ROME — A picturesque Swiss settlement surrounded by vineyards and tall mountains was the site of an act that this week rocked the Catholic Church.Limited time: Save 25% on NBC News subscriptionGet exclusive reporting, live Q&As and ad-free reading.In a five-hour, ritual-filled ceremony attended by hundreds of robed priests and beamed around the world, an ultraconservative Catholic society consecrated four new bishops in direct defiance of the church’s in-house canon law and despite Pope Leo XIV’s pleas for unity.After the ceremony, which was attended by around 15,000 people, the Vatican excommunicated the Society of St.Pius’ six bishops.Here, NBC News looks at the sect, also known by its acronym SSPX, and what led to the new schism within the Catholic Church.
What happened this week?During the ceremony on Wednesday, SSPX consecrated as bishops Pascal Schreiber of Switzerland, Michael Goldade of the United States and Michel Poinsinet de Sivry and Marc Hanappier of France.Midway through the service, Bishop Alfonso de Galarreta, himself consecrated without papal consent in 1988, placed his hands on the heads of the four new prelates.This ancient ritual, common in most branches of Christianity, recalls that Jesus Christ chose his apostles and that bishops are their successors.Consecrating a bishop in the Catholic Church without a papal mandate constitutes a grave breach and incurs the harshest penalty under canon law: automatic excommunication for those involved.Ahead of the ceremony in Econe, Switzerland, Leo wrote a letter to the Rev.
Davide Pagliarani, the superior of the society, asking him to hold off holding the ceremony for the sake of church unity.Leo also warned that it would amount to a “sin of extreme gravity.”“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, which they lo...