The Vatican has announced the expulsion of priests and lay Catholics belonging to the Society of St Pius X, a right-wing breakaway group that performed unauthorized bishop consecrations without the approval of Pope Leo XIV. In a decree issued on Thursday by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Catholic Church's top watchdog authority, the Swiss-based society is now considered in schism and its members are excommunicated. This action was taken following the group's defiance of Pope Leo's plea not to proceed with the ordinations. The Vatican maintains that only the pope has the authority to authorize the consecration of new bishops to preserve the church's ties to Jesus's original disciples, who are considered the first priests and bishops. In this decree, the two bishops involved in the unauthorized ordinations held in Switzerland on Wednesday have been excommunicated, along with the four priests participating in the ceremony. The Vatican further stated that all priests of the Society of St Pius X and Catholics who formally adhere to the group are now in schism and excommunicated. This action was a response to the society's ordination of new bishops without papal approval, which the Church considers a serious matter causing those involved to be automatically excommunicated and unable to receive sacraments until they repent and ask for forgiveness. The Society of St Pius X, with around 600,000 followers worldwide, opposes liberal reforms imposed by the Vatican II Council in the 1960s.