The Vatican has taken the extraordinary step of excommunicating the bishops of the traditionalist Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX), while warning that followers who remain loyal to the group risk being cut off from the Roman Catholic Church in one of its toughest crackdowns on a breakaway movement in decades.
The dramatic move came just one day after the Society defied direct orders from Pope Leo XIV by consecrating four new bishops without papal approval, a decision the Vatican says pushed the group deeper into schism.
In a decree issued Thursday, the Vatican declared all six SSPX bishops excommunicated. It also announced that lay members who formally align themselves with the Society and embrace its teachings are to be regarded as schismatics and excommunicated as well.
The Vatican later clarified that not every person attending an SSPX church is automatically excommunicated. Instead, the penalty applies to those who regularly participate in the Society’s religious life and openly support its doctrinal positions.
The Society of Saint Pius X was founded in 1970 in opposition to reforms introduced by the Second Vatican Council, rejecting many of the changes that reshaped modern Catholic worship. The group continues to celebrate Mass exclusively in Latin, with priests facing the altar and Holy Communion placed directly on the tongues of kneeling worshippers.
Believed to have around 600,000 followers worldwide, the SSPX has a strong presence in the United States, France and the United Kingdom.
The Vatican said priests belonging to the Society administer the sacraments unlawfully, while confessions heard and marriages performed by SSPX clergy are considered invalid under Church law.
Excommunication is among the Church’s most severe penalties, effectively placing a person outside communion with the Catholic Church and preventing them from receiving the sacraments, including confession and marriage within the Church.
The latest decree marks a dramatic collapse in years of efforts to reconcile with the traditionalist movement. While previous excommunications imposed on SSPX bishops in the 1980s were eventually lifted, the Vatican’s latest action is broader and tougher, extending beyond church leaders to loyal followers who continue to identify with the group.
Despite the crackdown, many SSPX members insist it is the Vatican—not their movement—that has strayed from authentic Catholic teaching, underscoring a divide that now appears wider than ever.
