Breaking: Vatican Excommunicates Rebel Catholic Bishops, Priest, Followers as Details Emerge
- The Vatican formally declared the Society of St. Pius X in schism on Thursday after the group consecrated four new bishops without Pope Leo XIV's approval
- The Vatican's doctrine office excommunicated six SSPX bishops, declared all 750 SSPX priests schismatic, and invalidated sacraments including confession and marriage
- Thousands of SSPX faithful who regularly attend its Masses and formally share its doctrinal positions also face excommunication under the sweeping Vatican decree
The Vatican on Thursday, July 2, declared the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) in formal schism and issued sweeping excommunications against its bishops, priests and potentially thousands of its faithful, responding with exceptional force after the traditionalist group consecrated four bishops in Switzerland without papal authorisation.
The decree, issued by the Vatican's doctrine office, targeted the four newly consecrated bishops as well as two existing SSPX bishops who participated in Wednesday's ceremony.
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It further declared all approximately 750 SSPX priests schismatic and therefore excommunicated, and invalidated the sacraments of confession and marriage that they administer.
The Vatican also warned laypeople that those who formally adhere to the SSPX, including members of its lay branch and those who regularly attend its Masses while sharing its doctrinal positions, are likewise schismatic and excommunicated. Catholics who attend SSPX services purely for liturgical or spiritual reasons, or those who accept the pope's authority, are exempt from the sanctions.
SSPX consecrates 4 bishops in defiance of Pope Leo XIV
The crisis began Wednesday, July 1, when the SSPX carried out a five-hour Mass at its seminary in Ecône, Switzerland, consecrating four new bishops: Pascal Schreiber, Michael Goldade, Michel Poinsinet de Sivry and Marc Hanappier, The Washington Post reported.
An estimated 15,500 people attended, despite Pope Leo XIV having written to the group just a day earlier, urging it to postpone the consecrations in the interest of church unity.
SSPX media manager Marc-André Mabillard condemned the severity of Thursday's response, describing the extension of excommunications to ordinary faithful as "brutal."
"For us, this excommunication extended to the faithful is brutal. It's not what we expect from a father to whom we refer every day. We are told, 'You claim to have the truth.' Fine. I'm just saying that we certainly have our flaws, but our main flaw today is having a leader who doesn't want to communicate with us. And that's terrible," he told The Associated Press.
SSPX history and break with Rome
The SSPX was founded in 1970 by French Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre in opposition to the modernising reforms of the Second Vatican Council, the 1960s gatherings that transformed the Church's relations with Jews and people of other faiths and permitted Mass to be celebrated in local languages rather than Latin, AFP reported.
Lefebvre consecrated four bishops without papal consent in 1988, prompting immediate excommunications. Pope Benedict XVI lifted those excommunications in 2009 as part of a broader outreach to the group, but the SSPX never regained formal standing in the Church.
The Vatican said it remained open to welcoming SSPX members back into full communion, outlining procedures through which priests and faithful could return by professing the faith, pledging fidelity to the pope, and accepting core Vatican II teaching.
Joseph Shaw, head of the Latin Mass Society of England and Wales, a group in communion with Rome, acknowledged the gravity of Thursday's announcement.
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"He's brought the hammer down," Shaw said, adding that the invalidation of SSPX marriages in particular would cause "massive" pastoral problems. "It's a sad day."
Pope Leo issues new decree
Meanwhile, Legit.ng reported that the Vatican issued a new decree, approved by Pope Leo, that redefines how Catholics should refer to Mary, the mother of Jesus, particularly in relation to her role in salvation.
The document, released on Tuesday, addressed long-standing theological debates surrounding the titles “co-redemptrix” and “mediatrix”, which have been popular among the faithful for centuries.
Source: Legit.ng
