SSPX consecrates four bishops without Vatican approval

In a direct challenge to papal authority, the traditionalist Society of St. Pius X consecrated four new bishops without Vatican approval on Wednesday, July 1, 2026, at its seminary in Écône, Switzerland. The act, which defied a final personal appeal from Pope Leo XIV, triggers automatic excommunication for the six bishops involved under canon law and is considered a schismatic rupture of church unity.

The ceremony proceeded despite an emotional letter from the pope published the day before, in which he implored the society to abandon its plan, warning it was a “sin of extreme gravity” that would harm the spiritual welfare of its followers. The society’s superior general, Father Davide Pagliarani, responded with thanks for the pope’s concern but insisted the consecrations were a “sacred duty” to preserve the Catholic faith during what the group calls a crisis in the Church.

Thousands of faithful, estimated between 15,000 and 17,000, gathered in a field for the lengthy Latin Mass, which was livestreamed globally. The event was marked by ceremonial echoes of the society’s foundational break with Rome in 1988, including the use of the same liturgical feast and vestments. The four...