World
Piusbrüder Contest Excommunication as Rome Deems Appeal Doomed to Fail
Four bishops of the Piusbrüder fraternity, consecrated on July 1, 2026, in Écône, have been automatically excommunicated. The fraternity has filed an appeal (Einspruch) with the Vatican, invoking the right to contest an ecclesiastical administrative act. However, Rome deems the appeal doomed to fail: the excommunication results from an automatic penalty under canon law, and Pope Leo XIV had explicitly warned the fraternity of the consequences before the ceremony. Should the appeal be rejected, the Piusbrüder could as a last resort petition the Apostolic Signatura, the Church's supreme judicial authority.