Pope Leo XIV issued an extraordinary last-minute plea Tuesday to a breakaway traditionalist Catholic group to abandon plans to consecrate four bishops without Vatican approval, warning the move was a "sin of extreme gravity" and could deepen a decades-old split with the Church.In a letter addressed to the Rev.Davide Pagliarani, leader of the Society of St.
Pius X, Leo urged the group to reconsider before Wednesday's planned ceremony in Econe, Switzerland, saying it would place the bishops involved outside the Church’s communion."I plead with you and ask you with all my heart: please turn back!" the pope wrote.POPE LEO SENDS UNMISTAKABLE MESSAGE ON IMMIGRANTS DURING VISIT HONORING AMERICA'S FIRST SAINTPope Leo XIV waves during the Angelus noon prayer from the window of his studio overlooking St.Peter's Square, at the Vatican, Monday, June 29, 2026.
(AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)Under church law, consecrating bishops without papal approval is considered a schismatic act and carries automatic excommunication for both the bishops being ordained and the bishop performing the ceremony."I urge you to consider carefully the spiritual good of the faithful, because the schismatic act you are about to undertake would deprive them of the licit, and in some cases, even valid reception of the sacraments," Leo wrote.Pope Leo XIV delivers his message as he celebrates a Mass where he confers the pallium on newly appointed metropolitan archbishops, in St.Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican, Monday, June 29, 2026.
(AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)The dispute marks the first major challenge of Leo's pontificate.Since becoming pope, the American-born pontiff has emphasized healing divisions within the Church, including tensions with traditionalist Catholics who favor the old Latin Mass.POPE LEO XIV JOKES YOUNG SPANIARDS WOULD PICK BAD BUNNY OVER HIM DURING MADRID VISIT THIS WEEKENDThe Society of St.
Pius X was founded after the Second Vatican Council, rejecting many of the church's re...