Vatican excommunicates all members of ultra-conservative rebel group SSPX

The Vatican has formally excommunicated members of the Society of Saint Pius X, an ultra-conservative Catholic breakaway group, according to The Guardian. The action came after the society ordained four bishops without approval from Pope Leo, violating church law. Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, head of the Vatican's doctrine office, declared the action constitutes a schism under canon law, which carries automatic excommunication. Founded in Switzerland in nineteen seventy, the SSPX has long rejected certain modern church reforms, creating one of the most significant rifts in Catholicism today.

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