SSPX - a Traditional Latin Mass Society Announces Episcopal Consecrations Without Pope Leo XIV's Approval - Possibly Incurring Excommunication

SSPX Announces Unauthorized Episcopal Consecrations for July 1st

VATICAN CITY — In a move echoing the schismatic crisis of 1988, the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) has announced its intention to consecrate new bishops on July 1st without a mandate from the Holy See. The decision follows reports that Pope Leo XIV has either denied or declined to respond to the Society’s formal request for the appointments.

The Priestly Society of Saint Pius X is a society of Catholic priests, founded by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre in 1970. Notably, they reject many of the teachings from The Second Vatican Council and celebrate the Tridentine Mass (pre-Vatican II) in Latin. They incurred excommunication in 1988 following the ordination of 4 bishops.

Fr. Davide Pagliarani, the current superior general of the Priestly Society of St. Pius X, "publicly announced his decision to entrust the bishops of the Society with the task of proceeding with new episcopal consecrations" on July 1, according to a statement released by the order Feb. 2. 

According to their website the SSPX has 720 priests and nearly 500,000 faithful spread throughout the world in 60 countries.

The announcement marks a significant escalation in tensions and a departure from the incremental steps toward reconciliation seen over the last two decades.

A History of Defiance

The SSPX has not consecrated a bishop since the late Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre elevated four priests to the episcopacy in 1988. That act, performed in open defiance of St. John Paul II, resulted in the immediate latae sententiae (automatic) excommunication of all five men involved.

Efforts to heal the rift have been a hallmark of recent papacies:

• 2009: Pope Benedict XVI lifted the excommunications of the surviving bishops as a gesture of goodwill to foster unity.

• The Francis Era: Pope Francis offered several pastoral concessions, granting SSPX priests the permanent faculties to validly hear confessions and witness marriages, seeking to ensure the spiritual welfare of the faithful attending their chapels.

Canonical Consequences

The Society’s decision to move forward with the July 1st consecrations places them in direct violation of Canon Law. Under Canon 1387 of the Code of Canon Law:

"Both the Bishop who, without a pontifical mandate, consecrates a person a Bishop, and the one who receives the consecration from him, incur a latae sententiae excommunication reserved to the Apostolic See."

By proceeding without the "pontifical mandate" (the Pope’s explicit permission), the consecrating bishops and those being ordained face the severest penalty in the Church's legal framework.

Observers note that while previous pontiffs have extended "olive branches" to the Society, this planned act of defiance threatens to undo years of delicate diplomatic progress and solidify a state of formal schism.

FULL TEXT Statement by the SSPX:

The SSPX announces future episcopal consecrations
Communiqué dated February 2, 2026.
On 2 February 2026, the feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin, the Reverend Father Davide Pagliarani, Superior General of the Priestly Society of Saint Pius X, during the ceremony of the taking of the cassock which he presided over at the International Seminary of Saint-Curé-d’Ars in Flavigny-sur-Ozerain, France, publicly announced his decision to entrust the bishops of the Society with the task of proceeding with new episcopal consecrations, on 1 July next.

Last August, he sought the favour of an audience with the Holy Father, making known his desire to present to the Holy Father, in a filial manner, the current situation of the Priestly Society of Saint Pius X. In a second letter, he explicitly expressed the particular need of the Society to ensure the continuation of the ministry of its bishops, who have been travelling the world for nearly forty years to respond to the many faithful attached to the Tradition of the Church and desirous, for the good of their souls, that the sacraments of Holy Orders and Confirmation be conferred.

After having long matured his reflection in prayer, and having received from the Holy See, in recent days, a letter which does not in any way respond to our requests, Father Pagliarani, in harmony with the unanimous advice of his Council, judges that the objective state of grave necessity in which souls find themselves requires such a decision.

The words he wrote on 21 November 2024, for the fiftieth anniversary of the historic declaration of Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, are more than ever the reflection of his thought and intentions:

“It is only in the Catholic Church as it has always been, and in her unchanging Tradition, that we have the guarantee of possessing the Truth, of being able to preach it, and of being able to serve her. […]

“The Society [of Saint Pius X] is not primarily seeking its own survival. It primarily seeks the good of the Universal Church and, for this reason, the Society is, par excellence, a work of the Church, which, with unique freedom and strength, responds adequately to the specific needs of an unprecedentedly tragic era.

“This single goal is still ours today, just as it was fifty years ago. ‘That is why, without any spirit of rebellion, bitterness, or resentment, we pursue our work of forming priests, with the timeless Magisterium as our guide. We are persuaded that we can render no greater service to the Holy Catholic Church, to the Sovereign Pontiff and to posterity (Abp. Lefebvre, Declaration of 21 November 1974)’.”

In the coming days, the Superior General will provide further explanations regarding the present situation and his decision.

“Nos cum Prole pia benedicat Virgo Maria.

May the Virgin Mary bless us, together with her divine Son.”

Menzingen, 2 February, 2026