ORTHODOX HOUSE
⛪ All churches
Sign in
☦ Today Wednesday, September 9 / August 27 (old style) ✦ Fast day Gregorian calendar ⇄
Righteous Joachim and Anna · Ven. Joseph of Volotsk
← News feed Pan-Orthodox

The Catholics who broke with Rome. Again.

July 17, 2026 · 1 min read

On the side of a mountain in Switzerland, in the shadow of the Alps, a fanciful event attracting a small but ardent group of Catholic traditionalists gathered to celebrate the consecration of four new bishops …

… who were then promptly excommunicated from the Catholic Church along with the bishop who appointed them.

The group is called the Society of St. Pius X, or SSPX. It has spent decades claiming to defend the true Catholic tradition against a church it sees as too modern, too open, too willing to change. But this time, by moving ahead without Rome’s approval, SSPX triggered excommunications and pushed its whole society into schism.

And it’s not the first time this group has run up against the disapproval of the Holy See.

Today, Vatican reporter Claire Giangravè joins us to talk about SSPX, Pope Leo XIV, the Latin Mass and what happens when longing for an older church ruptures the church itself.

Source: Religion News Service  ·  Read the full story →
⚑ Report
💬 Comments (1) 🌐 Translate comments
D
David Turner
I get wanting to hold onto the old Latin Mass — our parish switched to it for one weekday and it felt more grounded. But consecrating bishops without Rome’s say-so and getting everyone excommunicated just seems like the same old SSPX playbook that’s been running for decades. Wonder if Pope Leo XIV will even bother trying to talk to them again after this.
Sign in to join the conversation →
More stories
September 10
Pan-Orthodox · September 9, 2026
August 28 (old calendar) / September 10 (new)
Pan-Orthodox · September 9, 2026
Congratulation of the Primate to Archbishop Iona of Obukhiv on the 15th anniversary of his episcopal ordination
Ukrainian Orthodox Church · September 9, 2026
Martyrs Menodora, Metrodora and Nymphodora
Romanian Orthodox Church · September 9, 2026
🔑Sign in 📖Prayer Book 🕊Live Prayer 📨Submit news 👥Friends 💬Groups My parish 🕯Virtual church 🙏Prayers by agreement 🗓Calendar ✏️Catechesis 🔔Notifications My subscriptions 🛍Store 💬Support