The China Mail - Catholic society defies Vatican again by ordaining new bishops

At a ceremony in Econe in southwest Switzerland, attended by thousands of worshippers from around the world and witnessed by AFP, the society's last two remaining bishops consecrated four new ones: two French, one American and one Swiss.

By going ahead without the pontiff's approval, all six bishops are de facto excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church.

"Are we breaking with the Church in order to keep the faith? That is a false dilemma. We belong to the Church first through faith, through the integral profession of the Church's faith," the society's Superior General Davide Pagliarani insisted in his homily.

The Society of Saint Pius X, which has around 600,000 faithful, comprises fundamentalist Catholics who strongly oppose the liberal reforms imposed by the Vatican II Council in the 1960s.

Founded in 1970 by the controversial French bishop Marcel Lefebvre, the group triggered a rift with the Vatican by consecrating four bishops in 1988.

Wednesday's new consecrations took place in the very same spot, in the fields near the society's seminary in Econe, a village in the Rhone valley, with the Alps towering above.

The consecrations came during a mass in Latin expected to last around four hours.

"It is a historic day. Something very important is happening now; it won't stop here," Jean-Pierre Stauffer, a 79-year-old worshipper, told AFP.

He had travelled from Geneva to attend the ceremony, which began in the rain with a long procession of priests.

- 'Sin of extreme gravity' -

For the Holy See, consecrating bishops without the approval of Pope Leo is a direct act of insubordination, leading to the automatic excommunication of the bishops involved.

"I plead with you and ask you with all my heart: please turn back!" Pope Leo wrote Monday in a letter to the society, calling it a "schismatic act".

"To tear the seamless garment of Christ is a sin of extreme gravity," the pontiff said.

The society says it is present in more than 75 countries across six continents, with more than 750 priests.

"It is not an act of rebellion: it is an act born of love for the Church," Father Michel Rion, a theology professor at the Econe seminary -- one of the society's five worldwide -- told AFP.

"There is absolutely nothing schismatic or anti-Church in our actions. We hope that one day the pope will see that. For us, being schismatic is the worst thing that could happen, we would rather die than be schismatic," Rion insisted.

"The Church constantly seeks to adapt -- to adapt its message to lead souls to heaven," but has "adapted too much to the world", he said.

- 'Historic moment' -

Adhering to a strict interpretation of Roman Catholic tradition, the society holds masses in Latin celebrated by priests with their backs turned to the congregation.

Andre, a 46-year-old Gabonese worshipper from Versailles in France, told AFP at Wednesday's ceremony: "This is a historic moment. In a few years, we will almost certainly be told that the choice we made was the right one."

In 1988, Pope John Paul II issued a similar appeal but failed to stop the society from ordaining bishops. They were immediately excommunicated, but the sanction was lifted in 2009 by Pope Benedict XVI.

His successor, Pope Francis, had, starting in 2015, recognised the validity of confessions and marriages celebrated by the society's priests.

The society saw consecrating new bishops as a necessity, arguing it had only two bishops left.

Although influential in certain conservative circles, it remains a tiny group within the Roman Catholic Church and its roughly 1.3 billion faithful.

K.Lam--ThChM