The Society of St. Pius X went ahead with a consecration ceremony for four new bishops at its seminary in Econe, Switzerland, on Wednesday, July 1, 2026, even after Leo made a last-ditch appeal to call it off. At the end of the ceremony, the four newly consecrated bishops stood together in a tent set up outside the seminary as the ritual drew to a close.
The bishops were Marc Hanappier, Michel Poinsinet de Sivry, Michael Goldade and Pascal Schreiber. Michael Goldade and Pascal Schreiber were among the names presented as the ceremony ended, while nuns attended the event in the tent outside the Society of St. Pius X seminary. Goldade was shown at the end delivering his blessing, a final image that underscored how fully the ceremony had gone ahead.
The Society of St. Pius X is known for opposing modernizing reforms in the Catholic Church, which makes any bishop consecration there a direct challenge to the Vatican and to Leo's warning. The timing mattered because the ceremony was not just planned; it was carried out after the appeal to stop it had already been made. That leaves the more important question not whether the ceremony happened, but how far the fallout from it now spreads inside the Catholic Church.
For the Society of St. Pius X, the decision to proceed was the point. For Leo, the failed appeal showed the limits of his authority in the dispute. What happens next will turn on whether this consecration is treated as a breaking point or simply the latest refusal by the Society of St. Pius X to back down.
