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We are not rebels: Excommunicated catholic group responds to Vatican
04th July, 2026 04:07 PM
The Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX) has broken its silence after the Vatican hit the traditionalist group with a sweeping order of excommunication. In a new statement, the group’s leader pushed back against Rome’s decision, setting the stage for a spiritual standoff within the Catholic Church.
On Friday, July 3, 2026, the Superior General of the SSPX, Father Davide Pagliarani, released an open letter addressed directly to Pope Leo XIV. In the letter, the Italian priest rejected the Vatican’s declaration of a formal schism, describing the severe penalties as “objectively unjust and invalid.”
The dramatic fallout follows events that began on Wednesday, July 1, 2026, when the ultraconservative group went ahead to ordain four new bishops at their headquarters in Écône, Switzerland, openly defying a direct, personal plea from Pope Leo XIV to stop the process.
By Thursday, July 2, 2026, the Vatican responded by announcing automatic excommunications for the bishops involved, the society’s priests, and any lay believers who formally support the breakaway movement.
Defending the controversial ordinations
Despite the heavy punishments from Rome, Pagliarani defended the group’s actions as an act of survival rather than rebellion. He described the consecrations as “an extraordinary initiative for the salvation of souls, amidst the doctrinal and moral confusion into which the Church is plunged.”
The SSPX, which has over 750 priests and around 600,000 followers globally, has long opposed the modern reforms of the Second Vatican Council.
Pagliarani maintained that the group has no intention of splitting from the mainstream fold permanently. He wrote that “we in no way intend to replace the Church, and our sole purpose is to remain faithful to her.”
Suffering for the good of the Church
Instead of backing down, the leadership of the breakaway group insisted that the friction will only strengthen their resolve. Pagliarani noted that the society will not receive the new punishments “with bitterness or a spirit of rebellion.”
He added that the penalties strike at their deepest bond with the Roman Church. According to the leader, the SSPX willingly “offers up the suffering caused by these new sanctions for the good of the universal Church and of Your Holiness,” referring to the Pope.
The group remains confident that a future pope will eventually embrace their traditionalist programme to restore the faith.
