The Society of Saint Pius X ordained four new bishops on Wednesday in Écône, in southwestern Switzerland, despite an appeal from Pope Leo XIV to abandon the initiative. The Vatican considers this consecration a direct challenge to papal authority.
Thousands of faithful gathered in the alpine hamlet of Ecône to attend the ceremony, which was organized just two days after a personal letter from the Pope addressed to Davide Pagliarani.
In this letter, the Pope urged the leaders of the movement to abandon their project. "I beg you and ask you with all my heart: please turn back!" he wrote, describing this consecration as a "schismatic act."
According to the canon law of the Catholic Church, only the Pope is authorized to appoint new bishops. This rule aims to preserve the continuity of apostolic succession and the unity of the Church.
The Vatican had warned beforehand that these ordinations would result in automatic excommunication. Under Church law, an episcopal consecration performed without the Pope's consent exposes both the bishop who confers the ordination and the newly consecrated bishops to this canonical sanction. This new crisis reignites the persistent tensions between the Holy See and the Society of Saint Pius X, which adheres to the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass.
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