For ordaining four new bishops in defiance of Pope Leo XIV’s wishes, the Vatican on Thursday announced that priests and members of a breakaway Catholic group that are now in schism and excommunicated.
The Vatican’s doctrinal office on Thursday published a decree saying that the four bishops who went ahead with the ordinations on Wednesday without papal approval and despite appeals from Leo to reverse the decision are excommunicated, along with the two bishops who participated in the ordination ceremony.
The situation in Cates that the Bishops why belong to the Society of Saint Pius X, an ultra-traditionalist group, are excluded from the sacraments of the church.
The statement further explained that priests belonging to the society and lay members who “formally adhere” to the group are also in schism and excommunicated.
The decree therefore warns the clerics and the lay faithful to henceforth shun following the society as non-compliance will automatically incur the penalty of excommunication.
Recall Poe Leo had in a final appeal to the group on Monday, warned that the ordinations would be a “schismatic” act and a “sin of extreme gravity,” and the ruling by the Vatican is wide-ranging in clamping down on the group.
The society, known as the SSPX, was founded in 1970 in Switzerland by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, a French prelate, but five years later was officially suppressed by the Bishop of Fribourg.
In 1988 the group ordained four bishops without papal approval, which led to their excommunication.
The latest Vatican action goes further than the sanctions in 1988, which were limited to the bishops as any marriage or confession offered by the group will be considered “invalid.”
As a church the document stated its willingness to welcome with sincere affection and active care all those who wish to return to full communion.
