Lefebvrians Respond to the Pope with an Open Letter: “Far be it from us to separate ourselves from the Roman Church”
Priestly Fraternity of St. Pius X issued a public response to Pope Leo XIV’s letter, affirming its loyalty to the Roman Church. The response acknowledges the Pope’s concerns and reiterates the Fraternity’s commitment to remain within the Catholic communion. It also notes the Fraternity’s intention to ordain four bishops without papal mandate, a canonical act that carries the penalty of excommunication.
3 months ago
The Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX) issued an open letter to Pope Leo XIV, thanking him for his recent correspondence and pleading for patience and dialogue as the fraternity faces the prospect of ordaining four bishops without a papal mandate—a step that canon law deems a grave offense punishable by excommunication. The letter stresses the SSPX’s desire to remain within the Roman Church, cites past instances of papal‑appointed dialogue, and urges the Pope to allow more time for discernment in hopes of restoring full communion. 1
Pope Leo XIV sent a letter to the SSPX’s Superior General on 29 June 2026, expressing concern over the fraternity’s plan to consecrate bishops without a papal mandate. The SSPX’s response, dated 30 June 2026 from Ecône, acknowledges the seriousness of the situation and the canonical penalty of excommunication attached to illicit episcopal ordinations. 1
Ordaining bishops without papal approval carries an automatic excommunication for the consecrating bishops and the newly ordained, according to canon law. The SSPX’s request for a “gesture of understanding” seeks to avoid this penalty while preserving unity. 1
The SSPX hopes that the Pope’s “paternal heart” will lead to a resolution that maintains communion and avoids further division, echoing the fraternity’s longstanding desire for full reconciliation with the Holy See. 1*
Examine Catholic canon law on bishops ordained without papal mandate
Catholic canon law treats “episcopal consecration without the apostolic (papal) mandate” as a grave offense against ecclesial communion and canonical discipline. The key norm is can. 1382 of the 1983 Code of Canon Law, which establishes an automatic (latae sententiae) excommunication reserved to the Apostolic See for both the bishop who consecrates and the one who receives consecration.
The Church’s discipline is founded on the pope’s role in maintaining unity of the episcopate and hierarchical communion. In a letter to the bishops of China, Pope Benedict XVI explains that the appointment of bishops by the Pope is a guarantee of the unity of the Church and of hierarchical communion, and he links this directly to the sanctions in can. 1382.
The 2011 Dicastery for Legislative Texts also connects can. 1382 with the underlying legal requirement found in the Code—namely that no bishop may consecrate another bishop unless it is first established that there is an apostolic mandate (as quoted in the same 2011 clarification).
Canon 1382 identifies the essential matter:
The 2011 clarification emphasizes that the canonical offense is structured as the external violation of the law or precept, and that (per general penal law discussed there) imputability is presumed after external violation unless it appears otherwise.
Canon 1382 applies to two principal parties:
The 2011 clarification further notes that episcopal consecration is ordinarily performed by multiple ministers, so co-consecrators (those who impose hands and recite the consecratory prayer) are also treated as co-authors of the offense and are likewise subject to the penalty.
The same canon states a latae sententiae penalty—i.e., the penalty is incurred by the very fact of committing the offense, not only after a later judicial sentence.
The 2011 clarification explains that latae sententiae penalties “do not depend on an external judge imposing them” but follow upon commission of the delict—while also noting the role of penal conditions (including the limits/mitigations governed by can. 1324).
Canon 1382 specifies that the excommunication is reserved to the Apostolic See.
The 2011 clarification reiterates this: the penalty is a latae sententiae excommunication reserved to the Apostolic See for both the consecrating bishop and the recipient.
A practical articulation of the Church’s position appears in the Holy See’s statement in Acta Apostolicae Sedis regarding the Leshan (China) ordination of Rev. Paul Lei Shiyin (June 29, 2011), which was conferred without an apostolic mandate.
The Holy See stated that:
The statement also explains the ecclesiological reason: an ordination without papal mandate is directly opposed to the Supreme Pontiff’s spiritual role and damages the unity of the Church, causing division and tension.
The 2011 clarification says that, as a penal norm, the offense/penalty applies only to those baptized in the Catholic Church or received into it (as tied to general penal law in can. 11, cited there).
Because can. 1382 is a latae sententiae penalty, it is subject to the “common conditions” required for incurring such a penalty with effectiveness and certainty. The 2011 clarification points to can. 1324 §3, which can exclude the latae sententiae penalty when certain circumstances exist (while not necessarily excluding the existence of the offense).
Pope Benedict XVI ties the discipline directly to the pope’s supreme spiritual authority and insists it is not a political intrusion but a matter of safeguarding communion. He writes that when the pope issues the apostolic mandate, he exercises supreme spiritual authority within the “strictly religious sphere,” and therefore the sanctions are justified because episcopal ordination without mandate wounds communion and violates canonical discipline.
The 2011 clarification similarly describes how unauthorized episcopal ordinations in various countries break communion with the Roman Pontiff and violate ecclesiastical discipline, citing the Council’s teaching on the consequences of refusal or denial of communion with the Successor of Peter.
Under Catholic canon law, a bishop who consecrates (or a person who receives) episcopal ordination without an apostolic/papal mandate commits the delict described in can. 1382, incurring latae sententiae excommunication reserved to the Apostolic See, and this is treated as gravely harmful to unity and hierarchical communion.
The Holy See also indicates that, in such situations, the ordained person lacks authority to govern the diocese and is not recognized as bishop—while the canonical sanction’s effects remain in place.