Cardinal Fernández, DDF prefect, warns SSPX of excommunication

May 13, 2026

Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, the prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, warned the Society of St. Pius X of excommunication if the Society proceeds with its plan to consecrate new bishops on July 1 without the Pope’s approval.

In a statement issued today, Cardinal Fernández said:

With regard to the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X, we reiterate what has already been communicated.

The episcopal ordinations announced by the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X do not have the requisite papal mandate. This act will constitute “a schismatic act” (John Paul II, Ecclesia Dei, no. 3) and “formal adherence to the schism constitutes a grave offence against God and entails the excommunication established under Church law” (ibid., 5c; cf. Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, Explanatory Note, 24 August 1996).

The Holy Father continues in his prayers to ask the Holy Spirit to enlighten those responsible for the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X so that they may reconsider the extremely grave decision they have taken.

The Society was founded in 1970 by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre (1905-1991). Archbishop Lefebvre’s ordination of four bishops in 1988 without a pontifical mandate led to the automatic excommunications of the prelate and the four bishops (Canon 1387). In 2009, the Congregation for Bishops issued a decree remitting the excommunications, a decision that Pope Benedict XVI explained in a subsequent letter.

Two of the four bishops ordained in 1988—Bishop Bernard Fellay and Bishop Alfonso de Galarreta—are still alive. Bishop Bernard Tissier de Mallerais died in 2024; Bishop Richard Williamson, expelled from the Society in 2012, died last year.

 

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Further information:

• Statement of His Eminence Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (Holy See Press Office, 5/13/26)