the society of saint pius x consecrated four bishops at écône without the approval of pope leo xiv, despite his explicit appeal not to proceed; the act triggers automatic excommunication and formalizes a schism in the catholic church. this repeats the 1988 lefebvre consecrations almost exactly, but this time the break is being announced as formal rather than ambiguous. a schism in a 1.4-billion-member institution is a structural event regardless of one's view of the theology.