Traditionalist Catholic group SSPX to consecrate bishops in open defiance of Vatican
Decades after its 1988 consecrations sparked a lasting rift with the Vatican, the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX) is again defying the Holy See by ordaining four bishops on Wednesday, in an act that Pope Leo XIV has condemned as a “schismatic act” and a threat to the unity of the Catholic Church.
The ultra-traditionalist breakaway group, which claims roughly 600,000 followers worldwide, plans to consecrate two French clerics, one American and one Swiss during a four-hour Latin Mass in Econe, Switzerland — the same Alpine field where the society’s founder, Marcel Lefebvre, controversially ordained four bishops in 1988.
In a letter to the society on Monday, Pope Leo pleaded with the group to reverse course. “I plead with you and ask you with all my heart: please turn back!” he wrote, calling the ordination a “schismatic act” that “tears the seamless garment of Christ.” The Vatican views the consecrations as a direct act of insubordination that would trigger automatic excommunication for both the men being ordained and the bishops performing the rite.
The SSPX, founded in 1970 by the late French Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, has long resisted the liberalizing reforms of the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965). Its adherents insist on celebrating Mass in Latin, with priests facing away from the congregation, and reject what they see as the Church’s excessive accommodation of modernity.
Father Michel Rion, a theology professor at the SSPX’s seminary in Econe, told AFP that the ordinations are “not an act of rebellion” but rather “an act born of love for the Church.” He added: “There is absolutely nothing schismatic or anti-Church in our actions. We hope that one day the pope will see that. For us, being schismatic is the worst thing that could happen — we would rather die than be schismatic.”
The society argues that because its new bishops will be consecrated without a specific territorial assignment from Rome, they fall into a canonical gray area that avoids schism and excommunication. The Vatican rejects that interpretation.
The group says it operates in more than 75 countries across six continents, with more than 750 priests and roughly 600,000 faithful. While influential in some conservative Catholic circles, the SSPX remains a small minority within the Church’s estimated 1.3 billion adherents.
Historically, the 1988 consecrations prompted Pope John Paul II to issue a similar appeal before proceeding with excommunications. Those penalties were later lifted in 2009 by Pope Benedict XVI, who sought to heal the rift. Pope Francis later recognized the validity of SSPX confessions and marriages starting in 2015. More recently, Pope Leo extended an olive branch by celebrating a Latin Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica in October.
The society argues that the ordinations are essential for its survival, noting that it currently has only two bishops left. The ceremony is expected to draw a congregation of around 15,000 people.
Observers say the ongoing defiance underscores the deep tensions between traditionalist movements and the Vatican’s central authority, a friction that has persisted for decades and shows little sign of resolution under Pope Leo’s leadership.