Breakaway Catholic group consecrates bishops, defying pope

The Society of Saint Pius X, or SSPX, a breakaway traditionalist Catholic group, on Wednesday consecrated four bishops despite Pope Leo XIV’s warnings not to do so. At a ritual-filled, six-hour outdoor ceremony attended by thousands in Ecône, Switzerland, a bishop previously excommunicated by the Roman Catholic Church performed the rites. The group’s new bishops include one American, one Swiss, and two French prelates. The ceremony was expected to trigger their automatic excommunication.

SSPX does not recognize the Catholic Church’s reforms stemming from its Second Vatican Council in the 1960s. The group is especially known for opposing the decision to allow the Catholic Mass to be conducted in vernacular languages rather than in the traditional Latin. SSPX has several of its own seminaries and over 700 priests worldwide. At the beginning of the ceremony, a priest read a statement arguing that the Catholic Church had turned away from the truth. SSPX would consider all ensuing disciplinary steps from the church authorities invalid, the statement said.

SSPX leader Davide Pagliarani said at the ceremony Wednesday that SSPX was taking extraordinary measures to transmit the Catholic faith to the next generation. The consecrations were motivated by love and service for the struggling Catholic Church, and SSPX members were willing to be called rebels if necessary, he said. The group continued to exist despite previous papal disapproval and excommunications in the 1980s, he said. SSPX recognized the pope as the head of the Catholic Church, but did not want to see him humiliated by participation in interfaith dialogues and distraction from the faith, Pagliarani said.

What has Pope Leo XIV said about the situation? The pope on Monday wrote to Pagliarani, characterizing the plan to consecrate the bishops as an act of schism and a grave sin. The move would deprive many Catholic faithful of valid sacraments, he wrote. He pleaded with SSPX to back down, he wrote.

Dig deeper: Read Liz Lykins’ report on the pope’s appointment of a woman to a top-level church government position.