By The Associated Press
ROME — Pope Leo XIV has made an emotional appeal to the traditionalist Catholic group, the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX), urging it to abandon plans to consecrate four bishops without papal approval, warning that the move would amount to a schismatic act carrying automatic excommunication under Church law.
In a letter addressed to the Superior General of the SSPX, Rev. Davide Pagliarani, the Pope described the planned consecrations at the society’s seminary in Écône, Switzerland, as “a sin of extreme gravity.”
“I plead with you and ask you with all my heart: please turn back!” Pope Leo wrote.
Consecration could trigger excommunication.
The consecration ceremony is expected to take place despite repeated warnings from the Vatican that any bishops ordained without papal mandate, as well as the bishop performing the rite, would automatically incur excommunication.
The SSPX was founded by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre in opposition to the reforms of the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s, which introduced significant changes in the Catholic Church, including permitting Mass to be celebrated in local languages instead of Latin and promoting greater engagement with other religions and lay faithful.
Vatican renews call for dialogue
The group has remained at odds with the Vatican since 1988, when Lefebvre consecrated four bishops without papal approval. The Vatican responded by excommunicating Lefebvre and the newly ordained bishops, leaving the society without canonical status in the Catholic Church.
In his latest appeal, Pope Leo reiterated the Vatican’s willingness to continue dialogue with the SSPX, warning that proceeding with the consecrations would ultimately harm the spiritual welfare of the group’s followers.
“I urge you to consider carefully the spiritual good of the faithful, because the schismatic act you are about to undertake would deprive them of the licit, and in some cases, even valid reception of the sacraments,” the Pope wrote.
SSPX continues to grow
Despite decades of separation from Rome, the SSPX has continued to expand globally. According to the society, it currently comprises two bishops, 751 priests, 264 seminarians, 145 religious brothers, 88 oblates and 250 religious sisters drawn from 50 nationalities.
The Vatican views the group’s continued growth as a challenge because it effectively operates as a parallel traditionalist Catholic community outside the Church’s canonical structure.
Tags: Pope Leo XIV, Vatican, Catholic Church, SSPX, Excommunication
