Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) priests and accompanying lay pilgrims were barred from entering the church of the Shrine of the Canadian Martyrs and venerating the relics there by an order from the Archdiocese of Toronto (Frank Cardinal Leo).
The pilgrims were forced to offer Mass in a field near the shrine, in Midland, Ontario.
One observer commented on X that if the SSPX “were Muslim or Hindu they’d have been welcomed with open arms.”
The SSPX holds an annual pilgrimage to the shrine close to the traditional feast day of the Canadian Martyrs, September 26. However, this year, since the Vatican’s declared excommunication of SSPX bishops following the Society’s episcopal consecrations in July, many Catholic clergy and laymen have considered the SSPX to be in schism.
For example, Cardinal Gérald Lacroix, the Archbishop of Quebec, in a July 20 letter lay faithful, maintained that any “allowances” granted to the SSPX “in the hope of full, effective and emotional communion … no longer have any reason to exist.” He declared that SSPX priests and faithful cannot offer Masses or perform any liturgical function in archdiocesan churches or chapels.
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