SSPX - Key Persons
Marcel Lefebvre, founder of the Priestly Society of Saint Pius X, was born November 29, 1905 in the northern French town of Tourcoing. The third of eight children, Marcel grew up under the supervision of his devout Catholic parents, Rene and Gabrielle, who owned a local textile factory.
Marcel Lefebvre, after these early years, was entrusted with increasingly important responsibilities. He was called back to France and made rector of a seminary in Mortain; later Pope Pius XII appointed him Apostolic Vicar of Dakar and he was thus consecrated a bishop; the following year, 1948, the pope further honored Bishop Lefebvre by naming him Apostolic Delegate to French Africa and granting him the title of archbishop.
Pope John XXIII, like his predecessor, believed that Archbishop Lefebvre's theological expertise, missionary experience, and background in education were of an exceptionally rare quality; the pope thus appointed him to the Preparatory Committee of the Second Vatican Council, a body charged with setting the agenda of the upcoming and much anticipated ecumenical council. The Holy Ghost Fathers were also quite impressed with the archbishop's work and at their General Chapter of 1962, electing him superior general.