Vatican Excommunicates Swiss Society of St. Pius X After Ordaining Four Bishops Without Pope Leo

Pope Leo told Reuters during his inaugural Mass last year that he would seek to unify the Catholic Church and vowed he would not rule like an “autocrat” over its 1.4 billion members.

“Pope Leo Draws a Line in the Sand: A New Era of Clarity in the Catholic Church Pope Leo’s decisive actions against a breakaway Catholic group indicate his willingness to uphold Church doctrine strictly”

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On Thursday, the Vatican told members of the Swiss-based Society of St. Pius X that they were excommunicated after the group ordained four new bishops on Wednesday without Leo’s approval.

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Elise Allen, author of a biography of Pope Leo for Penguin Peru, said, “Leo … is somebody that does not work in blurred lines,” and added that he is “not afraid to be extremely clear or firm when he needs to be.”

Massimo Faggioli, an expert on the papacy, likened the Vatican’s response to how Leo interacted with U.S. President Donald Trump, noting that Leo did not publicly refer to Trump by name over the first 10 months of his papacy.

Allen said the pope wanted to “draw a very clear line in the sand” and send a message that “either you’re with it or you’re not.”

Reuters reported that the Vatican’s top doctrinal watchdog said priests and lay Catholics who are part of the Society of St. Pius X are now in schism with the wider Church after the ordinations.

Faggioli said Leo is “a nonconfrontational figure but … when he has to say something, do something, so far he has done that,” describing Leo’s April criticism of the violence of the Iran war and the social media attacks it drew from Trump.

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The Society of St. Pius X denies the central teachings of the Second Vatican Council, which pursued reforms for the global Church and sought to repair relations with Jews and other Christian denominations.

The Council allowed for the Mass, until then said only in Latin, to be celebrated in local languages, while the society rejected that change citing a desire for the Latin rite’s sense of mystery and formality.

Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich, a close ally of Leo, told Reuters that the pope is making clear that the reforms of the Council are “not an optional chapter in Church history or a ‘matter of opinion’ up for perpetual debate.”

The Reuters analysis said it is a strict teaching of the Church that only the pope can authorize the consecration of new bishops, to maintain the Church’s ties to Jesus’ 12 apostles.

“Pope Leo Draws a Line in the Sand: A New Era of Clarity in the Catholic Church Pope Leo’s decisive actions against a breakaway Catholic group indicate his willingness to uphold Church doctrine strictly”

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It said the Church considers unauthorized ordination of bishops so serious that those taking part are automatically excommunicated, or “out of communion” with the wider Church, and unable to receive sacraments until they repent and ask for forgiveness.

The Society said it needed to ordain new bishops to have enough prelates to lead the group, and Reuters reported it currently counts 733 priests among its numbers worldwide.

David Gibson, a Vatican expert and academic at Fordham University in New York, said the reforms of the Council, often referred to as “Vatican II,” had shaped the pope’s entire life.

Gibson said, “At heart he sees this move by the Society … as opposition to the authority of the Council of the entire Church,” adding that “That opposition is a red line for him.”