Bishop Bernard Fellay has warned members of the Society of St Pius X that they could face excommunication if the Society proceeds with episcopal consecrations without papal mandate, as fresh reports suggest Rome is preparing a formal response to any such move.
The SSPX announced in February that it intended to consecrate new bishops on July 1 without authorisation from the Holy See, reviving a crisis that many Catholics had assumed belonged to the era of Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre.
The Society’s own announcement says that Fr Davide Pagliarani, its superior general, made the decision public on February 2.