A future pope will ‘welcome us back’, says priest from excommunicated Catholic sect

ZURICH — A priest from a Catholic splinter sect that was excommunicated ‌earlier this week told worshippers on Sunday that the breakaway group would be welcomed back to the Church under a different pope.

ZURICH — A priest from a Catholic splinter sect that was excommunicated ‌earlier this week told worshippers on Sunday that the breakaway group would be welcomed back to the Church under a different pope.

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The Society of St. Pius X - a rebel group of ultra-conservative ​Catholics - was excommunicated after four bishops were ordained without Pope Leo’s approval ​on Wednesday. The group has been unrepentant over the schism with Rome, ⁠saying Leo had failed to hear their concerns.

“There will one day be another pope ​who opens the door and welcomes us back. Just like Pope Benedict,” Georg Kopf ​said at a mass held in the north-eastern Swiss town of Wil.