In second-century Phrygia, a group of spiritual Catholics—the Montanists—claimed a greater authority than the institutional Church. Montanus and his two prophetesses said they had new and direct revelations from God: The end was nigh, and the faithful were to prepare with more stringent spiritual and moral disciplines. They fell into conflict with the bishops and were eventually excommunicated.
Twelve hundred years later, in Italy, another spiritual group—the Fraticelli—began proclaiming that there were actually two churches. The first, they said, was a false church: the carnal church of Rome corrupted by the world. The second was the true church: a remnant of purified Franciscans still faithful to God. The Fraticelli denied the validity of the pope and the sacraments, electing their own bishops from among their number—leading to the pope’s condemnation of the movement.
There is nothing new under the sun, said Qoheleth, and another seven hundred years later, history seems to be repeating itself.
The Society of Saint Pius X (or the SSPX), a splinter group of traditionalists, recently consecrated four of its own bishops in Écône, Switzerland—despite a last-minute plea from Pope Leo XIV for the group to change course. The next day, the Vatican issued a decree declaring the bishops excommunicated and the group in schism—a decree the SSPX has since appealed. With this doubling down on episcopal consecrations (a similar situation happened in 1988), earlier efforts to draw the group back into the fold—the SSPX’s status had been “irregular,” not schismatic, and their Masses valid, if illicit—have broken down, possibly for good.
Read more on CWR