The Vatican excommunicated bishops and priests of a traditional sect of Catholics, known as the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX), declaring the move schismatic and warning all other faith members not to adhere to their teachings.
Because the traditionalist group consecrated bishops without papal approval, the Vatican issued a decree on July 2 declaring those bishops and their consecrators automatically excommunicated.
— EWTN Vatican (@EWTNVatican) July 2, 2026
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BREAKING: The Vatican excommunicates bishops from a breakaway group of traditionalist Catholics that consecrated them without Pope Leo's consent. https://t.co/dZUbjgCi7q
— The Associated Press (@AP) July 2, 2026
On Wednesday, two SSPX bishops consecrated four new bishops without a pontifical mandate in a five-hour-long ceremony in Switzerland. Reportedly, more than 15,000 people were in attendance on Wednesday, fully complicit in the act of grave defiance to Rome. SSPX was founded in 1970 as a priestly society dedicated to preserving the Latin Mass and opposing modern reforms of the Second Vatican Council, like religious freedom. After years of failed negotiations and attempts to bring the sect back, Pope Leo XIV took action. His warning to all associated could result in thousands of additional excommunications of the sect's followers. The decree excommunicated about 750 priests as well as the six bishops involved in the ordination, removing prior concessions that allowed them to officiate confessions and marriages. Pope Leo XIV repeatedly pleaded with the group to turn back and warned them of the serious consequences that would follow an unauthorized consecration.
On June 29, just two days before the consecrations, the Holy Father made a final plea to the group in a letter:
In this spirit, and filled with Christian affection, I plead with you and ask you with all my heart: please turn back! I urge you to consider carefully the spiritual good of the faithful, because the schismatic act you are about to undertake would deprive them of the licit and, in some cases, even valid reception of the Sacraments, which they love and seek for their sanctification.
This is not the first incident of its kind, as back in 1988, the society's founder, Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre and four other bishops held an ordination ceremony in the exact same spot and were excommunicated by St. John Paul II. Pope Benedict XVI reversed the decision in 2009 in an effort to encourage reconciliation and mending within the church, though the group continued to cause controversy.
The SSPX gave a statement following the consecrations, saying:
The Society sincerely regrets that, owing to exceptional circumstances, these consecrations had to be conferred without the authorization of the Holy Father. It regrets in particular that the superior general of the Society was not afforded the opportunity to meet personally with His Holiness Pope Leo XIV, in order to set before him filially the grave reasons which rendered this ceremony necessary.
While warnings were given, it is unclear whether the Pope will issue more excommunications to laypeople who continue following the sect. The move is sparking an age-old dialogue within the Catholic faith over traditionalism, and over who the Pope does and does not excommunicate. The decision comes just over a year into Pope Leo XIV's service as the head of the Catholic Church.
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