Excommunicated Priest Believes Future Pope Will Welcome Back Splinter Sect

A priest from a Catholic splinter sect, excommunicated earlier this week, told his congregation on Sunday that the breakaway group anticipates a future pope will welcome them back into the Church.

The Society of St. Pius X, an ultra-conservative Catholic group, faced excommunication after ordaining four bishops without Pope Leo's approval on Wednesday. The group has remained unrepentant regarding the schism with Rome, asserting that Pope Leo failed to address their concerns.

"There will one day be another pope who opens the door and welcomes us back. Just like Pope Benedict," Georg Kopf stated during a mass held in Wil, a town in north-eastern Switzerland.

Established in 1970, the Switzerland-based group, which boasts followers worldwide, accuses the Church of deviating from the true faith. They adhere to old-style Latin Mass and reject formal dialogue with non-Catholics.

Repeating history

The group has endured a rupture with the Vatican before. In the late 1980s, its founder Marcel Lefebvre consecrated four bishops without the approval of Pope John Paul II, leading those involved to be excommunicated.

They were welcomed back in 2009, however, when Pope Benedict XVI sought unification by lifting the judgement.

"I am convinced that there will be another pope like him who will give tradition its rightful place again. Of course, we’d like that to happen tomorrow," Kopf added.

The Vatican said dialogue was offered to the group ahead of the schism and that the step ​of ordaining bishops ​without Church approval was considered so grave that excommunication was automatic.

"Nothing that happened on July 1 was intended to establish a parallel church or to break with Rome," Kopf said in his sermon given in German, "On the contrary, it was precisely out of love for the Church and the pope that these ordinations were carried out, in order to look after the salvation of souls."