The Vatican has formally declared the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX) to be in schism and excommunicated six bishops over the unauthorized consecration of four new bishops without papal approval.
The decision was announced in a decree issued by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith and seen by THE WHISTLER on Saturday.
In the decree, Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández said Bishop Alfonso de Galarreta incurred automatic (latae sententiae) excommunication after consecrating four priests as bishops without a pontifical mandate and against the will of Pope Leo XIV.
The four newly consecrated bishops, Pascal Schreiber, Michael Goldade, Michel Poinsinet de Sivry and Marc Hanappier, were also declared excommunicated. Bishop Bernard Fellay received the same penalty for serving as co-consecrator.
The Vatican described the consecrations as a schismatic act and said the SSPX is now regarded as being in schism.
It warned that Catholics who formally join the fraternity could face canonical penalties and urged the faithful to remain in communion with the Pope by avoiding SSPX liturgical celebrations and activities.
The Holy See also said confessions heard by SSPX ministers are invalid because they lack the required canonical faculties unless expressly authorised by legitimate Church authority.
The decree followed the SSPX’s July 1 consecration of four bishops in Écône despite repeated appeals by Pope Leo XIV to cancel the ceremony.
Founded in 1970 by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, the SSPX has remained in an irregular canonical status for decades because of its opposition to reforms introduced after the Second Vatican Council.
(The Whistler)
