Vatican cracks down on a traditionalist group by excommunicating its bishops

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Last edited Thu Jul 2, 2026, 08:50 PM - Edit history (4)

https://apnews.com/article/vatican-traditionalist-pope-latin-st-pius-6570c6bcc0784f4b9229e20bdec4e5aa

Vatican cracks down on a traditionalist group by excommunicating its bishops
By NICOLE WINFIELD
Updated 7:21 AM CDT, July 2, 2026

VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican responded aggressively Thursday to a traditionalist group that consecrated bishops without the pope’s consent, declaring the Society of St. Pius X had formally broken with the Catholic Church. It also excommunicated its bishops and priests, and warned its faithful that they too face the harshest sanctions in the church.

By declaring a schism and extending sanctions to potentially thousands of Catholics, the Vatican’s doctrine office went above and beyond the minimum sanctions foreseen by the church’s canon law to respond to the consecrations Wednesday of four new bishops.

The society, known by its acronym SSPX, celebrates the ancient Latin Mass and opposes the modernizing reforms of the Catholic Church, which it considers to be rife with heresies and errors. While a fringe movement on the Catholic right, the SSPX has been a thorn in the Vatican’s side for five decades because it claims to be even more Catholic than the Holy See.

The harshness of the response suggested that after trying to negotiate with the SSPX, the Vatican under Pope Leo XIV has had enough.

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https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jul/02/vatican-excommunicates-all-members-of-ultra-conservative-rebels-sspx

Vatican excommunicates all members of ultra-conservative rebel group SSPX
Schism caused by Society of Saint Pius X ordaining four bishops without consent presents first crisis for Pope Leo
Angela Giuffrida in Rome
Thu 2 Jul 2026 10.05 EDT

...

Pope Leo had made a last-ditch effort to persuade the society to halt the ordinations, which took place during a ritual-filled ceremony on Wednesday, calling them a “schismatic act” and a “sin of extreme gravity”.

An estimated 16,500 people gathered in Ecône for the ceremony, including members of New Force, an Italian neofascist political party, and National Future, a new far-right force threatening the Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni’s chances of winning a second mandate in general elections next year.

Despite being a splinter group, the SSPX, which has nearly 1,500 priests, seminarians and other vocational members, has made strides in attracting a following of an estimated 150,000 to 200,000 people around the world, especially in the US, France and Argentina.

The society rejects ​central changes that emerged from the second Vatican council – a landmark gathering of cardinals, patriarchs, bishops, theological experts and others between 1962 and 1965 – including allowing mass to be celebrated in local languages. Until then it had been said only in Latin. It also rejects dialogue with other religions and does not recognise other Christian churches.

“It’s a very minor group but they are very loud and very ultra-right,” said [Andrea] Vreede.

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https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/02/world/europe/vatican-society-st-pius-excommunication.html

Vatican Excommunicates Breakaway Group, in Biggest Schism in 156 Years
The move against the Society of St. Pius X followed its defiance of Pope Leo XIV by consecrating new bishops against his wishes.
By Elisabetta Povoledo
July 2, 2026 Updated 4:41 p.m. ET

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The decree against the Society of St. Pius X excommunicated at least 750 priests. It could also affect thousands of worshipers who have not been immediately expelled but, according to the Vatican, might still be punished if they do not leave the group and confirm their loyalty to Pope Leo, and adhere to the church and its teachings.

Historians said it was the biggest schism in the Catholic church since at least 1870, when a much smaller group of Catholics in Germany broke with the Vatican. The Society of St. Pius X does not keep full records of its followers, but officials estimated that they number between 300,000 and 600,000 people.

Experts said Leo’s decisiveness revealed that he would not maintain a superficial unity at all costs.

“He has learned from 20-plus years of make-believe reconciliation and rapprochement that never went anywhere,” said Massimo Faggioli, a professor of theology at Villanova University in Pennsylvania, where Leo studied. “He’s drawing some conclusions” that “there’s a schismatic reality and we have to say what it is,” Professor Faggioli said.

