You will have noticed that Rorate has covered all sides and most aspects of the July 1st, 2026, Consecrations of four new bishops for the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX), in Écône, Switzerland.
National stereotypes exist for a reason, and we can say that it is all moving forward with Swiss efficiency. This is to say: it will be a grand, well celebrated, well attended, very organized ceremony, just weeks away. And no amount of online debate will change that: we post them as written records of a major event for Traditional Catholic history.
So the event will take place. Almost everything is already set up. The only variable is: what will the Bishop of Rome do? How will he choose to react? For, as so many Councils have made clear, “the holy Apostolic See and the Roman Pontiff hold a world-wide primacy, and that the Roman Pontiff is the successor of blessed Peter, the prince of the apostles, true vicar of Christ, head of the whole Church and father and teacher of all Christian people. To him, in blessed Peter, full power has been given by our lord Jesus Christ to tend, rule and govern the universal Church." (cf. Vatican I, Pastor Æternus)
The choice does not seem to have changed from what our first sources exclusively revealed, confirmed later by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, that is, the excommunication of those directly involved: the consecrating bishops, and the consecrated new bishops (currently priests).
The event will take place — without Pontifical mandate. Which, it is true, is not by itself, in its prior form, a longstanding Catholic legal issue: the Church is much more centralized now than until the pontificate of Pius IX, and communications have only been immediate since the widespread use of the telegraph. Which it is why it is a legal issue today. Even more so when there is an express warning from the Apostolic See not to proceed; the perpetuation in time of an uncertain situation is by all means abhorrent to the very reason of the existence of the Roman See as guarantor of unity.
But the Pope is free and unencumbered.
Will he offer just the law? Mercy? A mix of both? That is the only variable. And his response matters to the entire Catholic world.
