Vatican declares Society of St. Pius X in schism, excommunicates bishops
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. Baz Ratner/AP hide caption
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Baz Ratner/AP
VATICAN CITY — The Vatican responded aggressively Thursday to a traditionalist society that consecrated bishops without the pope's consent, declaring the Society of St. Pius X in schism, excommunicating its bishops and priests and warning its faithful they too face the harshest sanctions in the Catholic Church.
The Vatican's doctrine office went above and beyond the minimal sanctions foreseen by the church's canon law to respond to the consecrations Wednesday of four new bishops at the society's Econe, Switzerland, seminary.
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 and has accused of straying from the Catholic faith.
During a ritual-filled, five-hour Mass on Wednesday, attended by some 15,500 people and their children, the SSPX consecrated four new bishops in direct defiance of Pope Leo XIV, who had urged the SSPX to hold off for the sake of the church's unity.
In a decree, the Vatican excommunicated the four new bishops and the two bishops who participated in the ceremony. It declared the consecrations a "schismatic act" and declared the society itself had created a schism, or intentional rupture with the Catholic Church.
The Vatican warned the faithful who go to the society's Masses to stop, declaring "those who adhere formally" to the society are considered themselves schismatic and excommunicated. It declared SSPX priests to be schismatic, and therefore excommunicated, and invalidated the sacraments of confession and marriage that they administer.
The sanctions, especially those targeting the priests, the faithful and the sacraments they can receive, were particularly harsh and reversed concessions the Vatican had granted the SSPX in recent years as part of its outreach to bring the group back under Rome's wing.
Nuns attend a consecration ceremony for four new bishops in a tent set up outside the Society of St. Pius X seminary, in Econe, Switzerland, Wednesday, July 1, 2026. Baz Ratner/AP hide caption
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Baz Ratner/AP
French Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre founded the SSPX in 1970 in opposition to the modernizing reforms of the Second Vatican Council. Among other things, the 1960s meetings known as Vatican II revolutionized the church's relations with other Christians, Jews and people of other faiths and allowed Mass to be celebrated in the vernacular rather than Latin.
Lefebvre consecrated four bishops without papal consent in 1988. The Vatican promptly excommunicated Lefebvre and the four bishops and declared the consecrations a "schismatic act."
Pope Benedict XVI in 2009 lifted the excommunications as part of his yearslong outreach to the group, but the SSPX today has no legal standing in the church and with Thursday's decree is declared to be in schism.
The consecrations had posed a crisis for Leo because the American pope has stressed the need for church unity. He has reached out especially to the conservative and traditionalist wing of the church that was in many ways alienated during the Pope Francis pontificate.
But the sanctions imposed Thursday suggest that after nearly five decades of trying to negotiate with the society, the Holy See has had enough.
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. Baz Ratner/AP hide caption
toggle caption
Baz Ratner/AP
The Vatican responded so aggressively in part because the group poses something of a threat by representing a parallel, ultra-Catholic, pre-Vatican II church that has grown in the decades since its original break from Rome.
The group now has six bishops, 751 priests, 264 seminarians training in five seminaries, 145 religious brothers, 88 oblates and 250 religious sisters representing 50 nationalities, according to SSPX statistics.
The SSPX has accused the church of being rife with errors, such as modernism and liberalism, and that only it is upholding the true faith of Christ. It has justified the consecrations, citing a "state of necessity" to minister to its faithful.
In his homily during the consecrations Wednesday, the Rev. Davide Pagliarani, the SSPX superior, also insisted the consecrations served Leo and the church.
"We are accused of not respecting the pope," Pagliarani said. "But it is precisely because we love the pope as the vicar of Christ, as the head of the church, that we don't want to see the pope humiliated anymore, on the side of false shepherds representing false religions."
Read the full story at NPR ↗
On July 1, 2026, the Society of St. Pius X consecrated four bishops at its seminary in Econe, Switzerland, without approval from Pope Leo XIV. The Vatican responded the following day by declaring the SSPX in schism, excommunicating the six bishops involved and all SSPX priests, and invalidating the confessions and marriages they administer. The Vatican also warned Catholics that formal adherence to the SSPX results in excommunication. The SSPX, founded in 1970 by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre in opposition to Vatican II's modernizing reforms, maintains a substantial institutional presence with approximately 751 priests and 264 seminarians. Previous excommunications from a similar 1988 consecration were lifted by Pope Benedict XVI in 2009, but the latest consecrations prompted the Vatican to impose sanctions notably harsher than canon law typically requires.
Read the full story at NPR ↗
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. Baz Ratner/AP hide caption
toggle caption
Baz Ratner/AP
VATICAN CITY — The Vatican responded aggressively Thursday to a traditionalist society that consecrated bishops without the pope's consent, declaring the Society of St. Pius X in schism, excommunicating its bishops and priests and warning its faithful they too face the harshest sanctions in the Catholic Church.
