The Vatican said Thursday it had excommunicated priests and lay Catholics belonging to a breakaway right-wing group that ordained bishops without the approval of Pope Leo XIV, declaring they were in schism with the Catholic Church.
In a strong decree, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, the top watchdog authority for the 1.4-billion-member Church, also warned Catholics globally that the Swiss-based Society of St. Pius X now celebrated the sacraments illicitly.
The ultra-traditionalist group, which denies key Church teachings, cannot officiate marriages or hear confessions validly, the decree said.
It is a strict teaching of the Church that only the pope can authorize the consecration of new bishops, to maintain the Church's ties to Jesus' 12 apostles, who are considered the first priests and bishops.
The Society was not available for immediate comment on the Vatican decree. It said on Wednesday it had to go forward with the ordinations without papal approval "owing to exceptional circumstances."
