
The SSPX superior also addressed the question of Mary’s freedom, arguing that her inability to sin perfected rather than diminished her liberty. Quoting the Dominican theologian Réginald Garrigou-Lagrange, he described her as possessing “full liberty in the order of moral goodness, with no inclination to evil”.
He further emphasised Mary’s unique relationship with Christ as His Mother, through whom He received His human nature. Father Pagliarani compared Mary’s contemplation of her Son with the eternal generation of the Word, drawing on St Leo the Great’s expression that Christ was “consubstantial with His Mother”.
Mary as Mediatrix of All Graces #
The letter presents Mary’s role as universal Mediatrix as extending beyond her example of Christian holiness to the communication and protection of supernatural life in souls.
Father Pagliarani wrote that “she who received Christ and gave Him to the world remains associated, in complete dependence on her Son, in communicating to souls the fruits of Redemption”.
He added that Mary “begets her children to the life of faith”, introducing them to knowledge of Christ and strengthening them in the truth He reveals.
“Her vocation is not only to be a model of Christian life, but also to be the Mother who communicates this life to souls and protects it in its development.”
He argued that doctrinal error directly threatens this maternal mission because it distorts the knowledge through which supernatural life is received.
To illustrate this point, he referred to the Catholic understanding of the Mass, warning that a departure from the belief “in clear and unequivocal terms, that the holy Mass is the renewal of the Sacrifice of the Cross made present on the altar” would affect not only the understanding of the sacrament but also the manner of worship and, ultimately, the understanding of Redemption itself.
The letter applies the same argument to other revealed truths, including Christ’s Kingship and His “imprescriptible public rights”, as well as “the absolute necessity of going through Our Lord in order to be saved”.
Father Pagliarani linked what he considers the weakening of these convictions to “the widespread practice of a harmful ecumenism”.
The SSPX’s criticism of religious indifferentism #
Father Pagliarani concluded his argument by presenting the Blessed Virgin Mary as fundamentally opposed to religious indifferentism and to the equal treatment of truth and error.
“In no way can the Most Holy Virgin tolerate that her Son, the Truth incarnate, be considered as one path among others to the Father.”
He further argued that Mary could not accept the equal treatment of truth and error in the name of human dignity or freedom.
The letter thus situates the SSPX’s objections to Mater Populi Fidelis within a broader theological critique of contemporary ecumenical and interreligious approaches.
The SSPX’s ongoing canonical dispute with the Holy See #
The publication of the letter comes amid an ongoing canonical dispute between the SSPX and the Holy See.
Following the episcopal consecrations at Écône on 1 July 2026, the Holy See issued a decree on 2 July declaring six bishops excommunicated latae sententiae for participating in the consecrations without a papal mandate. The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith classified the act as having a schismatic nature.
The SSPX has rejected that assessment and pursued canonical recourse against the Vatican’s decision.
On 13 October, the Society confirmed that its bishops had completed further procedural steps, stating that they had “pursued the avenues of recourse provided for by canon law”.
According to the Society, the proceedings seek an examination of the “juridical and doctrinal objections” raised against the Vatican’s decrees. The SSPX declined to disclose further details while the matter remained before the competent authorities.
Continuing debate over Marian titles #
The debate over the title Co-Redemptrix has also prompted responses from theologians and Marian organisations.
In Mater Populi Fidelis, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, under the leadership of Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, argued that the title was “always inappropriate” because it risked obscuring Christ’s unique role as Redeemer.
The document nevertheless acknowledged that several Popes, including St John Paul II, had used the title.
The intervention subsequently prompted a response from the International Marian Association’s Theological Commission, which published a 23-page critique on 8 December 2025. The commission called for the document to be re-evaluated and raised concerns about its treatment of Mary as Mediatrix of All Graces.
The differing positions reflect an ongoing theological discussion concerning the language used to express the Blessed Virgin Mary’s cooperation in the work of Redemption and the relationship between Marian devotion and the unique salvific mediation of Jesus Christ.