Vatican excommunicates hundreds of thousands of splinter sect followers

The Society's main presence is in the US and France but it holds Masses at 26 locations around the UK, from Lerwick in Shetland down to Devon, with its main centre being in Wimbledon, South London.At one point in the 1980s, bishops from the Society were excommunicated for disobeying Rome, but that decision was later reversed.More recently, efforts had been made to reconcile with the SSPX, but the Vatican's response to this week's events was more aggressive than before, and more severe than predicted.It was widely expected that Wednesday's event in Geneva would lead to Excommunication of the bishops involved.But the Excommunication of all those lay people who continue to be a part of SSPX was a surprise to many, with the traditionalist group now as far from the centre of power of the Roman Catholic Church as it has ever been.Excommunication is one of the harshest punishments that can be given by the Church, effectively expelling the offender from the religion and excluding them from Catholic life.It means a baptised follower is "out of communion" with the Church - meaning they cannot receive the sacraments, for example going to confession, or get married within the Roman Catholic Church.The Vatican said on Thursday: "The sacred ministers of the Society of St Pius X administer the sacraments illicitly, while the sacrament of penance they administer and the marriages they witness are invalid."