The SSPX look set to consecrate five new bishops—without Pope Leo’s permission— on July 1st in Écône, Switzerland. Father Davide Pagliarani, the Society’s Superior General, insists this is not an act of schism. It is an act of fidelity.

“The rupture does not come from us,” Pagliarani declares. It originates in a “flagrant divergence” from Tradition and the constant Magisterium of the Church. The SSPX sees itself as a “sign of contradiction”—a thorn in the side of reformers who have normalized doctrinal error while marginalizing those who refuse to accept it.

Pagliarani notes the bitter irony: Pope Francis granted him an affable audience within 24 hours, while Pope Leo will not meet with him at all, even as Vatican officials threaten to declare the Society schismatic. Dialogue has collapsed. The Vatican’s only language now is condemnation.

Yet the Superior General finds allies in unexpected places. He praises Bishop Joseph Strickland’s “strength” and predicts Bishop Athanasius Schneider’s interventions “will pass into history” as monuments of clarity in a time of confusion.

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April 23, 2026