The Vatican has declared that six bishops of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X (SSPX) incurred automatic excommunication after participating in the unauthorized ordination of four bishops, an act the Holy See says has placed the fraternity in schism.
In a decree issued on July 2, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith said the episcopal consecrations, held the previous day in Écône, Switzerland, were carried out without a pontifical mandate and against the expressed will of Pope Leo XIV.
Those excommunicated are Bishops Alfonso de Galarreta and Bernard Fellay, who consecrated the new bishops, together with Bishops Pascal Schreiber, Michael Goldade, Michel Poinsinet de Sivry and Marc Hanappier, who received episcopal ordination.
The decree, signed by Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, states that the bishops incurred latae sententiae (automatic) excommunication, a canonical penalty reserved to the Apostolic See.
The Vatican said the unauthorised consecrations constituted “an act of a schismatic nature” and followed years of unsuccessful dialogue aimed at restoring full communion between the Holy See and the traditionalist fraternity founded by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre.
Before the ordinations took place, Pope Leo XIV had personally appealed to the fraternity not to proceed.
“In this spirit, and filled with Christian affection, I plead with you and ask you with all my heart: Please turn back,”the Holy Father wrote in a letter to the society.
Despite the appeal, the ordinations went ahead on July 1.
In an explanatory note accompanying the decree, the Dicastery stated that ministers of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X are in schism and administer the sacraments illicitly. It added that confessions heard by SSPX priests and marriages witnessed by them are invalid under the current canonical circumstances.
The Vatican also clarified that lay faithful who formally adhere to the fraternity and embrace its doctrinal positions are considered to be in schism and are subject to excommunication. It later explained that this does not apply automatically to everyone who attends an SSPX liturgy, but to those who habitually participate in the fraternity’s life and publicly identify with its teachings.
At the same time, the Holy See emphasized that the Church remains open to reconciliation.
“The Church, as a caring mother, will welcome with sincere affection and lively solicitude all those who wish to return to full communion,” the explanatory note states.
The SSPX was founded in 1970 by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre in opposition to several reforms introduced after the Second Vatican Council, including changes to the liturgy and aspects of the Church’s engagement with the modern world.
This is not the first time the fraternity has faced such sanctions. In 1988, Archbishop Lefebvre and the bishops he consecrated without papal approval also incurred automatic excommunication after similar unauthorized episcopal ordinations.
The Vatican’s latest decree underscores the Church’s continued commitment to safeguarding ecclesial unity while renewing its invitation to those separated from full communion to return to the heart of the Catholic Church.
