Pope Leo XIV's papacy is facing its first major crisis after the Vatican formally declared the Society of St. Pius X in schism and excommunicated six of its bishops. The decree was a direct response to the SSPX consecrating four new bishops at its seminary in Écône, Switzerland, despite a personal plea from the pontiff.
The Vatican ruled the ordinations an intentional break from the Church, as only the pope holds the authority to approve the consecration of bishops to preserve apostolic succession. The sanctions reverse previous concessions and invalidate the group's authority to administer sacraments like confession and marriage.
Days earlier, Pope Leo wrote to SSPX leader Rev. Davide Pagliarani, begging him to cancel the ceremony to avoid deepening the decades-old division. During the ceremony, Pagliarani defended the act as service to the Church, not opposition to the pope.
The SSPX, founded in 1970 by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, rejects modernizing reforms from the Second Vatican Council. History repeated itself in Switzerland; Lefebvre was excommunicated for identical actions in 1988. Although those sanctions were lifted in 2009, the SSPX never fully reconciled with Rome.