Members of rebel Catholic group in schism, excommunicated, Vatican says

VATICAN CITY – The Vatican said on Thursday that priests and lay Catholics who are part of a breakaway right-wing Catholic group that ordained bishops without Pope Leo’s approval are in schism with the wider church and now excommunicated.

In a strong decree, the Dicastery for ​the Doctrine of the Faith, the top watchdog authority for the 1.4-billion-member church, also ‌warned ‌Catholics globally that the Swiss-based Society of St. Pius X now ​celebrates the sacraments illicitly.

The ultra-traditionalist group, which denies key church teachings, cannot officiate marriages or hear confessions validly, the decree said.