The Vatican announced Thursday that six bishops associated with the Catholic traditionalists group of Saint Pius X (SSPX) have been excommunicated following the unauthorized consecration of four new bishops the previous day in Écône, Switzerland.
The consecrations were carried out without the approval of Pope Leo XIV. Under Catholic canon law, only the pope can authorize the consecration of new bishops.
The Vatican said the two consecrating bishops and the four newly ordained bishops — including one American — had incurred “latae sententiae” (automatic) excommunication. The Church further declared that the consecrations constituted a “schismatic act,” representing a formal break in ecclesial communion.
Excommunication is one of the most serious penalties that can be imposed by the Catholic Church’s leadership. It bars a Catholic from receiving any church sacraments such as baptism, communion or marriage.
Going even further, the Vatican warned members of the SSPX that those who knowingly and formally align themselves with the society place themselves outside full communion with the Church.
The Holy See also revoked the faculties previously granted to SSPX priests to validly celebrate the sacraments of confession and marriage, meaning those sacraments are no longer recognized as valid when administered by SSPX clergy.
On the eve of the consecrations, Pope Leo made a final appeal for unity, writing personally to the Society’s Superior General.
“I plead with you and ask you with all my heart: please turn back!” wrote Leo, the first-ever U.S.-born pontiff.
The SSPX was founded in the 1970s by French Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre in response to the liturgical and theological reforms that followed the Second Vatican Council. The society sought to preserve the Traditional Latin Mass and what it regards as the historic teachings of the Catholic Church.
Over the past five decades, the SSPX has grown into a global movement with an estimated 600,000 adherents. It operates seminaries, schools, retreat centers and hundreds of chapels worldwide. CBS
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