Vatican Declares Fraternité Saint‑Pie X in Schism and Excommunicates Six Bishops

Overview

• The Fraternité sacerdotale Saint‑Pie X consecrated four new bishops at Écône on Wednesday, July 1, 2026, in a Mass attended by thousands.
• On July 2 the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith issued a decree declaring the FSSPX in schism and confirming automatic (latae sententiae) excommunication for six bishops: Michel Poinsinet de Sivry, Marc Hanappier, Michael Goldade, Pascal Schreiber, Alfonso de Galarreta and Bernard Fellay.
• The Vatican warned clergy and lay faithful not to give formal adherence to the movement because doing so risks automatic excommunication and said sacraments administered by the excommunicated bishops may not be recognized by the Catholic Church.
• Senior Vatican officials described the ordinations as an act that breaks Church unity, expressed 'profound pain' at the rupture and urged eventual dialogue while acknowledging immediate pastoral and canonical complications for priests and parishioners.
• The dispute revives a decades‑long split rooted in the FSSPX’s rejection of Vatican II reforms and the Tridentine Mass tradition, a movement that claims hundreds of thousands of followers worldwide and faces complex hurdles to any future reconciliation.