The Society of St. Pius X, a traditionalist Catholic group long at odds with Rome, consecrated four bishops in Écône, Switzerland, despite a direct appeal from Pope Leo to stop the ceremony. Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin said the move was a schismatic act that had seriously damaged church unity. Under Catholic canon law, bishops ordained without papal approval are considered automatically excommunicated, making the ceremony one of the most serious internal confrontations of Leo’s papacy.
Thousands attended the ordinations in the Alpine village that has long been associated with the group. Pope Leo had written to the society’s leader, Rev. Davide Pagliarani, urging the group to reverse course, while the Vatican had already warned in May that proceeding without papal authorization would trigger excommunication. In the Catholic Church, only the pope can approve the consecration of bishops, a rule tied to maintaining apostolic continuity and institutional unity.
The Society of St. Pius X has defended the ordinations as necessary, saying it needed additional bishops to provide leadership for the movement. The group also says preserving the traditional Latin rite is a sacred duty. The Vatican and other critics, however, view the decision as a direct rejection of papal authority and a further rupture in a dispute that centers on the Second Vatican Council, the 1960s reform assembly that permitted Mass in local languages and sought broader changes in the church’s relations with other Christians and Jews. The society rejects key elements of those reforms.
The confrontation revives a standoff that has lasted for decades. The society was founded in 1970 in opposition to the church’s modernization drive, and in 1988 it consecrated four bishops without approval during the papacy of John Paul II, prompting excommunications of the group’s founder and the newly ordained bishops. The latest ceremony is being seen as a major test for Pope Leo, who has made church unity a priority while trying to bridge divisions between traditionalists and Catholics who favor further reform.