{"id":2188,"date":"2026-08-01T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-01T04:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vaticanfiles.org\/?p=2188"},"modified":"2026-07-22T20:13:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-22T18:13:14","slug":"vf-259","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vaticanfiles.org\/en\/2026\/08\/vf-259\/","title":{"rendered":"259. \u201cExcommunicated!\u201d When the Roman Prevails Over the Catholic"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

But how can this be? Roman Catholicism teaches that we are \u201call brothers<\/a>\u201d (Pope Francis\u2019s 2020 encyclical), that we must bless everyone (the 2023 \u201cFiducia supplicans<\/a>\u201d declaration allowing the blessings of same-sex attracted people), that \u201ctodos, todos, todos<\/a>\u201d (all, all, all), all are children of God\u2014and then\u2026it excommunicates<\/a> the newly appointed bishops and all the clergy of the Society of St. Pius X, who are more Roman Catholic than anyone else!?!

We\u2019re used to a Catholicism that\u2019s soft, understanding, inclusive, pluralistic, and accommodating. Today, hearing talk of \u201cschism\u201d and \u201cexcommunication\u201d regarding the Society of St. Pius X seems incomprehensible and evokes centuries of history that seem to have been consigned to the past.

In fact, to a casual observer, what happened at the beginning of July is a facet of Roman Catholicism that, after Vatican II, we were no longer accustomed to. Yet it is a facet that is an integral and organic part of Roman Catholicism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How can all this be explained? One must understand the markers of Rome\u2019s identity. Catholicism, in addition to being \u201cCatholic,\u201d is also \u201cRoman.\u201d It is both at the same time. On the one hand, its catholicity is the ideal of universality, which goes hand in hand with an attitude that embraces diversity. On the other hand, its Roman identity embodies the institutional dimension expressed in the hierarchical-sacramental structure centered on the papacy.

On the one hand, it absorbs; on the other, it controls. Thus, Rome can incorporate the charismatic movement, tolerate dissenting Catholics, fraternally embrace followers of other religions, show understanding toward LGBTQ+ people, make room for the German synodal path<\/a> (with its progressive impulses), incorporate the Andean fertility goddess such as Pachamama, and approve new Marian apparitions\u2026provided that the hierarchical-sacramental structure remains untouched and the prerogatives of the \u201cRoman\u201d system are not threatened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This is precisely what happened with the Society of St. Pius X. It is not their traditionalism, nor their criticism of Vatican II, nor their nostalgic interpretation of Roman Catholicism that poses a problem. In Roman Catholicism, there is room for this and much more, both on the right and on the left of the spectrum, on the traditionalist side as well as on the progressive side.
 
What led to the schism was the challenge posed to the \u201cRoman\u201d system. By ordaining four bishops without the Vatican\u2019s authorization, the Society of St. Pius X claimed for itself a right that Rome considers its exclusive and non-negotiable prerogative. As long as it comes to opening space for new interpretations, diverse experiences, multiple perspectives, and varied theological and ethical paths, Roman Catholicism is welcoming, and its broad embrace expands even further. 
 
On the contrary, when the system feels its \u201cRoman\u201d prerogatives threatened, the harsh reaction we have witnessed unfolds: the excommunication because of \u201cschism,\u201d with all the canonical consequences.
 
The relations between the Roman Catholic Church and the Society of St. Pius X have a turbulent history marked by decades of bitter debate. As long as the issues remained within the realm of Vatican II interpretations, the room for maneuver allowed relations to be maintained. Now, however, the dispute has shifted to the realm of the \u201cRoman\u201d structure, and Rome has shown its intransigent face.
 
What does all this remind us of? It reminds us that Roman Catholicism is both Roman and Catholic. Always. Anyone who looks only at the \u201ccatholic\u201d aspect and not at the \u201cRoman\u201d one (and vice versa) has understood little or nothing.
 
Since we\u2019re talking about schism and excommunication, our thoughts inevitably turn to the Protestant Reformation. Luther was excommunicated and charged with the sin of schism. If Martin Luther had limited himself to calling for a moral reform of the clergy, a renewal of the Church\u2019s teaching, or the formation of a new religious order, even then Rome\u2019s catholicity would have been capable of assimilating those demands. The crux of the Reformation was that the \u201cRoman\u201d heart\u2014the imperial\/hierarchical\/sacramental construct at the center of the system\u2014needed to be reformed according to Scripture. This triggered Luther\u2019s expulsion by the then-Pope.
 
Roman Catholicism oscillates between the Roman and the Catholic. Its catholicity is not defined by biblical standards, but by the preservation and implementation of its Roman interests.<\/p>\n

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