Vatican's Fifteen-Year Reconciliation Path with Traditionalists Collapses

The Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X rejected Rome's February 2026 dialogue offer, citing opposition to Second Vatican Council documents, then ordained four bishops without papal approval. Cardinal Fernández had warned in May this would trigger excommunication. The Holy See formally decreed it effective July 1, ending a fifteen-year regularization effort that had periodically approached success under Pope Benedict XVI.