VATICAN CITY — A renegade faction of traditionalist Catholics is preparing to directly challenge Pope Leo XIV’s authority next week by ordaining four new bishops without his blessing. Far from backing down from the conflict, the Society of St. Pius X appears to be doubling down on its outsider identity.
The organization, which holds Mass in traditional Latin and rejects the modernizing changes made to the Catholic Church decades ago, has planned an elaborate four-day celebration at its seminary in Switzerland. The event will be livestreamed and is expected to draw thousands of attendees, with souvenir wine sets available for purchase as a keepsake.
The July 1 ceremony — coming nearly 40 years after the group first clashed with the Vatican — signals that the organization, commonly referred to as the SSPX, is doubling down on its appeal to a younger generation of Catholics who favor the Latin Mass and have no issue with bishops who operate outside of Rome’s authority.
Massimo Faggioli, a theology professor at Villanova University — which is also Pope Leo XIV’s alma mater — described the group’s approach as a new chapter in traditionalist Catholicism. “To me, they look really like Traditionalism 2.0,” he said, noting that the SSPX has embraced modern technology and digital branding despite its anti-modernist philosophy.
“Their game is not about getting back into the fold, but getting back into the monopoly of that ultra-traditionalist identity,” Faggioli added.
The SSPX was established in Écône, Switzerland, in 1970 as a direct response to reforms introduced during the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s — changes that, among other things, permitted Mass to be conducted in everyday languages rather than Latin.
The group’s first major break with Rome came in 1988, when its founder, Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, ordained four bishops without papal approval. The Vatican responded by excommunicating Lefebvre and all four bishops. To this day, the SSPX holds no official standing within the Catholic Church.
Despite that, the group has expanded steadily over the following decades, building schools, seminaries, and parishes across the globe. According to SSPX’s own figures, the organization currently includes two bishops, 733 priests, 264 seminarians, 145 religious brothers, 88 oblates, and 250 religious sisters from 50 different countries.
Next week’s event will add to those numbers with the ordination of several new priests and four new bishops: Pascal Schreiber of Switzerland, Michael Goldade of the United States, Michel Poinsinet de Sivry of France, and Marc Hanappier, also of France.
The Vatican has already issued a warning, stating that these consecrations represent a “schismatic act” and a “grave offense to God” that will result in automatic excommunication for the four incoming bishops and those who perform the ceremony.
The SSPX’s leader, the Rev. Davide Pagliarani, has defended the decision by arguing that the group’s two remaining bishops from the 1988 consecrations are aging and no longer capable of serving such a widespread global community. He has cited what he calls a “state of necessity” in order to preserve the administration of sacraments.
Following Pagliarani’s announcement, the Vatican extended an invitation for talks, but deep theological disagreements that have blocked any reconciliation for the past five decades left both sides at a standstill.
When the SSPX revealed the names of the four new bishops last month, the organization maintained that it is not attempting to seize authority from Pope Leo XIV or “establish a parallel authority within the church.”
“The ceremony of July 1st will have no other purpose than to ensure the continued administration of the sacraments of Holy Orders and Confirmation, together with those sacramentals reserved to bishops, according to the traditional rite of the Holy Roman Church and the immemorial Faith,” the group said in a statement.
The event’s website reveals months of detailed planning for a large crowd: attendees can reserve rooms at more than a dozen nearby hotels and private homes, arrange carpooling from over 100 locations, and prepay for daily meals using festival-style wristbands.
A limited-edition wine package is also being offered as a commemorative item. The 75 Swiss franc ($92.50) “Cuvee des Sacres” gift set includes four bottles — a Pinot noir, Syrah, Petit Arvine, and Fendant — each featuring a label with a bishop-themed image such as a miter hat, ring, cross, or crozier staff. The set can be picked up on-site.
That scale of preparation suggests the group “never had any idea of walking back” its plans, according to Faggioli.
Pope Leo XIV, for his part, appears to have accepted that the ceremony will proceed and that all parties will face the resulting consequences. He said last week that he was weighing a fresh appeal to the SSPX to stand down and seek a path back into communion with Rome. “But it is their choice. We need to realize what this means for them and for the church,” Leo told reporters.
He acknowledged that divisions among Christians are always painful, but added: “However, they refuse to accept certain fundamental elements of the church, starting with various points of the Second Vatican Council. And while I regret that choice, we must move forward.”
Since taking office, Leo has tried to ease tensions with Catholic traditionalists that grew particularly strained under his predecessor, Pope Francis. While Francis had offered some concessions to the SSPX, he also restricted the broader use of the old Latin Mass among traditionalists who remain in communion with Rome.
Some of those traditionalists, while sympathetic to SSPX concerns about a “crisis” in the church, have stopped short of joining the group and firmly oppose the upcoming consecrations as an unlawful act of defiance.
Joseph Shaw, who leads the Latin Mass Society of England and Wales, noted that the planned consecrations are deliberately high-profile, unlike unauthorized ordinations by other fringe groups that happen quietly in private settings. “There’s a general principle that Catholics have a right to know that their sacraments are valid,” he said. “And they (the SSPX) have the resources to do it nicely.”
Luigi Casalini, who writes for the Messa in Latino (Latin Mass) blog, called the consecrations “grievously unlawful” and rejected the SSPX’s “state of necessity” argument as baseless. However, he also accused the Vatican of applying a double standard — threatening SSPX bishops with excommunication for their ultra-orthodox stance while simultaneously negotiating with German bishops over progressive reforms that also conflict with Catholic doctrine.
Casalini noted that Leo refused to meet with Pagliarani, yet “such severity is not shown toward the doctrinal statements — which are indeed on the verge of schism” coming from within the German church.
In what appeared to be a move to counter such criticism, the Vatican on Tuesday formally rejected a German request to allow laypeople to deliver homilies during Mass, reaffirming that only priests and deacons are permitted to do so under church rules.
