Catholic Church excommunicates 6 bishops from ultra-conservative society

Rome — The Vatican announced Thursday that six bishops associated with the ultra-conservative Society 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. 

Although initially established with Vatican approval, relations with Rome steadily deteriorated as the SSPX rejected key aspects of the Council, particularly its teachings on religious liberty, interdenominational unity and episcopal collegiality – or the principle that bishops collectively share responsibility for Church governance.

The current schism echoes events from nearly four decades ago, when, in 1988, Archbishop Lefebvre consecrated four bishops without papal approval, resulting in automatic excommunication. 

Pope Benedict XVI lifted the personal excommunications of the surviving bishops in 2009 as part of an effort to foster reconciliation, but the society’s canonical status remained unresolved.

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. 

In the United States, SSPX is headquartered in Kansas and it operates the St. Thomas Aquinas Seminary in Dillwyn, Virginia, serving a network of chapels and schools across the country.  

The society says it has 25,000 adherents in the U.S.

An estimated 15,000 people gathered Wednesday in Écône to witness the episcopal consecrations.  

While expressing sorrow over the rupture, the Holy See said it continues to pray that members of the SSPX will one day be restored to full communion with the Catholic Church.

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