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Vatican Declares SSPX in Schism and Excommunicates Six Bishops After Unauthorized Consecrations
The Vatican on Thursday declared the Society of St. Pius X in schism after four new bishops were consecrated without papal approval. The decree also invalidated sacraments administered by SSPX priests.
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The Vatican declared the Society of St. Pius X in schism on Thursday and excommunicated six of its bishops after the group consecrated four new bishops without papal approval. The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith issued the decree, stating that the consecrations constituted an act of a schismatic nature carried out without pontifical mandate and against the will of the Supreme Pontiff.
The six bishops incurred ipso facto excommunication, the decree said. The Vatican also invalidated the sacraments of confession and marriage administered by SSPX priests and warned that those who adhere formally to the society are considered schismatic and excommunicated. The consecrations took place Wednesday at the SSPX seminary in Écône, Switzerland.
Bishops Alfonso de Galarreta and Bernard Fellay performed the rites for Pascal Schreiber, Michael Goldade, Michel Poinsinet de Sivry, and Marc Hanappier. Approximately 15,500 people attended the five-hour consecration Mass. French Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre founded the SSPX in 1970.
He consecrated four bishops without papal consent in 1988, prompting the Vatican to excommunicate him and the four bishops at the time and to declare the consecrations a schismatic act. Pope Benedict XVI lifted those excommunications in 2009, though the group held no legal standing in the church before Thursday's decree.
The SSPX celebrates the ancient Latin Mass and opposes the reforms of the Second Vatican Council from the 1960s.
The society has accused the Catholic Church of being rife with heresies and errors. It justified the latest consecrations by citing a state of necessity to minister to its faithful. Rev. Davide Pagliarani, the SSPX superior, delivered a homily during the Wednesday ceremony.
"We are accused of not respecting the pope," he said. The society now has six bishops, 751 priests, 264 seminarians, 145 religious brothers, 88 oblates, and 250 religious sisters representing 50 nationalities, according to SSPX statistics.
