The ultratraditionalist Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) is planning to consecrate four bishops without the consent of Pope Leo XIV, a move that would result in automatic excommunication for those involved and constitutes a "schismatic act" — a rupture of unity within the Catholic Church.
This ceremony represents the first significant challenge for Pope Leo XIV, who has emphasized church unity and efforts to mend divisions with traditionalist factions that were exacerbated during the preceding pontificate of Pope Francis.
The SSPX was founded in opposition to the modernizing reforms introduced by the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s. These council reforms notably altered the Catholic Church's engagement with other Christian denominations, Jews, and people of other faiths, and permitted Mass to be celebrated in vernacular languages instead of Latin.
In 1988, the SSPX founder, Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, consecrated four bishops without papal authorization, leading to his and the other bishops' excommunication by the Vatican. The group has retained no legal standing within the church since that initial schismatic act.
Despite its origins, the SSPX has continued to grow and now represents a parallel, ultra-Catholic, pre-Vatican II church structure, posing a challenge to the Holy See. According to SSPX statistics, the society comprises two bishops, 751 priests, 264 seminarians in five seminaries, 145 religious brothers, 88 oblates, and 250 religious sisters from 50 countries.
Under the church's canon law, the consecration of a bishop without papal consent results in an automatic excommunication for both the individuals performing the consecration and the bishops receiving it. This excommunication is immediate and does not require a declaration or decree from the Vatican. However, some experts suggest the Holy See may issue a public response given the SSPX's prominent announcement of the consecrations.
Excommunication is the most severe penalty in canon law. The Rev. Robert Gahl of the Catholic University of America described it as "medicinal," intended to prompt repentance for the transgression. While a harsh penalty, its ultimate aim is to foster change in the recipient.
The excommunication does not invalidate the consecration itself; SSPX bishops, like their priests, are considered validly but illicitly ordained.
Pope Leo XIV could extend the excommunications to include attendees, but this is not widely anticipated. During his papacy, Pope Francis made concessions to the SSPX, allowing Catholics to validly confess to SSPX priests and to have their marriages legitimized, gestures initially intended for the Jubilee of Mercy but later extended indefinitely.
Experts note that Pope Leo XIV might revoke some of these concessions as part of the Vatican's response to the planned consecrations. Pope Benedict XVI had previously sought to reconcile the SSPX with Rome, notably by relaxing restrictions on the traditional Latin Mass in 2007 and lifting the excommunications of four SSPX bishops in 2009. This latter move caused significant controversy, particularly after one bishop, Richard Williamson, made statements denying the Holocaust, leading to a crisis with Jewish leaders. Williamson was later expelled from the SSPX in 2012 for insubordination. He died in 2025.
Pope Francis later reversed Benedict's relaxation on the Latin Mass for the broader church, citing it as a source of division. While the SSPX remains outside communion with Rome, many other traditionalists maintain full communion. Pope Leo XIV, in an effort to promote unity, recently permitted a prominent American cardinal to celebrate an old Latin Mass in St. Peter's Basilica.