Despite a personal appeal from Pope Leo XIV, the Society of St. Pius X went ahead July 1 with the unauthorized consecration of four new bishops at its seminary in Écône, Switzerland, with the Mass broadcasted live and thousands of faithful attending. The pope warned in his letter dated June 29 – the feast of Saints Peter and Paul – that the move would cause a formal schism and deprive followers of lawful, and in some cases valid, access to the sacraments.