Davide Pagliarani (born 25 October 1970) is an Italian

traditionalist Catholic Traditionalist Catholicism is a movement that emphasizes beliefs, practices, customs, traditions, liturgical forms, devotions and presentations of teaching associated with the Catholic Church before the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965). ...

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

of the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX) who has served as its superior general since 2018.

Biography

Pagliarani entered the SSPX's seminary in Flavigny-sur-Ozerain in 1989. Following his studies, he completed military service. Pagliarani was ordained a priest of the SSPX in 1996 by the then-Superior General, Bishop Bernard Fellay. Fr. Pagliarani ministered in Rimini for seven years, before being transferred to Singapore for a further three years. He then served as superior of the District of Italy between 2006 and 2012, becoming rector of the Nuestra Señora Corredentora Seminary in the Province of Buenos Aires from 2012. On July 11, 2018, at the SSPX's general chapter, Pagliarani was elected superior general of the Society for a 12-year term, succeeding Bishop Fellay. Pagliarani is reputed to advocate a more hardline approach concerning Vatican relations relative to Fellay's approach, yet he did meet with Cardinal Luis Ladaria Ferrer, president of the ''Ecclesia Dei'' Commission, on November 2, 2018, at the Vatican.

Views

Pagliarani is known to be an outspoken critic of

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

. Even before his election as superior general, he had already criticized and denounced Francis' 2016 apostolic exhortation '' Amoris laetitia''. Following the events that occurred at the 2019 Amazon synod, Pagliarani called for "a day of prayer and reparation" and called the synod "demonic" and "idolatrous." In October 2020, Pagliarani criticized the

encyclical An encyclical was originally a circular letter sent to all the churches of a particular area in the ancient Roman Church. At that time, the word could be used for a letter sent out by any bishop. The word comes from the Late Latin (originally fr ...

Laudato si' ''Laudato si'' (''Praise Be to You'') is the second encyclical of Pope Francis, subtitled "on care for our common home". In it, the Pope criticizes consumerism and irresponsible economic development, laments environmental degradation and gl ...

'' for its reduction of Christian sanctity to

environmentalism Environmentalism is a broad philosophy, ideology, and social movement about supporting life, habitats, and surroundings. While environmentalism focuses more on the environmental and nature-related aspects of green ideology and politics, ecolog ...

, ecumenism of the Document on Human Fraternity and its extension to the encyclical ''

Fratelli tutti ''Fratelli tutti'' (''All Brothers'') is the third encyclical of Pope Francis, subtitled "on fraternity and social friendship"; it was released in 2020. In the document, Francis states that the way the COVID-19 pandemic was managed by world co ...

''. Recently, Pagliarani lamented on the ''

motu proprio In law, (Latin for 'on his own impulse') describes an official act taken without a formal request from another party. Some jurisdictions use the term for the same concept. In Catholic canon law, it refers to a document issued by the pope on h ...

'' '' Traditionis custodes'' promulgated by Francis in July 2021 restricting the use of the

Tridentine Mass The Tridentine Mass, also known as the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite or ''usus antiquior'' (), Vetus Ordo or the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) or the Traditional Rite, is the liturgy in the Roman Missal of the Catholic Church codified in ...

. In a sermon delivered at Mass on July 18, 2021, Pagliarani asked, "Why is this Mass the 'apple of discord'? Why does this Mass divide?" and criticized the pope once more, saying, "The pope and his accomplices are the jail guards of tradition. They are guardians of the zoo." Pagliarani also issued a communiqué regarding the ''motu proprio'' in which he stated, "This Mass, our Mass, must really be for us like the pearl of great price in the Gospel, for which we are ready to renounce everything, for which we are ready to sell everything."

References

External links

Society of Pope St. Pius X
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pagliarani, DaviGodde 1970 births Living people People from Rimini Members of the Society of Saint Pius X Italian traditionalist Catholics Traditionalist Catholic priests