By KiddieDaily Editors · Jul 2, 2026 · 3 min read · Ages 8–10 · 2 sources

What to know about the Society of St. Pius X, the schismatic group excommunicated by the Pope

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The bishops from Society of St.

Pius X were among those excommunicated by the Catholic Church on Thursday. Baz Ratner/AP hide caption ÉCÔNE, Switzerland (RNS) — A group of traditionalists directly defied Pope Leo XIV by ordaining four new bishops without his consent, calling it their "sacred duty" during a ritual-laden ceremony at the society's seminary in the Swiss village of Écône. Pius X (SSPX) had received repeated warnings from the Vatican that the ordinations would constitute a schismatic act and trigger the automatic excommunication of all bishops involved.

On Thursday, the Vatican went further than expected, declaring that the four new bishops, the two bishops who consecrated them, all priests of the SSPX and all lay Catholics who "adhere formally" to the group were now in schism and excommunicated. Excommunications are extremely rare, and generally mean the excommunicated person is no longer considered a member of the church and cannot receive the sacraments. Under the church's legal system, Catholics can be excommunicated for schism, defined as the refusal to submit to the Pope "or of communion with the members of the Church subject to him." In its excommunication announcement, the Vatican offered the possibility of welcoming the former members back into the church.

Even before the consecrations, Pope Leo had published a letter dated June 29 addressed to the superior general of the society, the Rev. "I implore you and ask you with all my heart: Turn back!" the pontiff wrote, saying the consecrations would be a "sin of extreme gravity" for threatening the unity of the church. Yet in a meadow filled with more than 1,000 clergy and another 15,000 faithful wearing free "Écône 2026" hats — which rendered the crowd as white-capped as the Alps around them — the SSPX proceeded as planned, with a statement read at the start of the ceremony declaring that "every punishment or sanction" brought against them "will have no validity." Since his inaugural Mass, Pope Leo has championed a message of unity for the Roman Catholic Church.

Now he faces the largest internal crisis of his young papacy. "We are accused of not loving the pope," Pagliarani said in French during a sermon at the ceremony. "It's precisely because we love the pope as the vicar of Christ that we do not want to see the pope humiliated anymore, next to false priests representing false religions."

How 🌍 Al Jazeera Covers It

xwhatsapp-strokecopylinkgoogleAdd Al Jazeera on GoogleinfoBy Elizabeth Melimopoulos and The Associated PressPublished On 2 Jul 20262 Jul 2026The Vatican has declared the Society of St Pius X (SSPX) to be formally in ‘schism’ with the Catholic Church after the traditionalist group defied Pope Leo XIV by consecrating four bishops without papal approval. A schism is a formal break in the unity of the Catholic Church. It occurs when a person or group rejects the authority of the pope, whom Catholics believe is the successor to St Peter, one of Jesus’ 12 apostles.

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