SSPX Defies Vatican Warning, Confirms July 1 Episcopal Ordinations

The leadership of the Society of Saint Pius X has announced that it will proceed with episcopal ordinations on July 1, despite the Vatican’s warning that doing so without a papal mandate “would constitute a decisive rupture of ecclesial communion (schism).” In a letter dated Feb. 18 to Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, SSPX Superior General Fr. Davide Pagliarani welcomed the Prefect’s offer to resume theological discussions but stated that he “cannot accept the perspective and objectives in the name of which the Dicastery offers to resume dialogue in the present situation, nor indeed the postponement of the date of 1 July” for the episcopal ordinations.