Pope Leo Excommunicates 6 Bishops and All Priests of the Society of Saint Pius X

On July 2, 2026, the Vatican excommunicated 6 traditionalist bishops, all priests of the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX), and followers who formally follow and share the same beliefs as the SSPX. Bishop Alfonso de Galarreta and Bishop Bernard Fellay, both part of SSPX, performed a ritual to consecrate four new SSPX bishops without the consent of Pope Leo XIV.

French archbishop Marcel Lefebvre founded the Society of Saint Pius X in 1970 in Écône, Switzerland. SSPX’s beliefs are strongly traditional and reject modernizing reforms of the Second Vatican Council. SSPX’s followers reject teachings of Vatican II, like ecumenism, religious liberty, and holding mass in local languages instead of just Latin.

SSPX’s two bishops appointed 4 new bishops without consent from the Pope. Canon 1382 defines that a bishop is strictly forbidden from ordaining another bishop unless he has a direct mandate from the Pope and will receive the punishment of excommunication if he does so. This Canon was made so that bishops could not be forced by rulers trying to maintain power into ordaining other bishops and then form a new faction with sacramental legitimacy.

The Vatican views the unauthorized creation of new bishops as a schismatic act, which is punishable by excommunication. Besides, Pope Leo XIV explicitly warned the SSPX leaders not to ordain new bishops by publishing a letter to the superior general of the society that states, “I implore you and ask you with all my heart: Turn back!” However, the group ignored him and held the ceremony, leading the Vatican to rule the defiance as intentional.

SSPX has attempted to ordain 4 new bishops before. The Vatican had excommunicated the 2 bishops trying to ordain the 4 new bishops and the 4 new bishops in 1988. After this event, SSPX had been continually warned of excommunication because of their defiance to the Vatican II, with which SSPX held different opinions especially about ecumenism.

Pope Benedict XVI lifted the excommunications on the four surviving bishops in 2009. He tried to heal the rift between the Vatican and SSPX. His attempt failed however, and SSPX still disobeyed Pope Leo and the Vatican, leading to their excommunication.

By excommunicating the six bishops and priests of the SSPX, the Vatican has stripped the priests of SSPX of their power to administer sacraments, such as confessions or marriages. However, the Pope says that he will welcome back followers of SSPX who now reject the teachings of SSPX.

Source: http://app.letterly.io/api/letterly/documents/view?url=letterly%2Fdocuments%2Flink%2F81500