The Society of Saint Pius X has filed a preliminary appeal with the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, challenging a decree that excommunicated six members linked to the ordination of four new bishops in Switzerland.
The recourse suspends the effects of the Vatican's 2 July decree under Canon 1353 of the Code of Canon Law. The excommunications target bishops Alfonso de Galarreta, Bernard Fellay, Pascal Schreiber, Michael Goldade, Michel Poinsinet de Sivry, and Marc Hanappier following the 1 July consecration of four bishops in Écône without papal approval.
The Vatican has described the ordinations as a "schismatic act", prompting the formal penalty. The traditionalist brotherhood's legal challenge now places the dispute before the Church's highest doctrinal authority.