ROME — On Tuesday, Pope Leo XIV made a heartfelt appeal to a splinter group of traditionalist Catholics, urging them to abandon plans to consecrate bishops without his approval. He condemned such actions as schismatic and a ‘sin of extreme gravity.’
‘I plead with you and ask you with all my heart: please turn back!’ Leo wrote in a letter to Rev. Davide Pagliarani, head of the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX).
The appeal came one day before the society planned the consecration of four new bishops at its seminary located in Econe, Switzerland. According to church law, these consecrations are considered schismatic, resulting in automatic excommunication for the new bishops and those performing the consecration.
The SSPX was established as a reaction to the changes introduced by the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s. This council brought significant reforms, including opening dialogues with other religions, engaging the laity more actively, and permitting Mass in vernacular languages instead of Latin.
Back in 1988, SSPX founder Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre consecrated four bishops without papal consent, committing a severe breach under church law. Consequently, the Vatican excommunicated Lefebvre and the bishops involved, leaving the SSPX with no official status within the church.
The Vatican has cautioned that the new bishops would face a similar outcome. In his correspondence, Leo reiterated the Vatican’s willingness for dialogue and warned that proceeding with the consecrations would hinder the SSPX faithful.
‘I urge you to consider carefully the spiritual good of the faithful, because the schismatic act you are about to undertake would deprive them of the licit, and in some cases, even valid reception of the sacraments,’ Leo emphasized.
Despite the 1988 act, SSPX has continued to expand, posing a challenge to the Holy See as an alternative, ultra-Catholic entity reminiscent of pre-Vatican II beliefs. SSPX statistics report two bishops, 751 priests, 264 seminarians, 145 religious brothers, 88 oblates, and 250 religious sisters from 50 different nationalities.
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