The Priestly Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX) has gone ahead with the ordination of four new bishops despite a direct appeal from Pope Leo XIV and repeated warnings from the Vatican, triggering automatic excommunication for the six bishops involved.
The ordination ceremony took place on Wednesday at the SSPX seminary in Écône, Switzerland, drawing about 17,000 faithful from 70 countries.
Spanish Bishop Alfonso de Galarreta presided over the ceremony, assisted by Swiss Bishop Bernard Fellay.
Together, they consecrated four priests as bishops: Pascal Schreiber of Switzerland, Michael Goldade of the United States, and French priests Michel Poinsinet de Sivry and Marc Hanappier.
Under Catholic canon law, the ordination of bishops without a papal mandate constitutes a grave offence.
Consequently, the two consecrating bishops and the four newly ordained bishops incurred latae sententiae (automatic) excommunication, a penalty that takes effect immediately without requiring a formal declaration by the Vatican.
Ironically, during the ceremony, the bishop-elects publicly professed obedience to “the Apostle Peter, the Holy Roman Church and Pope Leo XIV,” even as they carried out an act explicitly forbidden by the pontiff.
Just two days earlier, Pope Leo had made a final personal appeal to the traditionalist group, urging it to abandon the planned ordinations.
“I feel it is my duty, through the authority received from Christ, to ask you to desist from your intended act,” the Pope wrote, warning that “to tear the seamless garment of Christ is a sin of extreme gravity” and praying that God would “enlighten your consciences and awaken your hearts.”
Ceremony deepens decades-old rift
The SSPX ignored the appeal and proceeded with the more than five-hour ceremony, celebrated entirely in Latin according to the pre-Vatican II Tridentine Rite.
The event featured Gregorian chants, the singing of the ancient Te Deum hymn and concluded with prayers at the tomb of the society’s founder, Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre.
The development revives memories of the 1988 schism when Lefebvre illicitly ordained four bishops without papal approval.
Among those ordained then were Bishops de Galarreta and Fellay, who were automatically excommunicated before Pope Benedict XVI lifted the penalty in 2009 in an unsuccessful effort to reconcile the group with Rome.
Founded by Archbishop Lefebvre, the SSPX remains at odds with the Vatican over several teachings of the Second Vatican Council, particularly on ecumenism, interreligious dialogue, religious liberty and liturgical reforms.
The society claims about 600,000 members worldwide, including roughly 700 priests.
Although the Vatican had not formally issued a declaration at the time of the ordinations, Church officials had already warned that the illicit consecrations would automatically trigger excommunication under canon law, further widening the decades-long rift between the Holy See and the traditionalist movement.
Tags: Vatican, Pope Leo XIV, SSPX, Catholic Church
