Priests and lay Catholics who are part of the society were excommunicated by the Vatican. Read more at straitstimes.com. Read more at straitstimes.com.

In a letter addressed to Pope Leo XIV, released on July 3, Father Davide Pagliarani, superior general of the SSPX, justified the episcopal consecrations that prompted the Vatican’s decree.

The SSPX, a group of ultra-conservative Catholics, consecrated four bishops and livestreamed the ceremony in defiance of Pope Leo. The Vatican was quick to expel the members. The incident has revived scrutiny of the traditionalist group's long conflict with the Church.

While the society claims it was compelled to ordain new bishops July 1 in Ecône, Switzerland in order to guarantee to celebrate what they consider the true Mass, Vatican officials and scholars say the dispute that culminated in the excommunications has never primarily been about the traditional Latin Mass.

Multiple traditionalist Catholic communities officially distance themselves from the SSPX's illicit bishop consecrations, pleading for greater ecclesial support.

The group conducts Mass in ancient Latin and considers the reforms of the church full of heresy and error. It rejects the English Mass and the Catholic Church’s dialogue with other faiths and branches of Christianity.

The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith has established a procedure for both priests and lay faithful connected to the