Vatican excommunicates breakaway priests, bishops after defying Pope Leo XIV

The Vatican has declared members of the Society of Saint Pius X, SSPX, to be in schism and excommunicated after the breakaway Catholic group ordained four new bishops without the approval of Pope Leo XIV.

In a decree issued on Thursday, July 2, the Vatican's Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith announced that the four newly ordained bishops, along with the two bishops who carried out the ordinations, had incurred automatic excommunication for defying the authority of the Pope.

The Vatican said the ordinations, which took place on Wednesday despite repeated warnings from Pope Leo XIV, constituted a schismatic act that seriously damaged the unity of the Catholic Church.

According to the decree, priests belonging to the Society of Saint Pius X and lay members who formally adhere to the group are also considered to be in schism and are excommunicated.

The ruling further warned Catholic clergy and faithful not to formally associate with the society, stating that anyone who knowingly joins the group would also face excommunication.

Excommunication is the Church's most severe ecclesiastical penalty and excludes individuals from receiving the sacraments and participating fully in the life of the Catholic Church.

The Vatican also announced that marriages and confessions administered by priests of the society will no longer be considered valid under Church law.

Despite the sanctions, the Holy See said it remains open to reconciliation, outlining conditions for priests who wish to return to full communion with the Catholic Church. These include writing personally to Pope Leo XIV requesting that the penalty be lifted, making a profession of faith and pledging not to publicly oppose the Pope or Church teachings.

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican's Secretary of State, described the unauthorized ordinations as a painful break from the unity of the Church, saying they carried the serious consequence of excommunication.

The Society of Saint Pius X was founded in 1970 by French Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre in opposition to several reforms introduced by the Second Vatican Council, including the celebration of Mass in local languages instead of Latin, teachings on religious freedom, ecumenism and the Church's rejection of antisemitism.

The group has long operated outside the full authority of the Vatican. In 1988, Archbishop Lefebvre also ordained four bishops without papal approval, resulting in excommunications that were later partially lifted under subsequent pontificates.

The latest sanctions are broader than those imposed in 1988, reflecting Pope Leo XIV's emphasis on preserving unity within the Catholic Church.