Jauhn Etienne Villaruel

Article (news)

Agence France-Presse

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1782982106817Screen Shot 2026-07-02 at 8.27.01 AM (11).jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">The Vatican on Thursday excommunicated six bishops from the ultraconservative Society of St Pius X and said any lay believers who &quot;formally adhere&quot; to the group would suffer the same fate. <em>Screenshot from Séminaire Saint-Pie X — Écône YouTube channel</em></span></span></span></div><p>VATICAN CITY, Holy See — The Vatican on Thursday excommunicated six bishops from the ultraconservative Society of St Pius X and said any lay believers who &quot;formally adhere&quot; to the group would suffer the same fate.</p><p>The Vatican decree comes a day after the traditionalist breakaway group <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2026/7/1/breakaway-catholic-sect-defies-vatican-again-by-ordaining-bishops-1606">consecrated four new bishops</a>, defying a plea from Pope Leo XIV not to do so.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2026/5/6/tradition-trump-and-tennis-five-things-about-pope-leo-1313">Tradition, Trump and tennis: Five things about Pope Leo </a></div><p>The decree called the ceremony &quot;an act of schismatic nature&quot;.</p><p>For the Holy See, consecrating bishops without the approval of the pope is a direct act of insubordination, leading to the automatic excommunication of the bishops involved.</p><p>The excommunication covers the newly-ordained bishops and the two existing bishops who presided over the ceremony in Econe in southwest Switzerland.</p><p>The rite was attended by thousands of worshippers from around the world.</p><p>The society&#x27;s Superior General Davide Pagliarani called it a &quot;historic&quot; day during his homily.</p><p>&quot;Are we breaking with the Church in order to keep the faith? That is a false dilemma. We belong to the Church first through faith, through the integral profession of the Church&#x27;s faith,&quot; he said.</p><p>The Society of Saint Pius X, which has around 600,000 followers, comprises fundamentalist Catholics who strongly oppose the liberal reforms imposed by the Vatican II Council in the 1960s.</p><p>Founded in 1970 by divisive French bishop Marcel Lefebvre, the group triggered a rift with the Vatican by consecrating four bishops in 1988.</p><p>Wednesday&#x27;s new consecrations took place in the very same spot, in the meadows near the society&#x27;s seminary in Econe, a village in the Rhone valley, with the Alps towering above.</p><p>The accompanying mass in Latin lasted five and a half hours.</p><p>Consecrating bishops without the pope&#x27;s approval is, for the Holy See, an act of insubordination that automatically leads to the bishops&#x27; excommunication.</p><p>&quot;I plead with you and ask you with all my heart: please turn back!&quot; Pope Leo wrote in a letter to the society on Monday, calling it a &quot;schismatic act&quot;.</p><p>&quot;To tear the seamless garment of Christ is a sin of extreme gravity,&quot; the pontiff said.</p><p>The Vatican&#x27;s number two <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2025/4/30/pietro-parolin-career-diplomat-leading-race-to-be-pope-1043">Pietro Parolin</a> said the Church felt &quot;deep sorrow&quot; over the ordinations.</p><p>&quot;An act of this kind deeply wounds the unity of the Church,&quot; he told reporters on Wednesday.</p><div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2026/7/2/tagle-presides-over-first-vietnam-beatification-rite-1354">Papal envoy Tagle presides over first Vietnam beatification rite </a><br/><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2026/6/28/pope-closes-consistory-with-fervent-call-for-peace-2328">Pope closes consistory with fervent call for peace </a><br/><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2026/6/23/pope-warns-bureaucracy-hindering-global-aid-efforts-0036">Pope warns bureaucracy hindering global aid efforts </a></div><div><br/></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZF31IdqtUI8?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/GRCPCfd5aE4?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/UB5tA6z1_i4?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div>

<p>The Vatican on Thursday excommunicated six bishops from the ultraconservative Society of St Pius X and said any lay believers who "formally adhere" to the group would suffer the same fate.</p>

The Vatican on Thursday excommunicated six bishops from the ultraconservative Society of St Pius X and said any lay believers who "formally adhere" to the group would suffer the same fate.

Vatican excommunicates 6 ultraconservative bishops over ordination

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Vatican excommunicates 6 ultraconservative bishops over ordination

Agence France-Presse

Published July 02, 2026 03:45 PM PHT

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Updated July 02, 2026 04:49 PM PHT

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