ROME (AP) — The Vatican warned a breakaway traditionalist Catholic group on Thursday that it risked schism if it went ahead with plans to consecrate new bishops without papal consent, striking a hard line against a major doctrinal challenge facing Pope Leo XIV.
Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, head of the Vatican’s doctrinal office, issued the warning during a meeting Thursday with the Superior General of the Society of St. Pius X, the Rev. Davide Pagliarani, the Vatican said. The meeting was scheduled after the society in Switzerland, which celebrates the traditional Latin Mass but is not in communion with Rome, announced plans to consecrate new bishops on July 1 without papal approval.
Fernández offered a new round of theological discussions to regularize the status of the SSPX, but only if it cancels the planned ceremony.
The SSPX has been a thorn in the side of the Holy See for four decades, founded in opposition to the modernizing reforms of the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s, which, among other things, allowed the Liturgy to be celebrated in the vernacular.
The SSPX first broke with Rome in 1988 after its founder, Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, consecrated four bishops without papal consent, arguing it was necessary for the survival of the church’s tradition. The Vatican promptly excommunicated Lefebvre and the other four bishops, and today the group still has no legal status in the Catholic Church.
But in the decades since that initial break with Rome, the group has continued to grow, with schools, seminaries and parishes around the world and branches of Catholic priests, nuns and laymen who are attached to the traditional pre-Vatican II Latin liturgy.
The growth of a parallel church
According to SSPX statistics, it counts two bishops, 733 priests, 264 seminarians, 145 religious brothers, 88 oblates and 250 religious sisters representing 50 nationalities, a Catholic reality that represents a real threat to Rome because of the specter of the growth of a parallel church.
For the Vatican, papal consent for the consecration of bishops is a fundamental doctrine, which guarantees the descent of the apostolic succession from the time of the original apostles of Christ. As a result, the consecration of bishops without papal consent is considered a serious threat to the unity of the church and a cause of schism, since bishops can ordain new priests. According to church law, a consecration without papal consent entails automatic excommunication for the person celebrating it and for the supposed new bishop.
Pagliarani said in comments on the SSPX’s website that the consecrations of new bishops are necessary for the society’s survival, as the remaining two are aging and increasingly unable to attend to the needs of SSPX members around the world.
The dialog offer, with a catch
During Thursday’s talks at the Vatican, Fernández offered to open a theological dialogue with the SSPX to address concerns they have highlighted to the Vatican since 2017, particularly regarding Catholic relations with other religions.
The goal, according to the Vatican statement, would be to identify the minimum points of agreement needed to bring the SSPX back into communion with the Holy See and outline a legal status so that it can exist within the church.
But he warned that such dialogue would require the suspension of planned episcopal consecrations. Going ahead with them, the Vatican warned, “would involve a decisive rupture in ecclesial communion (schism) with grave consequences for the Fraternity.”
The SSPX did not immediately issue a statement on its website. He did not respond to requests for comment this week.
Announcing the planned consecrations and in a subsequent comment on his website, Pagliarani justified the consecration of new bishops as both “realistic and reasonable” given the number of people attending SSPX Masses.
Long history of dialogue
The Vatican tried for years to reconcile with the SSPX. Pope Benedict XVI in 2009 lifted the excommunications of the surviving bishops and relaxed restrictions on celebrating the old Latin liturgy.
While offering some gestures to the SSPX, Francis reversed Benedict’s reform that allowed greater celebration of the old Latin Mass, arguing that it had become a source of division in the church.
Catholic traditionalists say Francis’ crackdown resulted in many believers who were in communion with Rome being pushed into the arms of the separatist SSSPX because they could not find the Latin Masses that were permitted by Rome.
Leo recognized the tensions and tried to defuse the debate, expressing openness to dialogue and allowing exceptions to Francis’s crackdown.
The Vatican, for example, said Leo had explicitly approved Thursday’s meeting, which it described as “cordial and sincere.”
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