The Vatican announced the excommunication of the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) priests and bishops, after consecrating new bishops without consent of Pope Leo XIV. SSPX first announced their plans to consecrate these bishops on Feb. 2, 2026.
On July 1, 2026 SSPX consecrated four new bishops in a 5 hour mass attended by nearly 15,000. Pope Leo XIV had urged the society to wait to consecrate these bishops for the church’s sake. “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…” Leo XIV said on June 30th, in a letter to SSPX.
Hours after Leo’s letter was published the SSPX Superior General, Fr. David Pagliarani, thanked the Pope for this concern but insisted their planned consecration without papal mandate, would not constitute an act of schism. He also asked Pope Leo to reconsider excommunications, that would result from the consecrations. “Far be it from us to separate ourselves from the Roman Church. We desire, on the contrary, to serve her by means that are extraordinary, as one would assist a mother in distress who requires particular help, even if such help is not understood by everyone,” he said in his letter.
In response to the consecration, on July 2, the Vatican released an excommunication decree, a document signed by Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández. The document declares the excommunication of the society’s priests and bishops due to “an act of schismatic nature.” The decree not only applies to the four bishops newly consecrated, but to all clergy that belong to SSPX. Under Catholic Canon Law, excommunication happens immediately after a schismatic act, so by Catholic belief the decree is only a notification and everyone involved was excommunicated yesterday.
Since the society did not have a papal mandate to consecrate these bishops, they replaced the section of the rite where the consecrating bishop was asked if he had a papal mandate, instead reading a substitute statement that justified the absence of one: “It is the Catholic and Roman Church, always faithful to the holy traditions received from the Apostles, who in entirely exceptional circumstances demands that we provide for the upholding of these traditions, that is the deposit of faith and that we take the means necessary to transmit them faithfully to all men for the salvation of their souls.” Fr. David Pagliarani rejected the “schism” framing, saying: “No one can choose between faith and the church… We want the faith of the church in order to remain in the church.”
Speaking to journalists on the sidelines of a meeting at the Italian Embassy to the Holy See on Wednesday, Cardinal Parolin said: “I want to express great sorrow, because… an act of this kind deeply wounds the unity of the Church.” He also identified the underlying doctrinal dispute: SSPX’s refusal to recognize the Second Vatican Council.
Whether you believe that the consecration was necessary, or if it was a schismatic act, is as always for you to decide.
-Elijah Iraheta, Editor in Chief, Saber News
