Vatican declares Society of St. Pius X in schism, excommunicates bishops
Vatican response! the gist is “they excommunicated themselves by doing this” and they quote a lot of the nastiest little jabs interesting to see where they call them “the Lefebvrists” and not the Society of St. Pius X, positioning them as a cult of personality rather than a legit-sounding order
Alisdair Calder McGregor1181To my understanding, this is an accurate summation of the state of schism:
Claire Willett513I know @lindaholmes.bsky.social and a few other folks were asking for a “what is these guys’ deal” primer and this is a good one (with some historical details even I didn’t know!) in many ways, it is simply antisemitism all the way down
Anne 🕊️ 🎵🧶🏃🏻♀️🥖🐈96I found this 17 year old opinion piece on The Guardian from back when Benny 16 lifted the excommunications. It, ah, explains the ick that guy gave me to the point I stayed away from mass until a year before Francis passed. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Tracy O’Connell Novick78“For the universal Church, however, it is a day on which, in the Vatican's assessment, an old wound has been reopened—the wound of division.”
Kelly Hudson Sundberg76I worked for a Franciscan organization for several years, and I remember one of the priests commenting on some other matter that the Church never excommunicates anyone; they always do it to themselves by acting “out of communion” with the Church. So, yeah, statement checks out I guess
Meredith Beredith75I think that’s so clever. Pope Leo is such a conniver for Christ and I love that for him and also for me, a blasphemous protestant.
rahaeli181The shift in nomenclature is REALLY interesting and definitely is signaling no more His Holiness Nice Pope
Diane Duane54Meanwhile, *well* to the east of anyplace where people once upon a time sometimes got in trouble for consecrating bishops without permission... 😏
Louie Stowell15👀 (if you're interested in catholic schisms and MAGA, read the whole thread, but I was scanning thru for this in particular!)
Kitty Chandler11HOUSTON, WE HAVE A SCHISM
The labor librarian7Not gonna lie, SSPX is selling merch and I kinda want a commemorative schism shirt.
St. Simeon the Holy Fool7Black smoke rises from the dumpster fire! Habeas schism-ass!
McNastyPrime6The anime adaptation of the schism is going to be 🔥🔥🔥
Will Greeenwald5Trying to follow this as a non-Catholic, and all I can think of is how this must be what arguing about AD&D 2nd ed rules must sound like to non-tabletop players.
Dan Seitz3I know the Vatican is not snarky but there really was a golden opportunity to congratulate the Protestants on their new sect.
Kierkegaarden Cop2I’m sorry that I can’t follow pro wrestling I am a heretical schismatic casual
Since tomorrow is the day the Society of St Pius X has announced they will consecrate four bishops without Papal approval, a reminder for everyone who is rubbernecking the "big boat stuck" of the ex-Catholic world(*): they are excommunicated the instant they perform the action, no ruling required.
rahaeli438Pope Leo does not need to do anything to "excommunicate them": anyone performing the consecration, as well as anyone who receives it, is excommunicated "latae sententiae", by force of law. The sentence is automatic and incurred at the instant of the act.
Alisdair Calder McGregor65I assure you that some of us who never were Catholic are also rubbernecking this car crash
Andrew Rothstein49So given the Church already went through this with SSPX in the 80's, it's hard to imagine why 4 priests would be not just willing but actually actively seeking out their own excommunication. Also I can't imagine the Church is going to be so lenient with SSPX or the new "bishops" this time around.
Wizened husk haunting corridors of the internet38…I have no idea what’s going on but “consecrate a bishop without papal approval”?! Not just one but FOUR?! Now, I ain’t studied or been quasi-Catholic in DECADES but. Uh. Ain’t this the BIGGEST way to get excommunicated that ain’t denying JC’s divinity?!
multi celled morganism26I've never been any type of Catholic but I've been following the recent SSPX stuff because religion is a special interest of mine and I think it's cool to get to watch a schism in real time
Branch19As a not-ever-Catholic whose mother fell away, returned, helped found a new parish and then cut them out of her will when the new priest was a little too American Heresy... I'm _totally_ popping popcorn over this.
Ada Palmer188For those not following this, new Catholic schism incoming tomorrow if the ultra conservatives go forward consecrating five unauthorized bishops & get automatically excommunicated. If this feels to you more like 1326 than 2026, you may be a historian.
Richard M. Nixon71Our friend @earlfckinweaver.bsky.social asked whether we anticipate further action by Leo here. If you recall, Leo said the other day that part of him would like to appeal to the Society to reconsider, but the time for that is past, and they must "move forward," meaning excommunication. I expect -
Shivani T’gai Seth16@clairewillett.bsky.social I have somehow gotten invested in another religion’s drama and I only 15%blame you. The other 85% is davinci code.
Shane Liesegang, SJ14Yep, they actually excommunicate themselves, by the action itself. So the inevitable headlines saying the Pope excommunicates them are (subtly) wrong. This might seem like semantics, but it is a significant distinction! Same lines as "Only God makes someone a saint; the Church merely canonizes."
eviŁrooster12I’m going to be on a plane for a lot of tomorrow, so I’m hoping Rah and @clairewillett.bsky.social are going to produce long, energetic threads for me to read as I queue for passport control.
