Pope Leo XIV issued an extraordinary last-minute plea to a breakaway traditionalist Catholic group to abandon plans to consecrate four bishops without Vatican approval, warning the move was a ‘sin of extreme gravity’ and could deepen a decades-old split with the Church.
Background
The Society of St. Pius X was founded after the Second Vatican Council, rejecting many of the church’s reforms, including allowing Mass to be celebrated in local languages instead of Latin. The group has long argued that it is preserving authentic Catholic teaching.
The dispute marks the first major challenge of Leo’s pontificate. Since becoming pope, the American-born pontiff has emphasized healing divisions within the Church, including tensions with traditionalist Catholics who favor the old Latin Mass.
The planned ceremony echoes a similar confrontation in 1988, when the group’s founder, Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, consecrated four bishops without papal approval. The Vatican responded by excommunicating Lefebvre and the newly ordained bishops, though those excommunications were lifted in 2009 as part of an effort to restore relations.
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