Pope Leo has made a final appeal to the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX), an ultra-conservative Catholic organization, requesting that the group cancel its scheduled ordination of four bishops without Vatican authorization. In a letter addressed to the society’s superior general, Rev Davide Pagliarani, the pontiff characterized the planned ordinations as a “sin of extreme gravity” and a “schismatic act” that would harm the faithful’s spiritual wellbeing.
The SSPX was established in 1970 in the Swiss village of Ecône to resist modernizing changes in the Catholic Church, particularly reforms enacted during the Second Vatican Council between 1962 and 1965. The council approved significant changes including the celebration of Mass in local languages rather than exclusively in Latin. The organization, which operates a substantial presence in the United States, France, Argentina and other nations, currently maintains nearly 1,500 priests, seminarians and other members. The group contends that the modern church contains significant heresies and errors, and maintains that the ordinations are necessary for practical reasons rather than an attempt to establish separate authority.
Under Catholic church law, ordinations performed without papal authorization constitute actions that could provoke schism and may result in automatic excommunication of both the newly ordained bishops and the ordaining bishop. Leo previously warned that consequences would follow if the society proceeded, indicating unwillingness to overlook such actions for the sake of preserving unity.
The SSPX responded that it would not alter its plans, with media representative Marc-André Mabillard stating the organization was “changing absolutely nothing” and expressing sadness at not being understood by church leadership. Mabillard indicated the society believes the benefits of the ordinations outweigh the potential consequences.
Historically, in 1988, SSPX founder Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre and four bishops he had ordained without permission were excommunicated by Pope John Paul II. Pope Benedict XVI lifted those excommunications in 2009, though this action preceded controversy when one of the pardoned bishops later made statements denying historical events.
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