A rebel Catholic group under the threat of excommunication for disobedience to Pope Leo has told the Vatican its members wish to remain in the church, but would “rather die than renounce” their ultra-traditionalist principles.
The Vatican warned the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX), which has repeatedly clashed with the papacy, on Wednesday that members risk excommunication if they carry out plans to ordain bishops without the pope’s approval.
SSPX Superior General Davide Pagliarani wrote the pope on Thursday, saying it had warned the Vatican for more than 50 years of modernist “errors that are destroying Catholic faith and morals” and lamenting that the only response has “appeared to be that of canonical sanctions.”
Members “have no other desire than that of living and being confirmed in the Roman Catholic Faith,” Thursday’s letter said, but added “we would rather die than renounce” our principles.
Excommunication is the most severe punishment that the Catholic Church can inflict upon its members, and effectively bars those who incur it from the sacraments and the fellowship of Christian baptism.
Newsweek contacted the Vatican via email on Friday.
SSPX’s Vatican Clashes Explained
SSPX has protested modernist reforms since the priestly fraternity’s founding by French Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre in 1970 in response to the reforms to modernize the Catholic Church introduced by the Second Vatican Council between 1962 and 1965.
Key measures at the time included the full introduction of the vernacular for liturgical celebrations, the simplification of rites, and their adaptation to local cultures, above all, but not only, in mission territories. SSPX, on the other hand, advocates for the Latin Mass tradition.
The relationship between the group and Vatican has ebbed and flowed over the years, Michele Dillon, professor of sociology at the University of New Hampshire, told Newsweek on Friday. There have been more conciliatory times, such as during Pope Benedict’s tenure, with the current divide being “somewhat” of an escalation.
In 1988, Archbishop Lefebvre consecrated four bishops without papal permission, in a drastic move that was immediately followed by his automatic excommunication. This was later lifted by Pope Benedict XVI in 2009 in an attempt to reconciliate with the breakaway group.
Kevin Ahern, professor of religious studies at Manhattan University, told Newsweek the move is relatively rare for a pope. The closest parallel in recent history is the SSPX crisis of 1988, when Lefebvre “consecrated four bishops without papal approval despite repeated Vatican warnings not to proceed,” triggering automatic excommunications that were later lifted, he said.
“Public warnings of this kind are usually meant to serve as a final opportunity for reconsideration and reconciliation, and I sincerely pray they choose another path,” he said.
SSPX announced in February that it would ordain bishops without the pope’s approval in July.
On Wednesday the Vatican said such a move would constitute a “schismatic act,” requiring excommunication.
“The episcopal ordinations announced by the Priestly Fraternity of St. Pius X do not have the corresponding papal mandate,” wrote the Vatican’s discipline chief Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández.
“This act will constitute ‘a schismatic act’ and ‘formal adherence to the schism constitutes a grave offense against God and entails the excommunication established by the law of the Church’,” he added.
What Rift Reveals About Pope Leo’s Vatican Leadership
SSPX has been a “stubbornly sharp thorn in the side for every pope” since its establishment, according to Dillon.
“Pope Leo likely recognizes that SSPX’s challenge to his authority is publicly testing his commitment to fostering unity in the Church (amid many sources of disunity) while at the same time he must necessarily hold the line on affirming the primacy of papal authority,” she said.
The clash reveals that Leo is “not afraid to take a stand on significant theological and ecclesiological issues” when papal authority is being publicly disavowed, Dillon added, and that he has little choice, as the pope must approve the ordination of all bishops.
Ahern said the clash reveals how “extraordinarily patient the Vatican has been over many decades.”
“For years, prominent figures associated with the Society openly criticized successive popes, questioned the authority of the Second Vatican Council, and in some cases even cast doubt on the legitimacy of Pope Francis himself. Despite this, Rome consistently pursued dialogue rather than punishment,” he said.
Leo’s warning reflects that the Vatican believes a clear line is about to be crossed, Ahern added.
The warning can also be viewed as a sign that the Vatican is confident in its authority, Robert Orsi, professor of history at Northwestern University, told Newsweek.
“I think this shows the Vatican’s pastoral interest in coming to a peaceful resolution of the conflict. Excommunication is a very grave sanction,” he said. “The authorities are offering the Society a way of avoiding this, which is to say, a way of remaining in good and sound relationship with the Catholic Church.”
Catholic authorities know that the church’s right wing was “hoping for a pope more amenable to their theology and ethics,” and Leo is “not the pope they were hoping for,” Orsi added. “He is showing he will go as far as it takes. I can imagine that arch-conservative German Cardinal Müller, for instance, is following all this very carefully, as are MAGA Catholic would-be church influencers, like Steve Bannon.”
