Stay up to date with notifications from The IndependentNotifications can be managed in browser preferences.Jump to contentThank you for registeringPlease refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged inAllNewsSportCultureLifestyleNewly consecrated Bishops 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)The Vatican has declared the traditionalist Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) in schism, saying it had formally broken with the Catholic Church, and excommunicated its bishops and priests after the group consecrated four new bishops without papal consent.The Holy See's doctrine office went beyond minimum sanctions, declaring the consecrations a "schismatic act" and extending excommunications to the four new bishops, the two participating bishops, and approximately 750 SSPX priests, also invalidating their sacraments of confession and marriage.The Vatican warned that faithful who formally adhere to the SSPX could also be considered schismatic and excommunicated, potentially affecting thousands of rank-and-file members.The SSPX, founded in 1970 in opposition to the Second Vatican Council's modernizing reforms, justified the consecrations by citing a "state of necessity" to minister to its faithful, while expressing shock and calling the Vatican's sanctions "unjust."This aggressive response from Pope Leo XIV's Vatican, which had previously attempted outreach, highlights the ongoing challenge posed by the SSPX, a growing "parallel, ultra-Catholic, pre-Vatican II church" that claims to uphold the true faith.In fullVatican declares Society of St. Pius X in schism and issues ‘brutal’ excommunicationsMore bulletinsThank you for registeringPlease refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in
Vatican issues mass excommunications after declaring breakaway group in schism
Stay up to date with notifications from The IndependentNotifications can be managed in browser preferences.Jump to contentThank you for registeringPlease refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged inAllNewsSportCultureLifestyleNewly consecrated Bishops 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)The Vatican has declared the traditionalist Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) in schism, saying it had formally broken with the Catholic Church, and excommunicated its bishops and priests after the group consecrated four new bishops without papal consent.The Holy See's doctrine office went beyond minimum sanctions, declaring the consecrations a "schismatic act" and extending excommunications to the four new bishops, the two participating bishops, and approximately 750 SSPX priests, also invalidating their sacraments of confession and marriage.The Vatican warned that faithful who formally adhere to the SSPX could also be considered schismatic and excommunicated, potentially affecting thousands of rank-and-file members.The SSPX, founded in 1970 in opposition to the Second Vatican Council's modernizing reforms, justified the consecrations by citing a "state of necessity" to minister to its faithful, while expressing shock and calling the Vatican's sanctions "unjust."This aggressive response from Pope Leo XIV's Vatican, which had previously attempted outreach, highlights the ongoing challenge posed by the SSPX, a growing "parallel, ultra-Catholic, pre-Vatican II church" that claims to uphold the true faith.In fullVatican declares Society of St. Pius X in schism and issues ‘brutal’ excommunicationsMore bulletinsThank you for registeringPlease refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in
