Group plans to ordain bishops without Pope’s approval

The organization, which is estranged from Rome and now has only two bishops, claims to have approached Pope Leo XIV and received a response that “does not in any way respond to our requests.”

On its part, Rome wants to “avoid any rupture” with the FSSPX, according to the director of the Holy See Press Office, Matteo Bruni, answering questions on February 3, 2026. “Contacts between the Society of Saint Pius X and the Holy See are continuing,” he explained.

In his brief statement, the spokesman expressed the Vatican's desire “to avoid any rupture or unilateral solution to the issues that have arisen.”

On February 4, it was reported by The Pillar that the head of the Vatican's doctrine office (DDF) would have a meeting with the SSPX leader next week.

The current superior of the community is Italian priest Davide Pagliarani.

On Monday, during a ceremony celebrated at the FSSPX seminary in Flavigny-sur-Ozerain, France, he announced that he would entrust the two bishops of the community, Spanish Bishop Alfonso de Galarreta and Swiss Bishop Bernard Fellay, with the task of “proceeding with new episcopal consecrations” on July 1.

In Catholic teaching, only the pope can decide on the ordination of new bishops.

Father Pagliarani stated that he wrote a letter to Leo XIV last August requesting an audience to explain the situation of his organization. The statement makes no mention of a possible meeting with the head of the Catholic Church.

Founded in 1970 by French Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, who broke with the Church over the Second Vatican Council, the FSSPX occupies a special and controversial position within the Catholic Church. In 1988, French bishop Lefebvre ordained four bishops without Rome's consent, resulting in their immediate excommunication, recognized by John Paul II.

With the death of Archbishop Lefebvre in 1991, followed by the deaths of two bishops he had ordained, the SSPX now has only two bishops, Bishop de Galarreta and Bishop Fellay. Consequently, according to the SSPX leader, it has recently expressed its desire to proceed with new episcopal ordinations.

The 1983 Code of Canon Law requires that, in addition to the principal consecrating bishop, the sacrament be celebrated with “at least two [more] consecrating bishops,” unless a dispensation is granted by the Holy See.

In a second letter, Father Pagliarani explicitly asked Pope Leo for permission to ordain two new bishops in order to continue to confer the sacraments of priestly ordination and confirmation on their faithful. The written response from the Holy See, which arrived “in recent days,” he says, “does not in any way respond to our requests."

Explaining that he had the “unanimous” support of the SSPX council, Father Pagliarani expresses his belief “that the objective state of grave necessity in which souls find themselves requires such a decision” — that is, the celebration of episcopal ordinations without the Holy See's consent.

Quoting Archbishop Lefebvre, he affirms that he is acting “without any spirit of rebellion, bitterness, or resentment,” and explains that the exact details of these ordinations will be communicated later.

The initial excommunication of the bishops ordained by Lefebvre was lifted in 2009 by Benedict XVI as a sign of reconciliation, without the Holy See recognizing a full communion with the SSPX.

This act later caused great controversy even outside the Church, as one of the four bishops was reported as a "Holocaust denier." This led to Benedict XVI writing a letter to clarify the "unforeseen mishap," as the Vatican was seeking to help the SSPX move toward unity, and was unaware of the stance taken by this bishop.

Then, during the Jubilee of Mercy in 2016, Pope Francis in turn sent the SSPX a sign of rapprochement, granting them the possibility of legitimately hearing the confessions of the faithful.

Last August, more than 7,000 members of the Society of Saint Pius X traveled to Rome to participate in the Jubilee of 2025.

Currently, the SSPX is no longer under sanction, but it does not enjoy jurisdiction either. They are “acephalous clerics” who do not belong to any diocese or recognized institute, explains a Roman canonist contacted by I.MEDIA, highlighting the difficulty inherent in this “illegitimate but not criminal” status.

If new bishops were to be consecrated without a papal mandate, though, canon 1387 of the Code of Canon Law would automatically apply, providing for latae sententiae excommunication — meaning by virtue of the fact itself.

Such a break with the Successor of Peter would induce once again a state of “schism” for the faithful, which the Holy See, anxious to preserve the unity of the Church as the will of Christ, strives to avoid.