Sawt Falasteen - Traditionalist Catholic society defies Vatican by consecrating new bishops

At a ceremony in Econe in southwest Switzerland, attended by thousands of worshippers from around the world and witnessed by AFP, the last two remaining bishops of the Society of Saint Pius X consecrated four new ones: two French, one American and one Swiss.

The society's Superior General Davide Pagliarani called it a "historic" day, during his homily.

"Are we breaking with the Church in order to keep the faith? That is a false dilemma. We belong to the Church first through faith, through the integral profession of the Church's faith," he said.

By going ahead without the pontiff's approval, all six bishops are de facto excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church.

But at the start of the ceremony, the society's secretary general Foucault Leroux said they considered "that all penalties and censures (...) are null and void".

- Mass in Latin -

The Society of Saint Pius X, which has around 600,000 followers, comprises fundamentalist Catholics who strongly oppose the liberal reforms imposed by the Vatican II Council in the 1960s.

Founded in 1970 by the controversial French bishop Marcel Lefebvre, the group triggered a rift with the Vatican by consecrating four bishops in 1988.

Wednesday's new consecrations took place in the very same spot, in the meadows near the society's seminary in Econe, a village in the Rhone valley, with the Alps towering above.

The consecrations took place during a mass in Latin which lasted around four hours.

The four priests lay face down on the ground while the Litany of the Saints was sung, before receiving the laying on of hands from the bishop -- the key moment, followed by the anointing.

The service took place on a large covered stage before several hundred priests and nuns, while the crowds outside watched on giant screens.

During the final rites, Econe was lashed by a torrential downpour accompanied by thunder, forcing some of the faithful to huddle under their umbrellas and raincoats.

- 'Sin of extreme gravity' -

For the Holy See, consecrating bishops without the approval of the pope is a direct act of insubordination, leading to the automatic excommunication of the bishops involved.

"I plead with you and ask you with all my heart: please turn back!" Pope Leo wrote in a letter to the society on Monday, calling it a "schismatic act".

"To tear the seamless garment of Christ is a sin of extreme gravity," the pontiff said.

The society says it is present in more than 75 countries across six continents, with more than 750 priests.

"There is absolutely nothing schismatic or anti-Church in our actions," Father Michel Rion, a theology professor at the Econe seminary -- one of the society's five worldwide -- told AFP.

"We hope that one day the pope will see that. For us, being schismatic is the worst thing that could happen, we would rather die than be schismatic."

- 'Historic moment' -

Adhering to a strict interpretation of Roman Catholic tradition, the society holds masses in Latin celebrated by priests with their backs turned to the congregation.

Andre, a 46-year-old Gabonese worshipper from Versailles in France, told AFP at Wednesday's ceremony: "In a few years, we will almost certainly be told that the choice we made was the right one."

In 1988, Pope John Paul II issued a similar appeal but failed to stop the society from ordaining bishops. They were immediately excommunicated, but the sanction was lifted in 2009 by Pope Benedict XVI.

His successor Pope Francis had from 2015 recognised the validity of confessions and marriages celebrated by the society's priests.

The society saw consecrating new bishops as a necessity, arguing it had only two bishops left.

Although influential in certain conservative circles, it remains a tiny group within the Catholic Church and its roughly 1.3 billion faithful.

E.Qaddoumi--SF-PST