Pope Leo XIV Excommunicates the SSPX After Consecrations

The Vatican has issued an official decree excommunicating the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) for performing episcopal consecrations without papal mandate, declaring this a schismatic act that constitutes a practical rejection of papal supremacy. The decree, released by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, imposes automatic excommunication (latae sententiae) on the bishop who performed the consecrations, the co-consecrator, and the four priests consecrated as bishops, as well as on lay faithful who formally adhere to the SSPX. The Vatican argues that by consecrating bishops without papal approval, the SSPX is denying the dogma of papal supremacy, which holds that the Pope has the authority to determine when and where bishops can be consecrated. This represents a doctrinal difference rather than merely a disciplinary one, as Pope Benedict XVI himself acknowledged. The Vatican maintains that SSPX sacraments of penance and marriage are invalid, not just illicit, and that the SSPX is not in full communion with the Catholic Church.