Local expert comments on Pope Leo's excommunication of defiant conservative Catholic group

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Pope Leo the 14th reacted quickly, and harshly, to a defiant, conservative Catholic congregation, excommunicating them from the Catholic church. 

The move was sparked by the traditionalist group going ahead with the consecration of four new bishops in Switzerland yesterday, after the Vatican had told the group to hold off on doing so. The leaders of the Society of St. Pius the Tenth refused to follow the directive, and fifteen-thousand conservative Catholics joined them.

The pontiff says that the Society of St. Pius the Tenth has long been dedicated to fighting against the Vatican Two reforms of the 1960s, by, for example, choosing to keep all Masses in Latin, and that by doing so, has itself broken from the Catholic church.

By excommunicating all the leaders of St. Pius the Tenth, the Pontiff has assured that the members cannot receive the sacrament, hold church office, or even have a catholic burial - unless they repent.

Professor Frank Lacopo, Ph.D., who grew up in South Bend, is an Assistant Professor of History at Southeast Missouri State University and is currently writing a book about the history of the Roman Catholic Church.

He told us that even if the group still considers themselves Roman Catholic - the Vatican does not. "They still see themselves as catholic, but it's only been a day or two, right? It's definitely within the realm of possibility they create a breakaway denomination."

Professor Lacopo also said that this is how the church changes over time, with some groups gradually splitting off from the Vatican - and it does happen periodically.