The Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) has rejected the Vatican’s offer of talks over its planned consecration of new bishops, escalating tensions with Pope Leo XIV. In a letter to the Vatican's doctrine chief, the traditionalist group said the threat of sanctions and schism contradicted any genuine desire for dialogue.
The SSPX, which celebrates the old Latin Mass and opposes the modernising Second Vatican Council, plans to consecrate four new bishops on 1 July. Only two of the original bishops remain, and the group argues the consecration is necessary to serve its growing global faithful.
The Vatican had invited SSPX superior Father Davide Pagliarani for talks on 12 February, offering theological dialogue conditioned on suspending the ceremony. Pagliarani noted that the SSPX had proposed a similar dialogue in 2019 without response, and insisted that doctrinal agreement on Vatican II remains impossible.
Pope Leo, who has sought to ease tensions with traditionalists worsened under his predecessor, now faces his first major crisis. The SSPX, which broke with Rome in 1988, operates a parallel church with 733 priests, schools and seminaries worldwide.
Pagliarani asked the Vatican to exercise charity, highlighting the many Catholics who attend SSPX churches. “The society is an objective reality: it exists,” he wrote, urging permission to continue its sacramental ministry.
