In a decisive move, the Vatican has taken aggressive action against the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX), a traditionalist group that consecrated bishops without papal consent, declaring them to have formally severed ties with the Catholic Church. The Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith excommunicated the four newly consecrated SSPX bishops and two participating bishops, and declared their consecration a "schismatic act." The society itself was deemed to have created a schism, invalidating sacraments administered by its priests numbering around 750. The Vatican warned the faithful against attending SSPX Masses, stating that those who adhere formally to the group are considered schismatic and excommunicated. This decree could potentially affect thousands of rank-and-file SSPX followers. The harsh sanctions, particularly those targeting priests, reversed concessions made by the Vatican in recent years as part of efforts to bring the group back into alignment with Rome. The actions were announced during a Mass celebrated by one of the newly consecrated bishops in Econe, Switzerland. This latest development comes after the Vatican's doctrine chief, Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, met with the SSPX superior in February to propose dialogue, but the request for a meeting with Pope Leo XIV was denied. The SSPX, founded by French Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre in 1970 as a response to modernizing reforms of the Second Vatican Council, has been a contentious issue for the Vatican for decades. Lefebvre himself was excommunicated in 1988 for consecrating bishops without papal consent, a move that the Vatican has now repeated with the SSPX.