Understand what it means to be excommunicated from the Catholic Church
The Vatican declared this Thursday (2) that priests and members of the ultra-traditionalist dissident Catholic group, Society of Saint Pius
The Catholic Church published a decree declaring that the four bishops are excommunicated, along with the two bishops who participated in the ordination ceremony. Excommunication means they are excluded from the sacraments of the Church.
In an explanatory note, the document added that priests belonging to the society and lay people who "formally adhere" to the group are also in schism and excommunicated.
What is excommunication?
Excommunication or excommunication, a term derived from Latin that means "being out of communion" with the Church, is one of the most serious penalties that can be imposed by the Vatican.
It prevents Catholics from receiving sacraments, getting married or holding positions in the Church, among other measures.
The Church considers excommunication a "medicinal" penalty. It's not forever. It is a temporary measure that can be revoked when the person at fault regrets their action and asks for forgiveness.
What is schism?
Schism is a term that designates a serious and formal rupture within the Catholic community. Indicates that a person or group has severed its relationship with the pope, who Catholics believe to be the successor of Saint Peter, one of Jesus' twelve apostles.
Why was the group excommunicated?
It is a strict teaching of the Church that only the pope can authorize the consecration of new bishops, in order to maintain the Church's ties with the apostles, who are considered the first priests and bishops.
Consecration without papal consent carries automatic excommunication for both the consecrated person and the bishop performing the ceremony.
What is automatic excommunication?
The Church considers some actions so serious that they impose automatic excommunication, known by the Latin term "latae sententiae".
This means that excommunication occurs at the moment of action, without the need for any decree from the Vatican. Sometimes, however, the Vatican makes a public announcement to inform Catholics about the penalty.
Other offenses of this type include a priest violating the confidentiality of confession or a Catholic physically attacking the pontiff.
A recent high-profile case of automatic excommunication was that of 2024, when Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, former apostolic nuncio to the United States and critic of Pope Francis, was punished.
The Vatican stated that he refused to recognize and submit to the pope.
What is the Society of Saint Pius
The group, which has around 733 priests around the world, has had tense relations with the Vatican for decades. Its founder, the late Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, was excommunicated in 1988 after ordaining four bishops without the permission of then-Pope John Paul II.
Benedict XVI, successor of John Paul II, sought to resume dialogue with society and revoked the excommunications that still weighed on the four bishops.
This measure provoked a strong negative reaction from Jewish leaders when it became known that one of those bishops, Richard Williamson, had publicly denied the extent of the Holocaust.
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Source: CNN