Fr Chase 🦁🦁🦁🦁🦁🦁🦁🦁🦁🦁🦁🦁🦁🦁8He will likely issue a decree stating that those consecrating and being consecrated are excommunicate, but this legal distinction will be lost on 99% of people. The rest of the priestly society and those who attend their liturgies are indeed a more complicated question that requires process
Soyweiser6Rahaeli has a thread on it. bsky.app/profile/raha...
The Rev. Keakealani6I know so little about the ins and outs of Roman Catholic practice, but this one seems pretty clear cut. I mean, Anglicans basically self-excommunicated on the same grounds, for better or for worse.
CommanderApaul6The "8 years of Sunday School and 7 years of Catholic School" lapsed Catholic in me is quite enjoying this Church canon dustup. Fr Kennedy had brought up the SSPX consecrations in our sophomore religion class as an example of automatic excommunication.
✊🏼Indigiqueer Hummingbird5First I'm hearing of this & must check on @annetheriault.bsky.social ♥️
BREAKING: The Vatican excommunicates bishops from a breakaway group of traditionalist Catholics that consecrated them without Pope Leo's consent.
Bookish gal13Hey, AP. When you write an article that talks about something a whole lot of people don’t understand because not all of us are catholic, it would be fantastic if you explained, in more detail, why this happened. What’s the St. Pious X society? Why are they controversial?
Dave S11Well done, Leo. Could you please also hoof out that rather unChristian Mr Vance?
Darkzilla🏴☠️⚔️🍷🇺🇦✊🏻🇩🇰🐎8If “traditionalist” means fascist, then I understand 💯
Adam4look! they’re Anglicans now! just be the Protestants you always wanted to be anyway. 👋
Sean Matthews3A sad little bunch of gibbering reactionaries. The psychology of Roman Catholicism at its least attractive.
Friedrich Moser2finally! what took them so long?
Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg66THERE IS ONLY ONE POPE and he does not put ketchup on his hot dogs For more of the takes on all of this proceed to @clairewillett.bsky.social
Josephine Riesman43Sorry, bros -- when scientists dig up your bones in a thousand years, they won't know anything about your weird fantasy that you were a "priest"
🗽LOLGOP🗽276-3 in favor of the schismatic Bishops
Jack Tindale18The concerning thing is that unlike all those random cosplayers who call themselves Pope Peter II the Tremendously Great and have their Basilica in a business park in Milwaukee, next to a condemned Arby's, the SSPX are - within reason - a thing. Around 600k people attend their services.
Are17Eg vil sjå rapportering om dette som om det var sport: - Jeg tror ikke folk forstår hvor stort dette er - Dette kan forandre alt - Brygger opp til storm i hatoppgjør mellom klubbene - Leos uventede grep mot rivalen - Nytt skisma: Mener katolikker fortjener fridag
Crowsa Luxemburg15i mean i *guess* denying the holocaust is sort of traditionalist but it's not the adjective i'd use
Judah Grunstein14This seems like an arcane anachronistic intra-Catholic dispute, but it's part and parcel of the relitigation of modernity currently driving reaction in the US under Trump II. This is why understanding the emergence, evolution and future of modernity is so central to today's ideological battlefield.
Constantine8Not to make everything about the United States, but this puts us just one step closer to having 6 literal heretics on SCOTUS and a heretical VP and Sec State when the USCCB splits over this.
Katie Mather8I just know Pope Leo is blasting Schism in his garage right now
Docteur Chapoutarbre M.D8Quand tu trouves enfin du gaz de schisme à force de creuser
“The Society of St. Pius X (SSPX), a breakaway ultraconservative priestly fraternity, is set to consecrate four bishops on July 1, despite the Catholic Church's reqmt that appointments be approved by the pope. The Vatican has warned the group…that members involved…would risk excommunication…”
Dr. Ruth Marshall is still kicking against the pricks6They will not ‘risk’ it. If they consecrate the bishops, they are automatically excommunicated. The Pope doesn’t even need to say anything.
Voted for Hubert and Kamala5Christian Nationalists are no more christian than National Socialists (the Nazis) were socialist. Both bullshit brandings of white nationalism are anti-Christian—and anti-socialist and anti-humanity—in their politics and practices.
Happy-go-Loki.5Oh my! Throwdown at the Vatican!
Diamond Life3Does this include JD Vance? Oh please yes!
tFrUuCmKp3I’ll bet they’re all nice and mentally stable people.
Izzy17162This guy does not play and I love that about him!
Dr. Ruth Marshall is still kicking against the pricks10To clarify: If the Society consecrates the bishops tomorrow, they are automatically excommunicated by the act. The Pope doesn’t even need to say or do anything.
Cezary Jan Strusiewicz5I actually like the new pope (mostly) but a schism within the Catholic church, and possibly the ascension of a modern Antipope, would be hilarious.
