Catholic Church excommunicates SSPX bishops

July 2, 2026 – On July 1 the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX) consecrated four new bishops in open defiance of Rome. An official decree from the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith followed declaring the excommunication of the clergy of the SSPX.

Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, the Prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, declared in his formal order that "Despite the warnings addressed to the Superior General of the Priestly Society of Saint Pius X, Bishop Alfonso de Galarreta, by carrying out an act of a schismatic nature through the episcopal consecration of four priests without a pontifical mandate and against the will of the Supreme Pontiff, has incurred ipso facto the penalties provided for in can. 1387 and can. 1364 §1 of the 2021 Code of Canon Law. Therefore, I declare, with all juridical effects, that the aforementioned Bishop Alfonso de Galarreta, together with Pascal Schreiber, Michael Goldade, Michel Poinsinet de Sivry, and Marc Hanappier, have incurred ipso facto the latae sententiae excommunication reserved to the Apostolic See. I further declare that Bishop Bernard Fellay, having participated directly in the liturgical celebration as co-consecrator and thereby having publicly adhered to the schismatic act, has incurred the latae sententiae excommunication provided for in can. 1364 §1 of the 2021 Code of Canon Law. Clerics and lay faithful are warned not to adhere to the schism of the Priestly Society of Saint Pius X, lest they themselves incur ipso facto the penalty of latae sententiae excommunication."

The SSPX was created in 1971 by conservative Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre together with a small group of conservative clerics and seminarians who had objections to the Second Vatican Council (1962 – 1965) and the new mass (the Novus Ordo) promulgated in 1970. The SSPX uses the mass from the 1962 missal - the Tridentine (or Traditional Latin Mass - and rejects the validity of the Second Vatican Council as well as many post Vatican II reforms as being infected with 'modernism' a sin according to the late Pope Pius X.

Over time Lefebvre's group of priests – ordained under his authority as an Archbishop – grew. In 1988, realizing that his own death was near, he consecrated four new bishops who could continue his movement after he was gone – against the orders of Pope John Paul II . John Paul II responded by excommunicating Lefebvre and the four new bishops. That penalty was later reversed by Pope Benedict XVI in 2009. Efforts by John Paul II and Benedict (then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger) to accommodate the conservative priests led to the creation of the Fraternal Society of Saint Peter – a self-governing society of priests and seminarians. The FSSP is in full communion with Rome even though it uses the 1962 missal and the Traditional Latin Mass. The first FSSP priests were SSPX priests who opposed the schism with Rome. They do formally recognize Vatican II as a valid Church Council – a point that the SSPX has not agreed to. The 1988 schism and the loss of less radical priests to the FSSP led to the SSPX becoming more strident.

While Bishops Bernard Fellay and Alfonso de Galarreta are still alive, the other two original bishops have passed away. Bernard Tissier de Mallerais died on October 8, 2024, at age 79 from a skull fracture and Richard Williamson passed away in 2025 – though he was expelled from the SSPX in 2012 for disobedience and rebellion after he flatly ignored a final ultimatum from SSPX leadership to shut down his blog and submit to their authority.

The four new SSPX bishops are:

Fr. Pascal Schreiber (age 53) – A Swiss priest ordained in 1998.

Fr. Michael Goldade (age 46) – An American priest from North Dakota who serves as the rector of the SSPX's St. Thomas Aquinas Seminary in Dillwyn, Virginia and ordained in 2004.

Fr. Michel Poinsinet de Sivry (age 42) – A French national ordained in 2009.

Fr. Marc Hanappier (36) – A French national ordained in 2014.

Bishop Fernandez said that the Vatican has been meeting with Lefebvre and his successors since the time of Pope Paul VI until the most recent meetings held with this Dicastery and that the many attempts to restore to full communion with the Catholic Church have proved fruitless.

Fernande said that this has been further aggravated by "the recent episcopal consecrations carried out without a pontifical mandate, against the will of the Holy Father, and in open violation of canon law."

Fernandez said that the two presiding bishops and the four newly ordained bishops have committed the canonical crime of schism.

"Therefore, from this point forward:

1. Sacred ministers belonging to the Priestly Society of Saint Pius X are in schism and must therefore be regarded as schismatics (cf. Ecclesia Dei, no. 5c; Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, Explanatory Note on the Excommunication for Schism Incurred by Adherents of the Movement of Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, 24 August 1996, nos. 5–6), and are therefore subject to the excommunication prescribed by law (can. 1364 §1 CIC).

2. With regard to the lay faithful, those who formally adhere to the Priestly Society of Saint Pius X under the conditions established in the 1996 Explanatory Note of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts (cf. ibid., no. 7), which remains in force and which this Dicastery hereby adopts as its own, are likewise to be regarded as schismatics and excommunicated.

3. Finally, the holy People of God are informed that the sacred ministers of the Priestly Society of Saint Pius X administer the sacraments illicitly, and that the sacrament of Penance administered by them and the marriages at which they assist are invalid."

Pope Leo XIV wrote to the SSPX on Monday to plead with them to "turn back" from "a sin of extreme gravity." The SSPX ignored his letter and acted anyway. July 1 was the date that Lefebvre and the first four bishops were excommunicated by Pope John Paul II – the selection of the same date for the new bishop investitures was more than symbolic.

An estimated 700,000 Catholics attend SSPX services. They are strongest in France with 254 French Priests, the USA with 143 priests, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Argentia, Poland, and the Philippines. It is absent in many countries including in some of the fastest growing Catholic populations.

The SSPX presence in Alabama is very small with the primary SSPX location in Alabama being a small mission chapel in Blountsville, coordinated by Ron Dieno.

For Catholic seeking the Traditional Latin Mass at a Church that is still in full communion with Rome options include: Our Lady, Help of Christians Parish in Huntsville, Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church in Montgomery, and Blessed Sacrament in Birmingham. They offer the Traditional Latin Mass according to the 1962 Liturgical form.

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