The ultraconservative Society of St Pius X (SSPX) in Switzerland has ordained four new bishops against the express will of Pope Leo XIV, marking a clear break with the Vatican.
The priests were ordained on Wednesday despite the prospect of being expelled from the Catholic Church.
The hours-long ceremony began on Wednesday morning before thousands of faithful in Écône in Switzerland's canton of Valais, where the seat of the traditionalist community's priestly seminary is located.
The Vatican had already said that the ordinations were not authorized and warned of serious consequences under canonical law.
Under canon law, episcopal ordinations without the pope's consent are considered a serious violation and a "schismatic act" that automatically entails the excommunication - meaning exclusion from the Church - of those involved.
Leo's final warning ignored
On Tuesday, Leo made a final appeal to SSPX members.
"In this spirit, and filled with Christian affection, I plead with you and ask you with all my heart: please turn back!" he wrote.
He termed the consecrations a "schismatic act" that would invalidate the sacraments administered to Catholic faithful by the bishops, who are seen as illegitimate in the eyes of the Vatican.
The Society of Saint Pius X nevertheless carried out the step as previously announced. In his sermon, the Superior General of SSPX, Davide Pagliarani, said: "We are ready to pay any price to save the Church."
The group sees modernizing reforms as a "self-destruction of the Church" that it wants to prevent at all costs.
