On a Thursday in Rome, the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith delivered a sweeping decree of excommunication targeting the ultra-traditionalist Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX), after the breakaway Catholic group defied explicit orders from Pope Leo XIV to move forward with unauthorized episcopal ordinations. The long-simmering rift between the Vatican and the splinter faction erupted Wednesday, when SSPX bishops carried out the consecration of four new bishops without the required papal approval, turning down a last-minute personal appeal from the pontiff to abandon the plan.
Breakaway Catholic group excommunicated after defying warnings from Pope Leo