The Vatican's doctrine office went above and beyond the minimal sanctions foreseen by the church's canon law to respond to the consecrations Wednesday of four new bishops at the society's Econe, Switzerland, seminary.
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 and has accused of straying from the Catholic faith.
During a ritual-filled, five-hour Mass on Wednesday, attended by some 15,500 people and their children, the SSPX consecrated four new bishops in direct defiance of Pope Leo XIV, who had urged the SSPX to hold off for the sake of the church's unity.
In a decree, the Vatican excommunicated the four new bishops and the two bishops who participated in the ceremony. It declared the consecrations a "schismatic act" and declared the society itself had created a schism, or intentional rupture with the Catholic Church.
The Vatican warned the faithful who go to the society's Masses to stop, declaring "those who adhere formally" to the society are considered themselves schismatic and excommunicated. It declared SSPX priests to be schismatic, and therefore excommunicated, and invalidated the sacraments of confession and marriage that they administer.
The sanctions, especially those targeting the priests, the faithful and the sacraments they can receive, were particularly harsh and reversed concessions the Vatican had granted the SSPX in recent years as part of its outreach to bring the group back under Rome's wing.
Nuns attend a consecration ceremony for four new bishops in a tent set up outside the Society of St. Pius X seminary, in Econe, Switzerland, Wednesday, July 1, 2026. Baz Ratner/AP hide caption
toggle caption
Baz Ratner/AP
French Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre founded the SSPX in 1970 in opposition to the modernizing reforms of the Second Vatican Council. Among other things, the 1960s meetings known as Vatican II revolutionized the church's relations with other Christians, Jews and people of other faiths and allowed Mass to be celebrated in the vernacular rather than Latin.
Lefebvre consecrated four bishops without papal consent in 1988. The Vatican promptly excommunicated Lefebvre and the four bishops and declared the consecrations a "schismatic act."
Pope Benedict XVI in 2009 lifted the excommunications as part of his yearslong outreach to the group, but the SSPX today has no legal standing in the church and with Thursday's decree is declared to be in schism.
The consecrations had posed a crisis for Leo because the American pope has stressed the need for church unity. He has reached out especially to the conservative and traditionalist wing of the church that was in many ways alienated during the Pope Francis pontificate.
But the sanctions imposed Thursday suggest that after nearly five decades of trying to negotiate with the society, the Holy See has had enough.
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. Baz Ratner/AP hide caption
toggle caption
Baz Ratner/AP
The Vatican responded so aggressively in part because the group poses something of a threat by representing a parallel, ultra-Catholic, pre-Vatican II church that has grown in the decades since its original break from Rome.
The group now has six bishops, 751 priests, 264 seminarians training in five seminaries, 145 religious brothers, 88 oblates and 250 religious sisters representing 50 nationalities, according to SSPX statistics.
The SSPX has accused the church of being rife with errors, such as modernism and liberalism, and that only it is upholding the true faith of Christ. It has justified the consecrations, citing a "state of necessity" to minister to its faithful.
In his homily during the consecrations Wednesday, the Rev. Davide Pagliarani, the SSPX superior, also insisted the consecrations served Leo and the church.
"We are accused of not respecting the pope," Pagliarani said. "But it is precisely because we love the pope as the vicar of Christ, as the head of the church, that we don't want to see the pope humiliated anymore, on the side of false shepherds representing false religions."
Read the full story at NPR ↗
The Society of St. Pius X consecrated four new bishops on July 1, 2026, at its seminary in Econe, Switzerland, without papal consent The Vatican declared the SSPX in schism and excommunicated the four new bishops, the two bishops who participated in the ceremony, and invalidated confessions and marriages administered by SSPX priests The Vatican warned the faithful that those who formally adhere to the SSPX are themselves excommunicated The SSPX celebrates the ancient Latin Mass and opposes the modernizing reforms of Vatican II The SSPX has accused the church of being rife with modernism, liberalism, and errors The Vatican's response was particularly harsh and reversed concessions granted to the SSPX in recent years Pope Benedict XVI lifted the excommunications from a 1988 similar consecration in 2009 as part of outreach The SSPX justified the consecrations citing a 'state of necessity' to minister to its faithful The Vatican responded so aggressively in part because the group poses a threat by representing a parallel, ultra-Catholic church The SSPX now has six bishops, 751 priests, 264 seminarians, 145 religious brothers, 88 oblates, and 250 religious sisters representing 50 nationalities
Read the full story at NPR ↗
- The Vatican declared the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) in schism and excommunicated six bishops and SSPX priests after the group consecrated four new bishops without papal consent on July 1, 2026
- The SSPX, founded in 1970 to oppose modernizing reforms of Vatican II, now operates as a parallel Catholic structure with six bishops, 751 priests, and 264 seminarians across five seminaries
- The Vatican invalidated sacraments administered by SSPX priests and warned the faithful that formal adherence to the society results in excommunication, reversing decades of attempted reconciliation