Vatican City - Just hours after Leo XIV published his impassioned appeal to the Society of Saint Pius X not to go ahead with the episcopal consecrations planned for the morning of 1 July at Ecône, the Superior General of the Lefebvrists has sent his reply to the Pope.
The tone is respectful and filial. Pagliarani says he has been “deeply touched” by the Pope’s paternal concern and reiterates his “sincere desire to serve the Church”, rejecting any intention to break with Rome. Yet the substance of the letter carefully turns the central image of the papal message on its head. Where Leo XIV warned that “to tear the seamless garment of Christ is a sin of extreme gravity”, the Superior General presents it as the Society’s “very duty” to “do everything possible to mend Christ’s seamless garment, torn by forces and pressures incompatible with a truly Catholic spirit”.
The entire argument hinges on that reversal. Pagliarani argues that the very fact he is being addressed “as a father and his son” proves that the Society is not schismatic, and treats this as evidence of the Holy See’s benevolent attitude. He also refers to the testimony of the late Bishop Vitus Huonder and Bishop Athanasius Schneider on the Society’s “profoundly Catholic spirit”, and invokes the “thousands of souls” who, through its apostolate, have rediscovered the Catholic faith and returned to religious practice. His conclusion is a specific request to the Pope: to “take the time necessary for that discernment”.
The Pope’s appeal asked for a step back. The reply asks Rome to wait. Between the two stand the four consecrations, still scheduled at the same seminary in Ecône where, on 30 June 1988, Marcel Lefebvre consecrated four bishops without a pontifical mandate, thereby giving rise to the schism. The letter ends without any act of submission and with one request only: “Please give us Your blessing.”
In practical terms, nothing changes. For all the filial courtesy and elaborate formalities, the Society gives nothing away and presses on: it is proceeding with what it had already decided, leaving the Pope as the only one left pleading.