The Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX) conducted a ceremony in the Swiss village of Ecône during which four bishops were ordained without authorization from Pope Leo, resulting in automatic excommunication under Catholic church law. The ritual, which included the laying of hands by Bishop Alfonso de Galarreta, was livestreamed and attended by a large gathering of priests and supporters.
The SSPX, founded in 1970 to oppose modernizing changes within the Catholic church, released a statement characterizing the ordinations as a “sacred duty” toward the church and its traditions. Church officials argued that any punishments or censures resulting from the action would lack validity. Pope Leo had previously appealed to the group to cancel the consecrations, describing them as a “schismatic act” and “a sin of extreme gravity.”
The organization represents a significant branch within Catholicism, maintaining nearly 1,500 priests, seminarians, and other members with substantial operations bases in the United States, France, Argentina, and other nations. The SSPX opposes several changes implemented following the Second Vatican Council, including the use of vernacular languages in religious services rather than Latin exclusively. The society’s livestream of the ceremony, conducted in French, was translated into multiple languages, and viewers were given the option to contribute financially through a QR code displayed during the service.
This incident marks the first major conflict between Pope Leo and the SSPX since his election in May of last year, and represents a potential challenge to his stated priority of achieving church unity. The last comparable confrontation occurred in 1988, when the society’s founder and four bishops he had ordained without permission were excommunicated by Pope John Paul II. Those excommunications were later lifted in 2009 under Pope Benedict.
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