A breakaway Catholic fraternity based in Switzerland says it will proceed with plans to ordain bishops without authorization from Pope Leo XIV, dismissing warnings from Rome that the move could fracture Church unity.
The Society of Saint Pius X, which claims roughly 600,000 adherents worldwide, announces it will carry out the consecrations on July 1 despite a recent appeal from the Vatican to reconsider and enter into dialogue.
Under canon law, the consecration of bishops without papal approval carries the penalty of automatic excommunication, effectively placing those involved outside full communion with the Roman Catholic Church.
Last week, Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández, who leads the Vatican’s doctrinal office, meets with the group’s superior general, Davide Pagliarani, in an effort to prevent a further escalation. The Vatican subsequently cautions that unauthorized ordinations would amount to a formal rupture with Rome and have serious consequences for the entire society.
In a statement released Thursday, Pagliarani says the group cannot agree to postpone the July date, arguing that access to the sacraments is an urgent and practical necessity for preserving what he describes as Catholic Tradition.
He also takes issue with the Vatican’s stance, saying the offer of talks appears to come with an implicit threat of disciplinary action, creating what he portrays as a climate of pressure rather than reconciliation.
The standoff revives tensions that have simmered for decades between the Holy See and traditionalist factions who resist liturgical reforms, including limits on the widespread use of the Latin Mass, and who view recent papal directives as undermining long-standing rites.