Vatican faces schism as traditionalist bishops defy Pope

The Society of St. Pius X held a ceremony in a Swiss village on Wednesday in which two of its remaining bishops consecrated four new ones, directly defying Pope Leo XIV's pleas to abandon what the Vatican has called a "schismatic act." According to the New York Times and Le Monde, all six bishops involved face de facto excommunication as a result. The traditionalist group, which has operated outside full communion with Rome since the 1980s, has grown increasingly defiant of papal authority on matters of doctrine and liturgy.

The Vatican's warnings went unheeded despite explicit appeals from the pontiff. Le Monde reported that thousands of worshippers witnessed the ceremony, underlining the scale of the breakaway movement and its deep roots among conservative Catholic communities across Europe. The New York Times noted that the Society has long rejected the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, particularly the shift from the Latin Mass to vernacular worship, and views itself as defending authentic Catholic tradition against what it sees as modernist corruption.