From AP:
The traditionalist Catholics who defied Pope Leo XIV and caused a schism defended their actions Friday, insisting they were merely saving souls and were victim of an unjust sanction by the Holy See. The head of the Society of St. Pius X wrote to Leo a day after the Vatican excommunicated the group’s bishops and priests and warned its faithful they too could be excommunicated for participating in the schism, or rupture in church unity.
The society, known as SSPX, celebrates the ancient Latin Mass and opposes the modernizing reforms of the Catholic Church. On Wednesday, it consecrated four new bishops without papal consent during a massive ceremony at its seminary in Econe, Switzerland, committing one of the gravest crimes in church law.