The Vatican/Holy See recognizing that the SSPX/FSSPX/Lefebvrists/Lefebvrians is not officially part of the Roman Catholic Church isn’t all that surprising.
I’m sharing excerpts: one from an AP article, another from Vatican News. There’s more detail and links in the Vatican News piece.
“Vatican cracks down on a traditionalist group by excommunicating its bishops”
Nicole Winfield, AP (Associated Press) (July 2, 2026)“…The Vatican responded aggressively Thursday to a traditionalist group that consecrated bishops without the pope’s consent, declaring the Society of St. Pius X had formally broken with the Catholic Church. It also excommunicated its bishops and priests, and warned its faithful that they too face the harshest sanctions in the church.
“By declaring a schism and extending sanctions to potentially thousands of Catholics…
“…The society, known by its acronym SSPX, celebrates the ancient Latin Mass and opposes the modernizing reforms of the Catholic Church, which it considers to be rife with heresies and errors … has been a thorn in the Vatican’s side for five decades because it claims to be even more Catholic than the Holy See….”
“Excommunication decreed for Lefebvrian episcopal ordinations”
Vatican News (July 2, 2026)
“A document signed by Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, defines the rite celebrated on 1 July as an ‘act of a schismatic nature,’ with an explanatory note providing details of the grave canonical sanction of excommunication.”“The bishops of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X, Alfonso de Galarreta and Bernard Fellay—respectively principal consecrator and co-consecrator—and the newly consecrated bishops Pascal Schreiber, Michael Goldade, Michel Poinsinet de Sivry, and Marc Hanappier have incurred ‘ipso facto’ the ‘latae sententiae’ excommunication reserved to the Apostolic See for having carried out ‘an act of a schismatic nature’: the ‘episcopal consecration of four presbyters, without pontifical mandate and against the will of the Supreme Pontiff.’
“This was stated in a decree released on July 2 and signed by Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, and countersigned by the two Secretaries of the same Dicastery.
“The decision came twenty-four hours after the solemn ceremony celebrated in Écône, Switzerland, on the morning of July 1, 2026.
“The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith’s decree establishes that, in the act of carrying out the consecration, both the consecrators and those consecrated incurred the prescribed excommunication….”
In a way, I get it.
Back in 1970, here in America, we were seeing a fair amount of screwball DIY liturgical stunts done “in the spirit of Vatican II”. I wasn’t a Catholic at the time, but even from the outside they seemed silly.
For someone who had grown up in a parish that’d been considered old-fashioned in 1900, “in the spirit of Vatican” antics could have felt — deeply offensive.
I don’t know why or how many priests and bishops actually bought into the “spirit of Vatican II” nonsense. I suspect part of the problem was that American culture was going through a ‘let’s review old habits’ cycle.
Another — let’s face it. Church documents are written in academese: in Latin, then translated into other languages. They’re not easy reading. It’d be a whole lot easier to pick up one’s favorite magazine or newspaper, and see what the reporters and editors said the documents said. Easy, yes. Accurate, maybe not.
I haven’t talked about the Piux X outfit before, but I have said a few things about the Church and making sense:
- “Called to Holiness, Not Stupidity” (June 7, 2025)
- “Polka Mass and Adoration” (December 13, 2019)
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This got me remembering how weirded out I am by American people who seem to me like they call themselves Catholic while acting like the Latin Mass is superior to Masses done in local languages. Yeah, I guess that particular tradition is foundational, but if I remember correctly, the Bible isn’t even originally in Latin but in Aramaic (Old Testament) and in Greek (New Testament). Of course, our faith doesn’t run on Scripture alone, but at the same time, our faith is for various cultures, cultures that can be many stairways to heaven if we let God work His will on and through them rather than try to limit Him using them. Also, I’m reminded of how I’ve been wondering about whether or not I’ve been reflecting right and of how I’ve been further appreciating the value of being an active member of the laity.