Schism in Catholic Church as Lefebvrians ordain bishops +rpt+

(fixes spelling of group's name)

The Catholic Church was plunged into schism Wednesday after the

ultraconservative Lefebvrian group ordained new bishops defying

an order from Pope Leo XIV who had said the move would spell

their automatic excommunication and a split in the Church.

Leo on Wednesday made a last-ditch appeal to the

ultra-traditionalist group for it to drop its plan to ordain

four new bishops without a pontifical mandate.

The Vatican has said this would amount to a schismatic act and

entail excommunication.

The Switzerland-based fraternity, whose official name is the

Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX) and has hundreds of thousands of

followers, was founded in 1970 by late French Archbishop Marcel

Lefebvre in opposition to the changes adopted with the Second

Vatican Council of some 60 years ago.

The break from the Catholic Church was cemented with the

excommunication of four bishops Lefebvre consecrated without the

Apostolic Mandate in 1988.

Pope Benedict XVI lifted the excommunication in 2009 and Pope

Francis subsequently said SSPX priests can celebrate marriages

in traditionalist churches under some circumstances, a move that

was followed by attempts to bring the group fully back into the

fold.

On Wednesday the Lefebvrians held firm and in Econe,

Switzerland, four new bishops were consecrated, despite the

Pope's call for a halt.

Formal communication of excommunication and schism from the

Vatican could arrive later Wednesday or within a few days.

The first act of the actual consecration was the laying on of

hands on the heads of the new bishops by the celebrant, Msgr.

Alfonso de Galarreta, and Msgr. Bernard Fellay, co-consecrator.

Other liturgical gestures followed.

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