By Ishmael Adibuah
One day after the traditionalist Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) consecrated four bishops without the permission of Pope Leo XIV, the Vatican issued a decree declaring the excommunication of all bishops involved in the ceremony and stating that the group is in schism.
Published on July 2 by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, the decree specified that the consecrating bishops, Bishops Alfonso de Galarreta and Bernard Fellay, as well as the four bishops consecrated, Bishops Pascal Schreiber, Michael Goldade, Michel Poinsinet de Sivry, and Marc Hanappier, have incurred excommunication “latae sententiae” for performing the consecrations. These excommunications, according to canon law, can only be removed by the pope.
The decree also warned Catholic clergy and lay faithful not to adhere to the SSPX’s “schism,” under penalty of automatic excommunication.
The dicastery, in an explanatory note, lamented that doctrinal discussions between the Holy See and the SSPX, since the time of St. Paul VI, have not resulted in the society’s full communion with the Holy See.
The note also stated that SSPX clergy “administer the sacraments illicitly and that the sacrament of penance administered by them and the marriage assisted by them are invalid.”
Pope Francis had granted SSPX priests special permission to hear confessions and conduct marriage ceremonies as part of his outreach to the group.
The Vatican stated on May 13 that the consecrations would be a schismatic act, resulting in automatic excommunication for the consecrating bishops and those consecrated. Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin later called the SSPX’s act “schismatic.”
Pope Leo XIV even issued a final appeal to the society not to proceed with these consecrations.
“In this spirit, and filled with Christian affection, I plead with you and ask you with all my heart: Please turn back,” Leo wrote in his letter.
In 1988, after Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, the founder of the SSPX, consecrated bishops without a papal mandate, the Vatican responded two days later, notifying him and the consecrated bishops of their automatic excommunication.
The SSPX exclusively celebrates the Traditional Latin Mass and has rejected certain teachings and reforms of the Second Vatican Council, particularly regarding religious freedom and the Church’s approach to other faiths.
The SSPX did not respond to a request for comment at the time of publication.
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