The bishops from Society of St. Pius X were among those excommunicated by the Catholic Church on Thursday.
Baz Ratner/AP
hide caption
toggle caption
Baz Ratner/AP
ÉCÔNE, Switzerland (RNS) — In a direct challenge to Pope Leo XIV, a group of traditionalists ordained four new bishops without his approval, describing the action as their “sacred duty” during a ceremony at the society’s seminary in Écône, Switzerland.
The Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) ignored repeated warnings from the Vatican, which stated that these ordinations would be considered a schismatic act, resulting in automatic excommunication for all involved bishops. On Thursday, the Vatican escalated the situation by declaring that the newly ordained bishops, the consecrating bishops, all SSPX priests, and lay Catholics who formally associate with the group are now in schism and excommunicated.
Excommunications are uncommon and signify that the person is no longer a church member and cannot receive sacraments. According to church law, Catholics can be excommunicated for schism, defined as refusing to submit to the Pope or remain in communion with church members under him.
In its excommunication notice, the Vatican extended an offer to reintegrate those excommunicated back into the church.
Prior to the ordinations, Pope Leo had sent a letter dated June 29 to the society’s superior general, Rev. Davide Pagliarani, urging him to reconsider. “I implore you and ask you with all my heart: Turn back!” the Pope wrote, labeling the ordinations a “sin of extreme gravity” that threatens church unity.
Despite this, the ceremony took place in a meadow with over 1,000 clergy and 15,000 faithful attendees wearing “Écône 2026” hats, resembling the snowy Alps. The SSPX announced at the ceremony’s start that any “punishment or sanction” against them “will have no validity.”
Since assuming his role, Pope Leo has promoted unity within the Roman Catholic Church. However, he now faces the most significant internal challenge of his papacy.
“We are accused of not loving the pope,” Pagliarani remarked in French during his sermon. “It’s precisely because we love the pope as the vicar of Christ that we do not want to see him humiliated anymore, next to false priests representing false religions.”
What is the Society of St. Pius X?
The Society of St. Pius X, a priestly fraternity, was established in 1970 by French Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre in opposition to the Second Vatican Council’s reforms from 1962 to 1965, which encouraged lay participation, ecumenism, and interreligious dialogue, and allowed Mass to be held in local languages instead of Latin. In 1988, Lefebvre consecrated four bishops in Écône without Pope John Paul II’s approval.
The recent ceremony occurred 38 years after Lefebvre and four bishops, including Bishop Alfonso de Galarreta, who led the latest consecrations, were excommunicated. In 2009, Pope Benedict XVI lifted the 1988 excommunications as an effort to mend relations, though doctrinal differences remained, leaving the SSPX in a “canonically irregular” status within the church.
Pope Francis also made conciliatory gestures toward the SSPX, allowing its priests to hear valid confessions in 2015, and with local bishop authorization, to officiate church-recognized marriages in 2017. However, in 2021, he imposed restrictions on the Latin Mass, displeasing many traditionalists.
The recent ordinations may lead Pope Leo to cease the Vatican’s long-standing dialogue with the SSPX. The Vatican’s July 2 excommunication decree states that the SSPX can no longer officiate marriages or hear valid confessions, reversing years of compromise.
The SSPX defended the ordinations, citing a state of necessity due to only two of the four bishops consecrated in 1988 being alive, limiting their ability to ordain new priests. The society’s global network of 800 churches in 77 countries includes 1,482 vocational members, with 733 priests and 264 seminarians, serving an estimated 150,000 to 200,000 lay followers.
Why the society disobeyed the Pope
During the ceremony, Rev. Foucault le Roux, the society’s secretary general, explained the rationale behind the ordinations, stating that since Vatican II, church authorities have been guided by a spirit contrary to the faith and have acted against holy tradition.
Pagliarani, the society’s Superior General, described the bishops’ ordinations as acts of service, not rebellion. “We have to be ready to pay whatever price to serve the Church. And whatever the sacrifices God asks of us, even if it means we are treated as rebels.”
For the SSPX, the Catholic Church is the “one, true faith,” and interfaith dialogue is viewed as unnecessary and a harmful concession by church leaders. They also oppose other reforms from the Second Vatican Council, such as celebrating Mass in local languages and improving relations with other Christian branches.
On Wednesday, attendees from at least 70 countries gathered in Écône to celebrate the four new bishops—one from the United States, one from Switzerland, and two from France. The slopes below the SSPX seminary were filled with nuns in black habits, Girl Scouts distributing bottled water, tonsured monks, and layfolk waving national flags.
True to SSPX tradition, the entire five-hour Mass, from Gregorian chant to the giving of the episcopal insignia, was conducted in Latin, except for the introduction, sermon, and occasional announcements.
Pope Leo’s appeal did not halt the event, but the weather did—temporarily. Thunder and heavy rain just before Holy Communion paused the ceremony for nearly an hour, as those without umbrellas or ponchos sought shelter under tents.
Those who stayed sang “Ave Maria” and “Christus Vincit” repeatedly, clutching dripping rosary beads until the storm passed, with the festive atmosphere undimmed.
“It’s something that’s once in a lifetime,” said Alexander De Volleda, 25, baptized by an SSPX priest in Florida and recently relocated to Spain. “It’s sort of like a Mecca (for) ‘trads’ coming here,” he said, referring to traditionalist Catholics.
Some attendees, however, expressed caution about the ordination of bishops without papal consent. “I thought that, at the very least, I would like to see the ceremony, even if I’m maybe not quite 100% of the way there,” said Dennis Vu, 30, who traveled from just outside Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Vu, a traditionalist Catholic who “really dislike(s) the Novus Ordo”—the form of Mass introduced in 1969 and celebrated in most Catholic churches, typically in languages other than Latin—sympathizes with the SSPX but is not formally affiliated.
“I told some of my friends that I was going, but I made sure it was specific friends,” Vu said. “I can’t tell too much, because then they’ll think I’m schismatic.”
This story was produced via a collaboration between NPR and Religion News Service.
