The Vatican has formally declared the traditionalist Society of St Pius X in schism after the group defied repeated warnings and went ahead with the consecration of four bishops without the approval of Pope Leo XIV, significantly escalating one of the Catholic Church’s longest-running internal disputes.

A decree published on July 2 by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith confirmed the automatic excommunication of all bishops involved in the ceremony, which was held at the SSPX seminary in Econe, Switzerland, and attended by thousands of the group’s followers.

Those who incurred excommunication under canon law include Bishops Alfonso de Galarreta and Bernard Fellay, who presided over the consecration ceremony, as well as the four newly consecrated bishops, Pascal Schreiber, Michael Goldade, Michel Poinsinet de Sivry and Marc Hanappier.

The Vatican made clear that only the pope has the authority to lift the excommunications.

The consecrations proceeded despite the Holy See issuing multiple warnings and Pope Leo XIV making a final personal appeal to the society, imploring them to reconsider the move for the sake of unity within the Church.

“In this spirit, and filled with Christian affection, I plead with you and ask you with all my heart: Please turn back,” the Pope wrote to the group ahead of the ceremony.

The Vatican had issued a formal warning as early as May 13, putting the SSPX on notice that proceeding with the consecrations without papal approval would constitute a schismatic act and result in the automatic excommunication of all bishops involved.

The group nonetheless pressed ahead, with the ceremony going forward before a large gathering of followers.

Beyond the excommunication of the bishops, the Vatican declared SSPX priests schismatic and moved to invalidate certain sacraments administered by them, among them confession and marriage, a step that strikes at the pastoral activities of the movement.

The sweeping sanctions represent a dramatic reversal of years of Vatican efforts to bring the breakaway group back into full communion with Rome.

Those efforts had included a significant olive branch extended by Pope Benedict XVI in 2009, when he lifted the excommunications that had been imposed on the group in a bid to reopen dialogue and pave the way for reconciliation.

The SSPX was founded in 1970 by French Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre and has long been at odds with mainstream Catholic teaching over its rejection of several key reforms introduced during the Second Vatican Council.

This include the Council’s positions on religious freedom, relations with other faiths, and the shift away from Latin towards local languages during Mass.

The group had previously faced similar sanctions in 1988 after Archbishop Lefebvre consecrated bishops without papal approval, an act the Vatican at the time equally declared schismatic and responded to with automatic excommunications.