My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

The Vatican announced on July 2, 2026, that the bishops of the Priestly Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX) have incurred an automatic excommunication reserved to the Apostolic See for having carried out “an act of a schismatic nature,” namely, the “episcopal consecration of four presbyters, without pontifical mandate and against the will of the Supreme Pontiff.” The four newly consecrated bishops were also excommunicated for having participated in this schismatic act.

Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, also issued an explanatory note providing details of the grave canonical sanction of excommunication. The explanatory note says that the sacred ministers (bishops, priests, deacons, and subdeacons) belonging to the Priestly Society of Saint Pius X are in schism and must therefore be considered schismatics, and are therefore subject to the excommunication prescribed by law (can. 1364 §1 of the Code of Canon Law). 

As regards the lay faithful, those who formally adhere to the Priestly Society of Saint Pius X are also to be considered schismatics and are excommunicated.

Finally, the holy People of God are warned that the sacred ministers of the Priestly Society of Saint Pius X administer the sacraments illicitly, and that the sacrament of penance administered by them and marriages assisted by them are invalid.

Obviously, faithful Catholics should not attend SSPX Masses. While a person who happens to attend an SSPX Mass would not be automatically excommunicated, doing so may be said to be like playing with fire. When we go to sacramental confession and receive absolution, we make an act of contrition in which we pledge to avoid all near occasions of sin.

The problem with the SSPX is not that they celebrate the Traditional Latin Mass. Catholics in our diocese who wish to attend a Traditional Latin Mass may do so at St. Rose of Lima Church in Quincy or at Sacred Heart Church of St. Katharine Drexel Parish in Springfield. 

In March 2026, Pope Leo XIV urged French bishops to seek “concrete solutions” to include Catholics attached to the Traditional Latin Mass while preserving communion. He encouraged bishops to discern practical ways to welcome those sincerely attached to the Traditional Latin Mass, respecting the directions of the Second Vatican Council on liturgy.

The main problem with the SSPX is their rejection of the doctrinal teachings of the Second Vatican Council and their defiance of Papal authority. During the schismatic consecration of bishops on July 1, at the point of the ceremony where the principal consecrator asked the notary whether he had an apostolic mandate — which comes from the pope — the notary replied: “From Vatican Council II up to the present day, the authorities in the Church have been animated by a spirit that is contrary to that of the faith and have been acting against holy tradition. They will no longer endure sound doctrine, turning their hearing away from the truth and turning toward fables, as St. Paul says to Timothy in his Second Epistle.”

Prior to this illicit ceremony, SSPX sent an open letter to the pope and the world’s cardinals which included a 154-point “Profession of Catholic Faith of the Society of Saint Pius X to enlighten souls in the face of modern errors.” Referring to these “modern errors,” point 145 says, “I acknowledge in particular that modern errors represent a dreadful threat to the whole of the Catholic order, and that their penetration into the life of the Church, under the influence of the Second Vatican Council and the post-conciliar reforms, has provoked a crisis of exceptional gravity.”

By disobeying the pope and rejecting the teachings of the Second Vatican Council, the Society of St. Pius X is now basically another Protestant sect that thinks they are right and the pope is wrong. The World Christian Database says that there are currently 53,000 Christian denominations and predicts that there will be 72,000 by 2075. That is not what Jesus intended. Jesus prayed “that all may be one” (John 17:21) and said that he would build his church on the rock of Peter (Matthew 16:18). That would be the Catholic Church. Protestantism is an exhausted project and its continued existence is a scandal. To say that Protestantism is an exhausted project simply means that it has run its course. The continued proliferation of Protestant denominations is not reforming the Church, but is dividing the Church. Division of the Body of Christ is what the Devil wants and we must work against that with the help of God’s grace. It is time for all Christians to come back to the Mother Church.

In his Inaugural Mass in St. Peter’s Square on May 18, 2025, for the beginning of his Pontificate, Pope Leo XIV said, “Brothers and sisters, I would like that our first great desire be for a united Church, a sign of unity and communion, which becomes a leaven for a reconciled world. In this our time, we still see too much discord, too many wounds … .  For our part, we want to be a small leaven of unity, communion and fraternity within the world. We want to say to the world, with humility and joy: Look to Christ! Come closer to Him! Welcome His word that enlightens and consoles! Listen to His offer of love and become His one family: in the one Christ, we are one.”

May God give us this grace. Amen.