ECONE, Switzerland — A rebel Catholic organization that was excommunicated after ordaining four bishops without Church approval is showing no signs of remorse, with members accusing the Catholic Church of abandoning the true faith and claiming Pope Leo never gave their concerns a proper hearing.
Gathered at their seminary in the small Swiss village of Econe in the country’s southwest, members of the Society of St. Pius X — including both clergy and laypeople — said they intend to continue operating as they always have, with a focus on upholding traditional Catholic practices.
“We are at peace with what has happened as you can see from all the faces,” said a Mexican deacon, gesturing toward a small group of people kneeling to receive blessings from one of the newly ordained bishops in a parking area following an outdoor Mass. The deacon asked to remain anonymous, saying he did not hold a senior enough position to speak on behalf of the group.
The Vatican’s chief doctrinal authority, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, declared the Swiss-based society to be in schism with the broader Catholic Church and issued a warning to Catholics that the group’s sacraments are now performed unlawfully.
Under the warm sun, group members gathered — some with beers in hand — while a nun played songs on a recorder in the vineyard-lined Alpine hamlet where the controversial ordinations took place the day before.
One society priest described the Vatican’s ruling as both unjust and without merit.
“We do respect the pope. We will keep praying for him,” said Father Benedict, who chose not to share his full name. “It hurts to be punished by your dad,” he continued, using the term to refer to the pope, “because you know you didn’t do anything wrong.”
Father Benedict said the Society had been attempting to arrange a meeting with Pope Leo for over a year to present its position, and expressed disappointment that the pope only responded at the “very last minute.”
“This sanction shows that, I mean, we did not close the door to the Holy Father, to the Holy See,” Benedict said. “They shut it in our face.”
The Vatican countered that opportunities for dialogue had been extended to the society, even if not through a face-to-face meeting with the pope himself.
“The Holy Father did not excommunicate the Lefebvrists. They excommunicated themselves,” said Nicholas Cafardi, dean emeritus of Duquesne University School of Law in Pittsburgh. The term “Lefebvrists” refers to followers of Marcel Lefebvre, who founded the group.
The ultra-traditionalist organization, established in 1970, rejects several core Church teachings. The Vatican stated the group cannot lawfully perform marriages or hear confessions. Church officials noted that ordaining bishops without papal approval is considered so serious an offense that excommunication occurs automatically.
The society’s roots lie in opposition to the sweeping changes introduced by the Second Vatican Council, which ran from 1962 to 1965. Those reforms included replacing the traditional Latin Mass and opening the door to dialogue with non-Catholics. Traditionalists within the group hold the modernizing Council responsible for what they view as a decline in the Church, pointing to the drop in the number of men and women choosing religious life.
Jean-Yves Cottard, a visiting French priest and society member, pushed back on the label being applied to the group.
“The pope is kind with everyone and why not also with us?” he said, rejecting the characterization of members as “schismatics.”
