A Sad Day in Econe [News Analysis]

July 01, 2026

An ordination, like a wedding, should be a happy occasion. But the July 1 consecration of four new bishops for the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) marks a sad day in the history of the Catholic Church: an unnecessary and avoidable breach between an energetic group of Catholics who cherish their faith and a Vatican leadership striving to maintain unity in the Church.

The ceremony—magnificent in itself, with all the sumptuous beauty of the traditional liturgy—showcased the undeniable appeal of the SSPX. An estimated 15,000 people attended, kneeling in a rainy field outside the SSPX seminary in Econe, Switzerland. No ordinary Catholic diocese could expect such a massive congregation for an episcopal ordination. But the SSPX is not an ordinary diocese, and this was no ordinary ordination. The new bishops were consecrated in defiance of a direct order from Rome, and the faithful of the traditionalist group were signaling their support for this challenge to Vatican authority. So there was pride, if not outright joy, in the congregation. The SSPX faithful, disappointed that the Holy See had not granted their pleas for approval, still took pride in the group’s refusal to compromise their principles.

In Judgment of the Pope(s)

That refusal to compromise was all the more striking because the SSPX has always stressed its loyalty to the Holy See. “Far be it from us to separate ourselves from the Roman Church,” wrote Father David Pagliarani, the superior general of the group, in a last-minute appeal to Pope Leo XIV. There is irony—indeed tragedy—in the fact that this group, which strongly insists that the Catholic Church offers the only reliable route to salvation, nevertheless dares to incur separation from that Church, accepting the likelihood that the Vatican will pronounce the excommunication of all prelates involved in the unauthorized ordinations.

In statements of faith the SSPX has repeatedly pledged loyalty to the Roman Pontiff, but with the explicit proviso that the Pope must adhere to the constant teachings of the Church, and the implicit understanding that the SSPX will decide whether or not the Pontiff is upholding that patrimony. The SSPX argues that in their special case, defiance of papal authority is justified by a “state of necessity.” But as the traditionalist writer Roberto de Mattei observed, “it is clearly the role of the Pope to determine when a ‘state of necessity’ exists.” understanding that the SSPX will decide whether or not the Pontiff is upholding that patrimony. The SSPX argues that in their special case, defiance of papal authority is justified by a “state of necessity.” By making that judgment for themselves the SSPX leaders were rejecting not only the pastoral judgment of Pope Leo, but the leadership of the other five Pontiffs of the post-conciliar era, who have weighed and rejected the SSPX claims that the universal Church has broken from the Catholic tradition.

Nevertheless the concerns that have driven the SSPX to defy Rome are shared, to a greater or lesser extent, by many thousands of loyal Catholics who remain steadfastly loyal and obedient to the Holy See. At the consistory of cardinals last week, Cardinal Gerhard Müller, the former prefect of what is now the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF), urgently pleaded for a direct answer to those concerns, saying: “It is our duty, by virtue of our office, both individually and as a college, to reject the scandalous accusation that the Roman Church has departed from the Catholic faith.” Unfortunately his words had no discernible impact on the cardinals’ discussions.

Last-Minute Pleas

The letter from Pope Leo to Father Pagliarani, made public on the eve of the ordinations, and the quick reply from the SSPX leader, were never likely to produce a solution, nor to stop the illicit ceremony. The crowd had already begun to gather at Econe. Talks between Father Pagliarani and Cardinal Victor Fernandez, the prefect of the DDF had broken down quickly, weeks earlier. Indeed repeated efforts at negotiation over the years had invariably ended in frustration, and Vatican officials no doubt recalled that in 1988, when then-Cardinal Ratzinger brokered an eleventh-hour agreement to postpone the original unauthorized episcopal ordinations by the SSPX, the late Archbishop Lefebvre repudiated the agreement and proceeded with the ceremony.

So on July 1 the four new bishops were ordained by Bishop Alfonso de Galarreta, one of the bishops ordained by Archbishop Lefebvre in 1988. When asked, in the course of the ceremony, whether they had obtained the “apostolic mandate”—which ordinarily requires the presentation of a document certified by the Holy See—they answered in the affirmative, thus testifying that the “state of necessity” was mandate enough. There is no doubt that the ordinations are valid (the excommunication that Bishop de Galarreta incurred in 1988 having been lifted by Pope Benedict XVI in 2009), but there is also no doubt that they are illicit, and Vatican disciplinary action is expected.

In his letter to Father Pagliarani, Pope Leo had warned that “the schismatic act you are about to undertake would deprive [the new bishops] of the licit and, in some cases, even valid reception of the Sacraments, which they love and seek for their sanctification.” He added: “I pray for you, because to tear the seamless garment of Christ is a sin of extreme gravity.”

Cardinal Fernandez had already warned that the illicit consecrations would be an act of schism, and reminded the SSPX that the penalty for such unauthorized episcopal ordinations is excommunication. But these warnings had no deterrent effect. Preaching at the ordination ceremony, Father Pagliarani proclaimed, to the clear satisfaction of the supportive congregation: “We consider that any penalties or censure imposed for this act have no value whatsoever.”

It is not at all unusual for someone who incurs the penalty of excommunication to claim that the disciplinary measure is invalid. But it is highly unusual for 15,000 Catholics to witness and approve the act of defiance, without yet knowing exactly what canonical discipline the Vatican might impose, and whether the disciplinary measures might be applied not only to the bishops participating in the ceremony, but to other SSPX clerics and even possibly to lay members of the group.

Building Resistance

So now the SSPX stands out not as a traditionalist Catholic group—there are others that answer that description—but as a traditionalist group that resists the authority of Rome. Some more moderate traditionalists have been eager to condemn the SSPX, even uncharitably anxious to celebrate their excommunication. But loyal Catholics who revere tradition and remain loyal to Rome are saddened by this breach—not only because thousands of Catholics are being separated from full communion, but also because questions raised by the SSPX remain unanswered.

Why is it, for instance, that only the SSPX leaders are asked by the DDF to profess unquestioning acceptance of the teachings of Vatican II? Why should the SSPX bishops be pronounced guilty of schism, when Chinese bishops ordained without a Vatican mandate are recognized by the Holy See? Why are the reservations that SSPX prelates express about some Vatican II teachings treated more severely than the frontal assaults on tradition emanating from the German bishops’ conference? These questions may not have any direct bearing on the canonical offense that the SSPX committed with its illicit episcopal ordinations, but they are the questions that ordinary Catholics ask.

Cardinal Müller made that point in a response to the July 1 ordinations, saying that disciplinary penalties imposed on the SSPX “have amounted almost to free propaganda for the Lefebvrians, who could exploit them instrumentally to spread their arguments.” Calling for Vatican action to lift restrictions on the Traditional Latin Mass, and questioning the special demands that the Holy See has placed on traditionalists generally, he said: “I think some self-criticism is called for on this point.”

—Phil Lawler

 

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