Vatican excommunicates four Society of St. Pius X bishops

The Vatican declared the recent episcopal ordinations performed by the Society of St. Pius X in Ecône, Switzerland, to be schismatic and excommunicated the six bishops involved. The ordinations, held on 1 July, created four new bishops—two French, one American and one Swiss—without papal approval. The two consecrators, Alfonso de Galarreta and Bernard Fellay, were also excommunicated.

The decree, signed by Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, states that the sacraments administered by these clergy are invalid. The Society, founded by Marcel Lefebvre as an ultraconservative opposition to Vatican II reforms, has been warned repeatedly by successive popes. Church officials said the penalty is severe but unlikely to produce immediate practical consequences, and the group has pledged to continue its activities despite the sanction.