Overview
- The Society of St. Pius X said it will have its bishops conduct new episcopal consecrations on July 1 without approval from the Holy See.
- The Vatican’s spokesman said contacts with the SSPX continue with the aim of avoiding rifts or unilateral moves.
- Church law under Canon 1013 forbids consecrating a bishop without a pontifical mandate, meaning such ordinations would be illicit.
- SSPX leaders say their superior general twice sought an audience with Pope Leo XIV and received a reply that did not address their requests, citing the need to secure their bishops’ ministry.
- The plan recalls Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre’s 1988 illicit consecrations that triggered automatic excommunications, even as the society insists it does not seek schism.