Vatican declares excommunication of Society of St. Pius X bishops and members after unauthorized ordinations
The Holy See announced that four bishops consecrated by the Society of St. Pius X, along with the society’s clergy and lay adherents, are excommunicated for schism following a ceremony in Écône, Switzerland.
The Vatican issued a decree on Thursday excommunicating four bishops consecrated by the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) in Écône, Switzerland, as well as the two bishops who performed the ordinations, all SSPX priests and lay Catholics formally attached to the group. The decree states that the participants are in schism for defying Pope Leo XIII’s explicit warning that the ordinations would constitute a grave violation of church law.
Pope Leo XIII had previously sent a letter to SSPX Superior General Davide Pagliarani urging the society to cease the planned consecrations, describing them as a “sin of extreme gravity.” Despite the warning, the ceremony proceeded with more than 1,000 clergy and thousands of faithful in attendance.
“We are accused of not loving the pope,” Pagliarani said in French during the service. “It is precisely because we love the pope as the vicar of Christ that we do not want to see the pope humiliated.”
The Vatican’s announcement also indicated that the excommunicated individuals may be readmitted to the church if they seek reconciliation. The decree reverses earlier accommodations that allowed SSPX priests to hear confessions and officiate marriages under specific conditions.
The SSPX, founded in 1970 by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre in opposition to reforms of the Second Vatican Council, has long maintained an “irregular” canonical status. The society justified the ordinations by citing a shortage of bishops able to ordain priests, a situation it described as a “state of necessity.”
The ceremony, attended by participants from at least 70 countries, was conducted primarily in Latin and lasted five hours. Weather interruptions briefly paused the service, but the event continued after the rain subsided.
The excommunication marks the most severe penalty the Vatican has applied in recent decades and could signal an end to ongoing dialogue between the Holy See and the SSPX.