Vatican excommunicates rebel Catholic clerics after bishop ordinations
The Vatican said the Society of St Pius X acted in schism by consecrating four bishops without Pope Leo XIV’s approval.
By Sofia Marchetti · World Affairs Correspondent
2 min read
The Vatican has declared members of the Society of St Pius X to be in schism and excommunicated after the breakaway Catholic group consecrated bishops without Pope Leo XIV’s permission. The move matters because the Vatican said the group’s priests are now administering sacraments outside church law.
The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican office that oversees doctrine for the 1.4-billion-member Roman Catholic Church, issued the decree on Thursday, according to AFP and Reuters. The decree warned Catholics worldwide that the Swiss-based group is celebrating sacraments illicitly.
The Vatican said the action followed a ceremony in Switzerland on Wednesday in which the Society of St Pius X consecrated four new bishops. According to AFP and Reuters, the ceremony went ahead despite a request from Pope Leo that the group not proceed.
Under Catholic rules cited by AFP and Reuters, only the pope may authorize the consecration of bishops. The rule is meant to preserve the church’s line of succession with Jesus’s 12 disciples, whom the church regards as the first priests and bishops.
The decree said the two bishops who led Wednesday’s unauthorized ordinations were excommunicated. It also said the four priests involved in the ceremony were excommunicated, according to AFP and Reuters.
The Vatican also said priests and lay Catholics linked to the group are separated from the wider church. The decree described the Society of St Pius X as operating in schism, a formal rupture with church authority.
The decree said the ultraconservative group, which AFP and Reuters reported rejects key church teachings, cannot validly preside over marriages or hear confessions. The Vatican’s warning means Catholics are being told that those rites, when performed by the group, do not have proper standing under church law.
The Society of St Pius X did not immediately respond to the excommunications on Thursday, according to AFP and Reuters. On Wednesday, the group said it needed to proceed with the ordinations without papal approval because of what it called exceptional circumstances.
The decree marks a direct confrontation between the Vatican and a conservative breakaway community over episcopal authority. For Pope Leo XIV, the issue centers on who may name and consecrate bishops in the Catholic Church.
This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.