The Vatican’s reaction on Thursday was harsher than in 1988, when it excommunicated only the society’s five senior prelates.

This time, the excommunication applies to all of the society’s priests and formal followers. The Vatican added that the sacraments administered by the society’s priests, including confession and matrimony, were invalid, reversing concessions that Pope Francis had made to the society in recent years.

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Google Translate:

DICASTERY FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH

Prot. No. 99/2009

DECREE

Notwithstanding the warnings addressed to the Superior General of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X, Bishop Alfonso de Galarreta, having performed an act of a schismatic nature through the episcopal consecration of four priests — without a pontifical mandate and against the will of the Supreme Pontiff — has incurred *ipso facto* the penalties provided for by Canon 1387 and Canon 1364 § 1 of the 2021 CIC.

I therefore declare, for all legal purposes, that both the aforementioned Bishop Alfonso de Galarreta and Pascal Schreiber, Michael Goldade, Michel Poinsinet de Sivry, and Marc Hanappier have incurred *ipso facto* the excommunication *latae sententiae* reserved to the Apostolic See.

I further declare that Bishop Bernard Fellay, having participated directly in the liturgical celebration as a co-consecrator — thereby publicly adhering to the schismatic act — has incurred the excommunication *latae sententiae* provided for by Canon 1364 § 1 of the 2021 CIC.

Clerics and lay faithful are warned not to adhere to the schism of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X, for they would incur *ipso facto* the penalty of excommunication *latae sententiae*.

From the Palace of the Dicastery, 2 July 2026

Víctor M. Card. Fernández
Prefect

John J. Kennedy
Titular Archbishop of Ossero
Secretary for the Disciplinary Section

Msgr. Armando Matteo
Secretary for the Doctrinal Section


Prot. No. 99/2009

EXPLANATORY NOTE

From the time of Saint Paul VI up to the most recent discussions held at this Dicastery, the many attempts to bring the adherents of the movement founded by Msgr. Marcel Lefebvre back into full communion with the Catholic Church have proven fruitless. This situation has been further aggravated by recent episcopal consecrations performed without a pontifical mandate, against the will of the Holy Father, and in open violation of canon law. Therefore, this Dicastery, in the faithful exercise of the functions entrusted to it, deems it necessary to point out that this act constituted the crime of schism, entailing canonical consequences for the sacred ministers and lay faithful involved. Indeed, as was already declared in 1988, “such disobedience — which implies a practical rejection of the Roman Primacy — constitutes a schismatic act” (cf. John Paul II, Apostolic Letter *Ecclesia Dei*, 3).

In this regard, henceforth:

1. Sacred ministers belonging to the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X are in a state of schism and must therefore be considered schismatics (cf. *Ecclesia Dei*, 5 c; Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, *Explanatory Note on the excommunication for schism incurred by adherents of the movement of Bishop Marcel Lefebvre*, 24 August 1996, 5–6), thereby incurring the excommunication provided for by law (Canon 1364 § 1 CIC).

2. Regarding the lay faithful, those who formally adhere to the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X under the conditions established in the 1996 Explanatory Note of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts (cf. *ibid.*, 7) — which remains in force and is adopted by this Dicastery — are to be considered schismatics and excommunicated.

3. Finally, the holy People of God are warned that the sacred ministers of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X administer the sacraments illicitly, and that the sacrament of penance administered by them and the marriage at which they officiate are invalid.

The Church, as a caring mother, will welcome with sincere affection and deep solicitude all those who desire to return to full communion. Apostolic Nuncios will establish procedures that Ordinaries may use in various cases.

Finally, all the faithful are urged to remain steadfast in communion with the Roman Pontiff, with the Bishops in communion with him, and with the whole Church (cf. *Lumen Gentium*, 22; can. 751 CIC), and to refrain from participating in celebrations and activities promoted by the aforementioned Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X.

From the Palace of the Dicastery, 2 July 2026

Víctor M. Card. Fernández
Prefect

Msgr. Armando Matteo
Secretary for the Doctrinal Section

John J. Kennedy
Titular Archbishop of Ossero
Secretary for the Disciplinary Section