Pius X Society Declared Schismatic: Adherents Excommunicated

Jul 2, 2026 | 0 comments

St Pius X Society – Excommunicated Leaders

Following the purported consecration of four new bishops, leaders of the Society of St Pius X have been declared excommunicated – as will those who continue to adhere to the organisation.

For the Vatican announcement of this decision, click here.

“Clerics and the lay faithful are warned not to adhere to the schism of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Pius X, as they would thereby incur ipso facto the penalty of latae sententiae excommunication,” said Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, head of the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, the church’s top doctrinal monitoring body.

The Society of St Pius X was founded by the French Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre in 1970 – in protest at the major provisions of the 2nd Vatican Council of 1962-65, including the vernacular translation of the Mass and acceptance of the principle of religious freedom.

“The decision is a shockingly strong punishment from the Vatican and the pope,” declares the US National Catholic Reporter (NCR).

For the NCR’s longer account, including discussion of what ‘adherence’ to the St Pius X Society may mean, click here.

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ACI’s Campaign for Lumen Gentium 37

The Promise of Synodality

What we have experienced of synodality so far gives ACI real hope that a longstanding structural injustice in the church may at last be acknowledged and overcome.

As all Irish bishops well know, the 'co-responsibility' they urge lay people to share - as numbers and energies of clergy decline - has been sabotaged time and again by canonical rules that deny representational authority and continuity to parish pastoral councils.  ACI's 2019 call for the immediate honouring of Lumen Gentium Article 37 becomes more urgent by the day and is supported by the following documents - also presented to the ICBC in October 2019.

The Common Priesthood of the People of God and the Renewal of the Church
It was Catholic parents and victims of clerical abuse who taught Catholic Bishops to prioritise the safeguarding of children in the church

Jesus as Model for the Common Priesthood of the People of God
It was for challenging religious hypocrisy and injustice that Jesus was accused and crucified. He is therefore a model for the common priesthood of the laity and for the challenging of injustice - in society and within the church.

A Suggested Strategy for the Recovery of the Irish and Western Catholic Church
Recovery of the church depends upon acknowledgment of the indispensable role of the common priesthood of the lay people of God and the explicit abandonment by bishops and clergy of paternalism and clericalism - the expectation of deference from lay people rather than honesty and integrity.

For the full story of ACI's campaign for the honouring of Article 37 of Lumen Gentium, click here.

Prayer

"Come Holy Spirit, Renew Your wonders in this our day, as by a new Pentecost. Grant to Your Church that, being of one mind and steadfast in prayer with Mary, the Mother of Jesus, and following the lead of blessed Peter, it may advance the reign of our Divine Saviour, the reign of truth and justice, the reign of love and peace. Amen."

Saint Pope John XXIII, 1962 - In preparation for Vatican Council II, 1962-65.

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