The Vatican has formally declared the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) to be in schism, excommunicating its bishops and priests and warning lay members worldwide that they too risk excommunication if they remain formally attached to the group. The decree, issued Thursday, July 2, by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith and signed by its prefect, Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, came a day after SSPX consecrated four new bishops in Écône, Switzerland, defying an explicit appeal from Pope Leo XIV not to proceed.
The document named Alfonso de Galarreta and Bernard Fellay as the consecrating bishops, and Pascal Schreiber, Michael Goldade, Michel Poinsinet de Sivry and Marc Hanappier as the newly ordained bishops, stating all six had automatically incurred excommunication reserved to the Holy See for committing what it called a schismatic act — consecrating bishops without a papal mandate and against the pope’s wishes.
In an unusually forceful move, the decree went further than the immediate participants, declaring that SSPX clergy generally are in schism, and that lay faithful who “formally adhere” to the society are likewise to be considered schismatic and excommunicated. It further warned that sacraments administered by SSPX priests are illicit, and that confessions and marriages they perform are invalid. The Vatican later clarified that the penalty is not automatic for every member. Citing a 1996 explanatory note, the decree said the excommunication applies specifically to those who choose adherence to the society over obedience to the pope while exclusively taking part in its ceremonies rather than those of the wider Church.
Despite the severity of the sanctions, the decree said the Church would welcome back “with sincere affection” any who wished to return to full communion, and left it to Vatican ambassadors around the world to work out procedures for local bishops handling individual cases. The consecrations took place Wednesday in a tent outside the SSPX seminary in Écône, the group’s historic headquarters, founded in 1970 by French Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre in opposition to the reforms of the Second Vatican Council. The society now has roughly 751 priests, 264 seminarians, 145 religious brothers and 250 religious sisters across 50 nationalities, according to its own figures.
Pope Leo had pleaded with the group in a letter earlier in the week, writing that breaking the Church’s unity was a grave sin and asking members to reconsider. Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin said afterward that he still hoped dialogue could resume, while stressing that acceptance of the Second Vatican Council remained the core issue dividing Rome and the society. SSPX’s superior general, Father Davide Pagliarani, defended the ordinations at the ceremony as an act of service rather than rebellion, saying the group was prepared to be treated as rebels if that was the price of serving the Church.
Analysts noted the schism poses an early test for Pope Leo, whose papacy has emphasized unity, barely a year after his election.
