The Vatican responded to the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX)—an ultra-traditionalist Catholic group—after the SSPX consecrated four bishops in Econe, Switzerland, without papal approval.

The Vatican’s doctrine office said the consecrations placed the SSPX in schism with Rome, imposing severe canonical penalties. It excommunicated the group’s bishops and priests and warned that the faithful associated with the SSPX face the harshest sanctions available in the Catholic Church. The action also reversed earlier outreach that had eased some restrictions in recent years.

The Vatican said it was willing to welcome SSPX members back “like a caring mother,” but instructed that local church authorities should follow procedures for handling potential returns.

The consecrations occurred shortly after Pope Leo XIV appealed to the group to reconsider. The SSPX was founded in 1970 by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, who opposed post–Second Vatican Council reforms, and in 1988 Lefebvre consecrated bishops without papal consent—an act that had previously led to excommunications later lifted by Pope Benedict XVI in 2009.

With the new bishops installed, the Vatican said the SSPX no longer has legal standing and remains outside full communion with Rome.