Rome —
The Vatican announced Thursday that priests and members of a Catholic splinter group that ordained four new bishops against the wishes of Pope Leo XIV are in schism and excommunicated.
The Society of St. Pius X, an ultra-traditionalist group, moved ahead with the ordination on Wednesday without the pope’s approval and despite calls from Leo to reverse the decision.
In response, the Vatican’s doctrinal department issued a decree on Thursday saying four bishops were excommunicated, as well as two bishops who participated in the ordination ceremony. Excommunication means removal from the sacraments of the church.
The explanatory note adds that the society’s priests and laity “formally affiliated” with the group are also in schism and excommunicated.
The decree warns all “clergy and laity” not to formally follow society, as they will automatically suffer the penalty of excommunication.
In his latest address to the group on Monday, Leo warned that the ordination would be a “schismatic” act and a “sin of the utmost gravity” and the Vatican’s decision was a sweeping measure to crack down on the group.
Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s secretary of state, expressed his “profound sorrow” over the ordinations on Wednesday, saying they “violate the unity of the Church and carry with them very specific sanctions – essentially excommunication.”
Leo has not made public comments since the ordination.
The society, known as the SSPX, was founded in 1970 in Switzerland by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, a French prelate, but was officially closed by the Bishop of Friborg five years later. In 1988, the group ordained four bishops without papal approval, leading to their excommunication.
The Vatican’s latest actions go beyond 1988 sanctions that were limited to bishops. And while Pope Francis has allowed the community to perform the sacraments of marriage and confession, the Vatican’s latest ruling states that any marriage or confession offered by the group will be considered “null and void.”
However, the note states that “The Church, like a caring mother, will receive with sincere love and active concern all who wish to return to full communion.”
The split from the main church was based on the opposition of Lefebvre and his followers to the church reforms carried out in the 1960s by the Second Vatican Council.
The “Lefebrists” do not accept what the council taught about religious freedom, ecumenism (the teaching about other Christian denominations and religions) and reforms of Catholic worship, such as celebrating Mass in languages other than Latin. One of the main reforms of the council was the condemnation of all forms of anti-Semitism.
During his pontificate, Leo XIV made the unity of the church a priority, the cornerstone of which was the bond between pope and bishop.
On June 16, the Pope pointed out to reporters that the Lefebvrists “refuse to accept certain fundamental elements of the Church, starting with several points of the Second Vatican Council.” Of the planned ordinations, he said: “If they make that choice, then I’m very sorry, but we have to move forward.”
The group has an active presence in the United States, with headquarters in Missouri and a priestly training seminary in Dillwin, Virginia. One of the bishops ordained Wednesday is Father Michael Goldad, who heads the seminary.
“The modernist church is a desert that kills everything it touches,” Goldade said at the service after his ordination.