In a stunning move, Pope Leo XIV and the Vatican have excommunicated the bishops of a conservative Catholic splinter group known as the SSPX, and warned those who attend Mass at the organization’s churches that sticking with the movement could also put them outside of the Roman Catholic Church, meaning they are officially in schism.
The decree came after the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) consecrated four new bishops in Econe, Switzerland, without having the approval of the papacy and against the direct appeal of Pope Leo XIV. The Vatican stated that the SSPX’s six bishops were officially excommunicated after the consecrations took place. The move by the Vatican is an escalation in a long-standing rift between Rome and one of the world’s most defiant traditionalist movements.
The Vatican’s decree also issued a warning to lay people who “formally adhere” to the SSPX, saying they “are to be considered schismatic and excommunicated.” A clarification was later issued by the Vatican, stating that not every person who attends an SSPX service is considered to be automatically excommunicated.
The statement explained that the penalty applies to those who “habitually participate” in SSPX celebrations and “formally share its doctrinal positions,” which many Catholics say used to be the standard doctrines of the Catholic Church up until the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s. The Vatican also clarified that those who leave the group would be welcomed back to the Church “with sincere affection,” according to a report from Trending Politics News.
The SSPX came into being in 1970 in direct opposition to major reforms accepted at the Second Vatican Council, a gathering of bishops that resulted in the reshaping of Catholic worship and how it related to the modern world. The group rejects several Vatican II changes, including the wider use of local languages in Mass instead of Latin and the Church’s push for increased dialogue with other Christian denominations and other faiths.
During an SSPX Mass, priests face the altar and the Eucharist is placed directly on the tongue of worshipers kneeling at communion rails. Most women who attend the Traditional Latin Mass also wear head coverings and the vast majority are also much more socially conservative than mainstream Catholic believers. Rita Reid, 76, who is a member of the SSPX from Jersey in the Channel Islands, said her loyalty to the SSPX isn’t shaken by the Vatican’s move.
“It actually makes me feel quite strong. Before the consecrations yesterday I said to my husband, ‘Do you know what? Even if they excommunicate us, go ahead, bring it on, it’s not going to make one bit of difference,'” Reid said. She also said that there is no comparison between the Traditional Latin Mass and the Novus Ordo or standard Catholic Mass, which she called “weak and wishy-washy.”
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Reid then revealed that she used to attend both the Novus Ordo and the Traditional Latin Mass, but said that traditional teachings, such as no sex before marriage, were no longer discussed as much in the former compared to the latter. “I think a lot of young people now that go to Novus Ordo [the standard liturgy] think ‘oh well, it’s all right, we can do these things,'” she said.
Being excommunicated by the Catholic Church is one of the harshest penalties a person can receive from the authority within the institution. Being excommunicated means a baptized Catholic is considered to be out of communion with the Church and cannot receive sacraments such as Communion, marriage, or confession.
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