ECONE, Switzerland: Decades after triggering a rift with the Vatican by consecrating bishops in 1988, the Society of Saint Pius X was doing it again on Wednesday — in defiance of Pope Leo XIV.
The ultra-traditionalist breakaway group, which has around 600,000 followers worldwide, intends to appoint four bishops: two French, one American and one Swiss.
The ceremony was due to take place during a mass in Latin lasting around four hours before an expected 15,000-strong congregation in the fields of Econe in southwest Switzerland — the very spot where the society’s founder Marcel Lefebvre controversially consecrated four bishops 38 years ago.
“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 traveled from Geneva to attend the ceremony, which began around 8:30am (0630 GMT) in the rain with a long procession of priests.
