Vatican excommunicates SSPX priests, declaring formal schism with the Church

The Vatican has declared that priests and lay Catholics belonging to the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) are in schism with the wider Catholic Church, effectively excommunicating its clergy. The ruling marks a formal and bitter rupture between the traditionalist society and the Holy See. The SSPX was founded in 1970 and has long clashed with Rome over liturgical reforms and Church authority.