Pope faces crisis as traditionalists plan bishop consecrations without consent

Nicole Winfield, MDT/AP

Pope Leo XIV is facing his first major crisis with traditionalist Catholics as a breakaway group attached to the traditional Latin Mass announced plans to consecrate new bishops without papal consent, threatening a revival of schism.

The Swiss-based Society of St. Pius X, which has schools, chapels and seminaries around the world, has been a thorn in the side of the Holy See for four decades. It was founded in opposition to the modernizing reforms of the 1960s Second Vatican Council.

In 1988, the group’s founder, Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, consecrated four bishops without papal consent, arguing the move was necessary for the survival of church tradition. The Vatican promptly excommunicated Lefebvre and the four bishops, and the group still has no legal status in the Catholic Church.

Despite that break with Rome, the SSPX has continued to grow, with priests, nuns and lay Catholics attached to the pre–Vatican II traditional Latin Mass.

For the Vatican, papal consent for the consecration of bishops is essential to preserving apostolic succession. Consecrations without approval are considered a grave threat to church unity and a cause of schism, since bishops can ordain new priests. Under church law, such consecrations incur automatic excommunication.

The Vatican has sought for years to reconcile with the SSPX, fearing the emergence of a parallel church. Pope Benedict XVI in 2009 lifted the excommunications of the surviving bishops and relaxed restrictions on the old Latin Mass in a bid at outreach.

That effort was derailed after one SSPX bishop, Richard Williamson, denied in a television interview that Jews were killed in gas chambers during World War II.

Tensions deepened during the pontificate of Pope Francis, who reversed Benedict’s reforms and sharply restricted the celebration of the old Latin Mass, arguing it had become a source of division.

Leo has acknowledged those tensions and sought to calm them, expressing openness to dialogue and allowing limited exceptions to Francis’ restrictions.

Nevertheless, the SSPX said Monday it would proceed with the consecrations of new bishops on July 1 to preserve the future of the society.

The Rev. Davide Pagliarani, the SSPX superior general, said he had written to Leo explaining the need for new bishops “to ensure the continuation of the ministry” for faithful attached to church tradition.

The SSPX said the Vatican reply “does not in any way respond to our requests,” adding it would move forward given the “objective state of grave necessity in which souls find themselves.”

Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said contacts between the Holy See and the SSPX were continuing “with the aim of avoiding rifts or unilateral solutions.”

The traditional Latin Mass features Latin readings and hymns, with the priest facing the altar rather than the congregation. Vatican II allowed Mass in the vernacular, with greater participation by the faithful.

Two groups that celebrate the old Latin Mass but remain in communion with Rome – Una Voce International and The Latin Mass Society – expressed concern over the SSPX move.

While not endorsing all the group’s arguments, they urged the Vatican to regularize its status, warning that the current situation was “precipitating a crisis whose consequences no one can foresee.” [Abridged]