Well, the Rubicon has been crossed, and the hammer dropped.
Refusing the appeal by Pope Leo not to go through with the episcopal consecrations, the SSPX ordained four new bishops yesterday.
Rome followed up with a decree declaring that this is an act of formal schism, excommunicating the consecrating and consecrated bishops. This penalty also applies to cleric and lay faithful who continue in the SSPX:
Clerics and lay faithful are warned not to adhere to the schism of the Society of Saint Pius X, as they would thereby incur ipso facto the penalty of latae sententiae excommunication.
This was issued the same day Pope Saint John Paul II back in 1988 promulgated Ecclesia Dei, excommunicating Lefebvre and the four bishops he consecrated a few days before, without, and contrary to, papal mandate.
As far as such a papal mandate goes, with which both the old and new rites of episcopal ordination begin, Father Davide Pagliari – their superior – simply substituted the perpetual get-out-jail free card of the ‘state of necessity’, in words that give a window into the adversarial mindset of the SSPX:
It is the Catholic and Roman Church, ever faithful to the traditions received from the apostles, which, in utterly exceptional circumstances, demands of us that we provide for the safeguarding of these traditions—that is, of the deposit of faith—and that we adopt the necessary means to transmit them faithfully to all men for the salvation of their souls. From the Second Vatican Council until our own days, the authorities of the Church have been animated by a spirit contrary to the faith and have acted against the holy Tradition. They will no longer tolerate sound doctrine.”
Who gets to determine ‘sound doctrine’, and the proper ‘development of (said) doctrine’? The SSPX lumps together the entire hierarchical and Magisterial Church – an ambiguous and universal ‘they’ – in a state more or less of apostasy. Only they – the SSPX – now hold and safeguard truth and tradition. In effect, they have declared themselves the very embodiment of the ‘Catholic and Roman Church’. For in their own words, Rome – and by extension the Church – have fallen, which one might find difficult to reconcile with the promise of Christ to Saint Peter.
There is no Church outside of Rome, and the Petrine ministry, as flawed such may be in any given epoch of papacy. History is littered with those – Donatus, Luther, Lefebvre and countless others – who thought they had to reform the Church contra Ecclesiam – against the very Church whose good they sought. But God only works through the Church, in ways that may not seem obvious, or very clear, from our limited perspective.
It is ironic that the liturgical readings of late give warnings against the hubris of those who thought they knew ways better than obedience. This morning, in the Office, we read of Uzzah, who, as the Ark of God was being transported to Jerusalem, stretched his hand out to the ark of God and steadied it, as the oxen were making it tilt.
He ignored the warning against touching the holy Ark – a symbol and type of the Church – thinking he had to save it, even if it meant disobeying the very decree of God.
Then the anger of the Lord blazed out against Uzzah, and for this crime God struck him down on the spot, and he died there beside the ark of God.
We have been hearing of Saul, not heeding God’s voice in how He was to be worshipped, and the proper notion of sacrifice. Why not do what seems better or more effective?
Of course, this the Old Covenant, when the effects of one’s actions were more vivid and immediate – but perhaps paradoxically more merciful.
God’s ways are no longer so sudden, and we know not what in His mysterious and patient providence He will bring out of all this.
That said, this is a tragedy, even if it is not seen so by the SSPX, who now seem to have no intention of seeking reconciliation with Rome anytime soon. After all, in their eyes, this decree as ‘null and void’, bouncing off them like bullets off Superman.
Someone made an intriguing comparison with the consecrations of 1988:
In 1988, there was true agonizing by Archbishop Lefebvre and a wide portion of the SSPX’s priests, seminarians, and faithful, and most of the “friendly communities” (monasteries, convents).
The 2026 consecrations were marked by a “We don’t care” attitude, and surrounded by a festive atmosphere.
This is the beginning of something different. This isn’t 1988 anymore.
Something is indeed different, and one wonders where all this will go.
If there is anything good from this debacle, it’s that things are now clearer, after the ambiguity left by Pope Francis and his somewhat paradoxical permissions given to the SSPX, validating their marriages and confessions. Such days are no more, as Rome has now decreed them invalid, and their Masses and other sacraments illicit. I, for one, would not want to be one wandering in such a dark and uncertain labyrinth.
Rome offers a path out in her decree, as a manifestation of God’s mercy:
The Church, as a devoted mother, will receive with sincere affection and eager care all those who desire to return to full communion. The Apostolic Nuncios will have at their disposal the procedures that Ordinaries may employ in the various cases.
As the above note concludes, with which we heartily concur:
We hope and pray for peace and unity.
We hope, even against hope.
