The Catholic Church’s New Schism
The Vatican has excommunicated 700 arch-traditionalist bishops and priests associated with the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX). This move follows the unauthorized consecration of bishops, marking a formal schism within the Catholic Church.
Why it matters
This rupture represents a significant internal conflict within the Catholic Church regarding tradition, papal authority, and the role of the Church in modern society.
The Vatican excommunicated 700 arch-traditionalist bishops and priests—a rupture that touches on broader disputes in the Church today.
Illustration by The Atlantic. Sources: Harold Cunningham / Getty; Riccardo De Luca / Anadolu / Getty. August 4, 2026, 8 AM ET Share Save At an open-air Mass in Écône, Switzerland, before a crowd of about 16,000 people, four priests became bishops last month. The men professed their fidelity to tradition against “heretics, schismatics, and those who rebel against our Holy Father.” They did so knowing full well that, in becoming bishops, they lacked something the Catholic Church deems essential: permission from the pope.
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