Group Tells Vatican It Still Plans to Consecrate Bishops

A long-simmering power struggle inside the Catholic Church may be about to boil over. On July 1, the Society of St. Pius X, a traditionalist group founded in 1970 to resist church reforms, plans to ordain four bishops without Vatican approval—an act that carries automatic excommunication under church law and could force Pope Leo XIV into the biggest crisis of his nascent papacy. Leo said he is weighing a fresh appeal for the group to stand down and "live in communion," the Guardian reports, but also signaled he's prepared to move on if it refuses.

On Wednesday, the society published an open letter to the pope and the College of Cardinals giving no indication of backing down, per the National Catholic Reporter. The statement said the society follows church tradition but still plans to ordain four bishops without Leo's approval. The society, which claims more than a half-million followers and nearly 1,500 clergy worldwide, insists the new bishops—two French, one Swiss, one American—are a practical necessity, not an attempt to set up a rival hierarchy, per the Guardian. The order rejects key teachings of the Second Vatican Council, including its embrace of religious freedom and outreach to other faiths, positions that have fueled decades of deadlock with Rome and accusations of ties to the far right and antisemitism, which the group denies.