A lot has already been said about the second round of Écône consecrations, especially in the online Catholic sphere, mostly predictable stuff. Some have been championing the SSPX as heroic resisters, standing firm while Rome collapses into confusion, while others have been treating the event as a welcome opportunity to denounce not only the SSPX, but more or less anyone with an attachment to the older liturgy.
Let’s be clear: episcopal consecrations without a pontifical mandate cannot be waved away as a piece of traditionalist drama. However grave the crisis in the Church may be, consecrating bishops against the explicit will of the Pope is not on. The unfortunate situation with the SSPX, however, may yet have one silver lining: bishops may finally realise that the best way to keep Catholics attached to the old rite in full communion with Rome is to make the old rite more available, not less.
