San Antonio Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller has drawn a hard line on a breakaway traditionalist group, telling Catholics across the archdiocese to stop attending Mass and other activities at St. Joseph Chapel and announcing he will no longer grant priests of the Society of Saint Pius X permission to preside at weddings or minister within the archdiocese. The move follows the SSPX’s July 1 consecration of four priests as bishops without a papal mandate and a subsequent decree from the Vatican’s doctrine office declaring the act schismatic. García-Siller also urged parishioners to avoid financially supporting the society’s local projects and pointed devotees of the Traditional Latin Mass toward diocesan options instead.
In a statement to WOAI, García-Siller said the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith issued a decree on July 2 warning that "the sacred ministers of the Priestly Society of Saint Pius X illicitly administer the sacraments" and that "the sacrament of penance administered by them and marriages witnessed by them are invalid." He explained that while he had cooperated with priests assigned to the local SSPX chapel since 2020 and on several occasions granted delegation for marriages "for the good of the faithful," those delegations will cease in light of the dicastery's decree.
Vatican decree and canonical fallout
The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith issued a decree July 2 declaring Bishop Alfonso de Galarreta, Bishop Bernard Fellay and the four newly consecrated bishops to have incurred latae sententiae excommunication and warned that lay faithful who "formally adhere" to the society risk similar penalties, according to Vatican News. The dicastery's note said SSPX ministers now "illicitly administer the sacraments" and specifically flagged confessions and marriages as affected, a change that directly impacts the legal status of rites conducted in SSPX chapels.
What happened in Écône
On July 1 at the SSPX seminary in Écône, Switzerland, Bishops Alfonso de Galarreta and Bernard Fellay consecrated Fathers Pascal Schreiber, Michael Goldade, Michel Poinsinet de Sivry and Marc Hanappier to the episcopacy without a papal mandate, a ceremony reported by America Magazine. The ordinations drew thousands and, the Vatican said, constituted an act of schism that triggered automatic excommunications under canon law.
San Antonio's immediate response
García-Siller told local Catholics to stop attending Masses and events at the SSPX chapel in San Antonio and to refrain from contributing to the society’s capital campaign, according to the archdiocese's statement reported by WOAI. For those attached to the Traditional Latin Mass, he recommended worship at Saint Timothy Catholic Church in the city and asked the faithful to join him in prayer for the reunification of all Christians.
How this affects marriages and confessions
Canon law requires that priests have proper faculties to validly absolve sins and witness marriages, and the dicastery's note cited those rules in warning that confessions and marriages administered by SSPX ministers are invalid without delegation, OSV News explained. That means couples married in an SSPX chapel after the decree could face questions about canonical validity and may need to consult their parish or the archdiocese about next steps.
What to watch next
The Vatican also outlined pathways for bishops and apostolic nuncios to receive back those who wish to return to full communion, but dioceses will now wrestle with pastoral logistics for parishioners affected by the decree, analysts told America Magazine. Locally, the archdiocese's ban on SSPX ministry removes a canonical safety valve, the delegations García-Siller had granted since 2020, and could prompt couples or penitents to seek services at diocesan parishes.
For now, San Antonio Catholics face a stark choice between diocesan-approved liturgies and services at an SSPX chapel that Rome now regards as schismatic. The archdiocese said it will monitor developments and publish guidance for anyone with sacramental questions.
