More than 140 Catholics in Toronto have appealed to their archbishop, Cardinal Frank Leo, urging him to intervene in the fast-escalating dispute between the Vatican and the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX), a breakaway ultraconservative priestly fraternity.
On July 1, the SSPX plans to consecrate four priests as bishops without Pope Leo XIV’s approval, despite the Vatican warning that doing so would mean excommunication from the church.
This week, a group of Catholics hand-delivered a letter to Cardinal Leo in support of the SSPX’s upcoming consecrations, asking him to act as a mediator with the pope and support what they described as a plea for “paternal approval” of the consecrations. The group added that the petition was being made “in a spirit of charity and pastoral concern.”
José LoMonaco, who organized the letter with his wife, argued that the consecrations were necessary “to preserve the Tradition.”
“In order to ordain traditional priests in the traditional Roman rite, traditional bishops are needed,” he told Newsweek. “The SSPX currently has two bishops approaching their 70s. Without bishops, the SSPX cannot continue. That’s why we support the decision to consecrate new bishops.”
As archbishop of Toronto, Cardinal Leo oversees the Catholics who signed the letter, and as a member of the College of Cardinals, he has direct access to the pope.
What Does the Letter Say?
The signatories described themselves as “faithful Catholics residing in Toronto, united by a profound love for the Holy, Catholic, Apostolic and Roman Church.”
LoMonaco said that while none of the signatories are members of the SSPX, “most are attendees to SSPX chapels in the Greater Toronto Area.”
The group said it had carefully read a Declaration of Catholic Faith recently presented to Pope Leo by SSPX Superior General Father Davide Pagliarani and wished to formally align itself with the document.
Calling the declaration’s teachings “the living foundation of our interior desire for sanctification through the unbroken deposit of Tradition,” the Catholics said they were writing both as a profession of faith and as a direct appeal to church authorities.
“We respectfully present this letter as a personal testimony of our Catholic faith and as a filial plea,” the group wrote, asking that the Holy See “grant its paternal approval to the upcoming episcopal consecrations.”
Neither the Vatican nor Cardinal Leo has publicly responded to the letter. Newsweek has contacted the Archdiocese of Toronto and the Holy See Press Office for comment.
SSPX Doubles Down on Unapproved Consecrations
On Wednesday, the SSPX announced the names of the priests it plans to consecrate as bishops:
Father Michael Goldade (United States)Father Pascal Schreiber (Switzerland)Father Michel Poinsinet de Sivry (France)Father Marc Hanappier (France)
About two weeks prior to the announcement, the Vatican’s head of discipline, Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, told the fraternity that going forward with its unapproved consecrations would “constitute ‘a schismatic act'”—a formal rupture—with the papacy and “a grave offense against God,” which requires excommunication.
“The episcopal ordinations announced by the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X do not have the corresponding pontifical mandate,” Fernández wrote in a letter. “This action will constitute ‘a schismatic act,’ and ‘formal adherence to the schism constitutes a grave offense against God and entails the excommunication established by the law of the Church.'”
The SSPX quickly doubled down on its plans, responding in a letter that its members would “rather die than renounce” their principles.
Pagliarani wrote in his letter that the SSPX had warned the Vatican for more than 50 years of modernist “errors that are destroying Catholic faith and morals.” He lamented that the only response has “appeared to be that of canonical sanctions.”
Inside the Growing Rift Between Rome and SSPX
The dispute between Rome and the SSPX stretches back more than five decades. The society was founded in 1970 by French Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre in opposition to reforms introduced by the Second Vatican Council, including changes to the liturgy and the church’s approach to relations with other faiths.
The rupture deepened in 1988 when Lefebvre consecrated four bishops without papal approval, prompting the Vatican to declare the act schismatic and impose excommunications. Although some penalties were later lifted, the SSPX remains in an irregular canonical position within the Catholic Church.
While the SSPX recognizes the pope and accepts much of Catholic teaching, it has continued to clash with Rome over what it sees as departures from traditional doctrine.
In recent years, the fraternity has been particularly critical of the Vatican’s 2023 declaration Fiducia Supplicans, which authorized nonliturgical blessings for people in same-sex relationships and other “irregular” situations while maintaining the church’s teaching that marriage is between a man and a woman.
The SSPX condemned the document and argued that such blessings create confusion about Catholic moral teaching.
Successive popes have sought reconciliation with the society, but disagreements over the Second Vatican Council, Church authority and modern pastoral reforms have continued to prevent a lasting settlement.