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2h ago

Vatican Declares SSPX Consecrations Schismatic, Orders Excommunications

The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith said the July 1 rites broke Church law and imposed automatic excommunication on the bishops involved.

Newly consecrated Bishops, from left, Marc Hanappier, Michel Poinsinet de Sivry, Michael Goldade and Pascal Schreiber wearing their miters and holding their pastoral staffs, stand at the end of their consecration ceremony in a tent set up outside the Society of St. Pius X seminary in Econe, Switzerland, Wednesday, July 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)
Newly consecrated Bishops, from left, Pascal Schreiber, Michael Goldade, Michel Poinsinet de Sivry and Marc Hanappier hold their pastoral staffs at the end of their consecration ceremony in a tent set up outside the Society of St. Pius X seminary in Econe, Switzerland, Wednesday, July 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)
Status of the Immaculata Church in St. Marys within the Catholic Church is uncertain. Pope Leo XIV had urged Society of Saint Pius X leaders to not consecrate their own bishops and threatened excommunication. SSPX went forward with consecrating four bishops July 1.
Newly consecrated Bishops, from left, Pascal Schreiber, Michael Goldade, Michel Poinsinet de Sivry and Marc Hanappier, wearing their miters and holding their pastoral staffs, pray at the end of their consecration ceremony in a tent set up outside the Society of St. Pius X seminary in Econe, Switzerland, Wednesday, July 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)

Overview

  • The Society of St. Pius X consecrated four bishops at Écône on July 1 in defiance of Pope Leo XIV, and the event was livestreamed to thousands of supporters.
  • On July 2 the Vatican’s doctrinal office issued a decree calling the ordinations an act of schism and said the two consecrating bishops and the four newly consecrated bishops incurred automatic, or latae sententiae, excommunication.
  • The Dicastery’s explanatory note extended the schism designation to SSPX priests and lay people who formally adhere to the group and warned that sacraments they provide, especially confession and marriage, may be illicit or invalid.
  • SSPX leaders said they acted out of urgency to secure episcopal succession because only two of their bishops remained able to ordain priests, and the society framed the ceremony as necessary to serve its global network of chapels and seminaries.
  • The dispute revives a decades-long rejection of key Second Vatican Council reforms by SSPX and sets up a standoff that will require local bishops and Vatican envoys to decide pastoral steps for people affected and whether individuals will seek reconciliation.