Pope Leo may excommunicate SSPX, Catholic sect of St. Marys, Kansas, church

Topeka Capital-Journal/May 24, 2026

By Jason Alatidd

Key Points

The Vatican has warned the traditionalist Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX) of excommunication over its plan to consecrate new bishops without papal approval.

SSPX, known for its large new church in St. Marys, Kansas, says the consecrations are necessary to ordain new priests and ensure the group's survival.

A Vatican official has called the planned consecrations a "schismatic act" that would result in automatic excommunication.

SSPX leaders maintain their actions are for the "salvation of souls" and have stated they would rather die than renounce their principles.

The Catholic Church under the first American pope is threatening to excommunicate a traditionalist sect — or at least its leaders — that is best known in Kansas for a newly built massive church in a small town near Topeka.

The Vatican under Pope Leo XIV has warned the Society of Saint Pius X, or SSPX, over its plans to consecrate new bishops this summer.

"The episcopal ordinations announced by the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X do not have the requisite papal mandate," Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández said in a May 13 statement from the Vatican's press office.

The Immaculata in St. Marys is the largest SSPX-built church in the world. Building the church — which has a capacity of more than 1,500 people — was a $42 million project completed in 2023.

The international society is led by its superior general, Father Davide Pagliarani, who announced plans in February to consecrate four new bishops in a July 1 ceremony. SSPX has reported that it currently has only two bishops left, both of whom are approaching age 70, and has noted that bishops are needed in order to ordain priests, meaning it is "urgent to ensure their successors."

A similar move in 1988 resulted in excommunications that were lifted in 2009.

Fernández, who is the prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, met with the pope two days before issuing the May 13 statement. Fernández said SSPX's plans would be "a schismatic act" and "formal adherence to the schism constitutes a grave offence against God and entails the excommunication established under Church law."

"The Holy Father continues in his prayers to ask the Holy Spirit to enlighten those responsible for the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X so that they may reconsider the extremely grave decision they have taken," Fernández said.

Pagliarani responded on May 14 with a "declaration of Catholic faith addressed to Pope Leo XIV." In it, Pagliarani said, "We would rather die than renounce" our principles.

SSPX leaders argue that accusations of schism are unfounded. Father John Fullerton, who leads the SSPX's United States district, has said "this act is being performed for one reason: the salvation of souls, the highest law of the Church."

In a March message to SSPX members that was shared publicly on May 21, Pagliarani said,"Now more than ever, we must love souls and Holy Mother Church, even if its official representatives were to declare us excommunicated and schismatic once again."

"If we come to be declared excommunicated and schismatic, this would not mean that we seek such a sanction or rejoice in it, for it would be objectively unjust," Pagliarani said. "It is one thing to rejoice in receiving a new humiliation to offer to God, and it is quite another to rejoice (in a spirit of defiance) in an evil and an objective injustice that causes scandal to the whole Church."

To see more documents/articles regarding this group/organization/subject click here.