Expert: The Society of St Pius X wants to reconquer the Church in the long term

According to one expert, the traditionalist Society of St Pius X and similar-minded groups could gain influence in the Catholic Church. "If the more liberal or left-leaning Catholics leave the church, then the relative space for these traditionalists will increase," said the author, political scientist and cultural anthropologist Thomas Schmidinger to the church internet portal "domradio.de" (Wednesday).

The Society of St Pius X is tightly organised and is pursuing the long-term goal of reconquering the Catholic Church. It is specifically trying to gain a foothold within the hierarchy and the clergy of the Catholic Church, according to Schmidinger. "The idea behind this is that at some point the lax Christians, the liberals and leftists from the Society of St Pius X's point of view, will all be 'greyed out' of the church, and then the Pius brothers can take over the 'storm-ready' bunch." As the liberal and progressive part of the Catholic Church is shrinking, this is by no means unrealistic. On the other hand, he could not currently imagine a re-integration of the Pius brothers into the current Catholic Church.

Danger for children and young people

At the moment, the expert sees the Society of St Pius X primarily as a danger for children and young people growing up in the associated families, "because they are trying to keep these young people away from society and other Catholic structures in order to create a parallel society". According to Schmidinger, who has written a book on traditionalism in Austria, among other things, this happens in their own boarding schools and youth organisations.

With regard to the election success of the Rassemblement National in France, Schmidinger referred to the close links between Catholic traditionalism and the extreme right. "Marine Le Pen of the Rassemblement National had her children baptised in a parish of the Society of St Pius X." There are also such connections in Austria. In contrast, right-wing extremism in Germany is more active in Protestant-dominated areas and tends to be anti-clerical to neo-pagan. "That's why I don't see many overlaps in Germany yet." (KNA)