Vatican declares SSPX bishops excommunicated after unauthorised consecrations, reviving decades-old dispute

Bishop of the Society of Saint Pius X, Alfonso de Galarreta, consecrating four new bishops in Econe without permission from the Vatican. EPA/Cyril Zingaro

By Southerton Business Times | Analysis

The Vatican has declared that bishops involved in the unauthorised consecration of four new bishops for the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX) have incurred automatic excommunication, marking the latest chapter in a decades-long dispute between the Holy See and the traditionalist Catholic group.

In a statement issued on 2 July, the Holy See said the consecrations, which took place a day earlier in Écône, Switzerland, constituted "an act of a schismatic nature." Under Canon Law, bishops who consecrate other bishops without a papal mandate, and those who receive episcopal consecration without authorisation from the Pope, incur latae sententiae (automatic) excommunication.

The Vatican said the four newly consecrated bishops and the bishops who performed the consecrations had placed themselves outside full communion with the Catholic Church. It also warned that clergy and faithful who formally adhere to the schismatic act risk the canonical consequences provided for under Church law.

The SSPX was founded in 1970 by French Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, who opposed many of the reforms introduced following the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965), commonly known as Vatican II. Convened by Pope John XXIII and concluded under Pope Paul VI, Vatican II sought to renew the Catholic Church's engagement with the modern world while maintaining its core doctrines. Among its most visible reforms was permitting the celebration of Mass in local languages instead of exclusively in Latin, alongside changes to liturgy, ecumenical relations and the Church's pastoral approach.

Lefebvre argued that several post-conciliar reforms represented a departure from longstanding Catholic tradition. His movement continued to celebrate the pre-Vatican II Latin Mass and rejected aspects of the Council's teachings. The Vatican withdrew official recognition of the SSPX in 1975, and tensions escalated the following year when Archbishop Lefebvre was suspended from exercising priestly ministry after ordaining priests against Vatican instructions.

The dispute reached a turning point in 1988, when Lefebvre consecrated four bishops in Écône without the approval of Pope John Paul II. The Vatican ruled that the consecrations constituted a schismatic act, and Lefebvre, together with the newly consecrated bishops, incurred automatic excommunication under Canon Law. At the same time, John Paul II acknowledged many Catholics' attachment to the traditional Latin liturgy and established structures to assist those wishing to remain in full communion with Rome while preserving older liturgical practices.

Pope Leo XIV: trying to hold together a diverse and often bitterly divided church. EPA/Riccardo Antimiani

Relations improved during the pontificate of Pope Benedict XVI. In 2007, Benedict expanded permission for the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass under specified conditions through Summorum Pontificum. Two years later, he lifted the excommunications imposed on the four surviving bishops consecrated in 1988 as a gesture intended to encourage dialogue. However, the Vatican made clear that the SSPX still lacked canonical status within the Catholic Church because unresolved doctrinal differences remained.

Formal doctrinal discussions followed but did not result in full reconciliation. During the pontificate of Pope Francis, dialogue continued. Francis also granted SSPX priests limited faculties to validly hear confessions and witness certain marriages under specified conditions, while maintaining that the society remained in an irregular canonical situation and outside full ecclesial communion.

Before the July 2026 ceremony, Pope Leo XIV wrote to SSPX Superior General Father Davide Pagliarani, urging the society not to proceed with the consecration of additional bishops. According to the Vatican, the Pope warned that proceeding without papal approval would constitute a schismatic act and further damage efforts toward reconciliation. Despite the appeal, the consecrations went ahead at Écône on 1 July. The Vatican subsequently confirmed that those directly involved had incurred automatic excommunication under canon law because of their participation in the unauthorised episcopal consecrations.

The latest development does not amount to the excommunication of every member of the SSPX. Instead, it applies directly to those who participated in the unauthorised episcopal consecrations and reflects the Catholic Church's long-standing position that bishops may not be consecrated without papal approval.

The SSPX estimates it serves approximately 600,000 faithful worldwide, operating seminaries, schools and chapels across several countries. Although relatively small compared with the Catholic Church's global membership of around 1.4 billion, the society continues to represent one of the most significant traditionalist movements outside full communion with Rome.

The latest rupture underscores that divisions over the interpretation and implementation of Vatican II remain unresolved more than six decades after the Council concluded, even as successive popes have sought dialogue alongside the enforcement of canon law.

SSPX excommunication