 Criticism of the Écône consecrations centred on the fact that they were carried out against the explicit orders of the then reigning Pope John Paul II.Under the Catholic Code of Canon Law, the consecration of a bishop requires the permission of the Pope, and (unless a papal dispensation has been granted) at least three consecrating bishops.Violation of the rule about the Pope's permission expressed in Canon 1013 has, since 1951, entailed automatic ("latae sententiae") excommunication reserved to the Holy See both for the consecrator and for the recipient of the consecration, and in this case there was not only an absence of permission but an actual prohibition by the Pope.