Vatican Excommunicates SSPX Group After Ordaining Bishops Without Mandate

JAKARTA - The Vatican announced on Thursday that it had excommunicated the ultraconservative group of the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) after they ordained four new bishops without papal approval on Wednesday.

Pope Leo XIV had previously given the group a final warning not to continue the ordination because the action would cause a schism.

The Vatican said the excommunication was signed by the prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernandez.

The excommunication was announced 24 hours after the ordination ceremony took place in Econe, Switzerland.

According to the Vatican, the bishops who carried out the ordination, namely Alfonso de Galarreta and Bernard Fellay, as well as the newly ordained bishops, namely Pascal Schreiber, Michael Goldade, Michel Poinsinet de Sivry, and Marc Hanappier, have committed "schismatic acts".

"The excommunication separates the bishops and priests of the Society of St. Pius X from the Church of Rome," the Vatican said.

"As for the lay people who are still members of the association, they will also be considered to have been excommunicated," said the Vatican decision, as quoted by Antara from ANSA.

The Swiss-based Society of St. Pius X was founded in 1970 by French Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, who strongly opposed the changes established by the Second Vatican Council about 60 years ago.

This excommunication is the second split of the two groups from the Roman Catholic Church.

The first split occurred in 1988, when the Vatican excommunicated four bishops ordained by Lefebvre without papal mandate.

Reconciliation efforts were made in 2009 when Pope Benedict XVI lifted the excommunication, with Pope Francis subsequently allowing SSPX priests to celebrate marriages in traditional churches under certain circumstances.

This was followed by other efforts to bring the ultraconservative group fully under the umbrella of the Catholic Church.

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