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Hello, I'm Gina Christian, and you're listening to our OSV Newscast for Thursday, July 2nd, 2026. Let's catch you up on the Catholic news of the day, and here we go. The Vatican has declared the Society of St. Pius X to be in schism after the traditionalist group consecrated four bishops without papal approval. The ordinations mark the most serious rupture since founder Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre's unauthorized episcopal consecrations in 1988. In a decree issued today, the Vatican Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith said bishops Alfonso de Galareta and Bernard Felay, along with four newly consecrated bishops, incurred automatic excommunication. The Vatican also warned that clergy and lay faithful who formally adhere to the society are considered schismatic and face the same canonical penalty. The decree further states that confessions and marriages celebrated by society priests are invalid because the society lacks the required faculties, although masses remain valid but illicit. Today's decision reverses decades of Vatican efforts to reconcile the group, including concessions by Popes Benedict XVI and Francis. The decree reaffirmed that those who return to full communion will be welcomed. The Vatican urged faithful to abstain from participating in the celebrations and activities promoted by the Schismatic Society and urged faithful to remain steadfast in communion with the Pope, the Bishops, and the whole church. And more now on that procedure for reconciliation for priests and lay faithful connected to the Society of St. Pius X to return to Catholic Communion. The Vatican's instructions are being transmitted through apostolic nunciatures, as was announced in the explanatory note published by the Vatican's Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith today. The procedure provides that a priest who's decided to leave the society and who's willing to accept the Second Vatican Council and the legitimacy of the new order of mass, while remaining attached to the ancient rite, must find an ordinary, such as a diocesan bishop or a major superior of a clerical religious institute or society, willing to receive him ad expedimentum or on an experimental basis. That ordinary will oversee specific steps for the priest to return to the Catholic Church. The Vatican document also notes that the imposition of a penalty on lay people belonging to the society, in fact, cannot be presumed automatically, but must be assessed case by case. And the document provides steps for affected individuals to take based on their involvement with the society. And also in the wake of that excommunication, conservative Catholics are urging church leaders to provide stronger pastoral support for traditionalists who remain loyal to the Pope. Joseph Shaw, chairman of the London-based Latin Mass Society, said he disagreed with the decision taken by the Society of St. Pius X, but he hoped the crisis would reassure Catholics committed to the traditional Latin Mass without embracing schism. Dominican Father Dominic White echoed that call, stressing that fidelity to Catholic tradition must include full communion with the Church. Both Shaw and Father White said many traditionalist Catholics reject the society's break with Rome. Father White said he believed the Pope should ask all bishops to make the Latin Mass available at a convenient time and place in their diocese, and also consider setting up an ordinariate for traditionalist Catholics accepting doctrinal orthodoxy. And Father White added, the whole traditionalist movement is currently very strong and attracting many vocations. The National Eucharistic Pilgrimage ends on July 5th with a closing mass, procession, and celebration in Philadelphia. And it will begin with a special live video message from Pope Leo XIV. The Pope will speak to pilgrims gathered in Philadelphia, those participating online, and the larger church in the U.S., as well as to viewers around the world, while the U.S. marks its 250th anniversary. The pilgrimage's final mass will take place at the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul, with Archbishop Nelson Perez of Philadelphia presiding. After Mass, the pilgrims will process with the Eucharist for about two miles to the National Shrine of St. John Newman at St. Peter the Apostle Church, where St. John Newman, the fourth bishop of Philadelphia and a champion of Catholic education, is entombed. Other events marking the wrap up of the National Eucharistic Pilgrimage in Philadelphia include a July 3rd day of service and continuous Eucharistic adoration that began last night and will continue through the afternoon of July 4th at the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul. And finally, for Noah Haidu, carrying a 130-pound wooden cross up a mountain in central Massachusetts was about more than accomplishing a physical feat. It was to honor Jesus Christ. To prepare for his June 6th climb up the 2,006-foot-high Mount Wachuset, the 23-year-old carried the cross for a mile each of the previous 50 days. Haidu wanted to carry the cross up the mountain to raise money for the Diocese of Worcester, but he met with Father Derek Mobilio, a pastor at Our Lady of the Angels Parish and chaplain at Worcester State University, and they decided last winter that he should instead donate to Capus Ministry. While spreading the word about Operation Carry the Cross for several months on Instagram and TikTok, Haidu reached nearly 10 million views. He raised $5,000, and 65 people accompanied him on his climb up the mountain. He carried the cross up by himself, but others took turns carrying it together down part of the mountain to an area where Father Mobilio used a picnic table as an altar while he celebrated Mass. Haidu said this whole journey has been really rewarding. His next journey? He plans to carry the cross up Mount Monadnock in Jaffrey, New Hampshire. And that's your OSV Newscast for today. I'm Gina Christian. Check out the show notes for a link to our website where you can find the stories in this episode. As always, please do make sure to subscribe to this podcast, follow us on social media, and bookmark osvnews.com. A shout out to our listeners in the U.S., Canada, and all over the world. We've got several folks checking in from Australia, and let's see who else is in the house. We've got the United Kingdom, Poland, Trinidad, and Tobago, the Philippines, France, Brazil, Denmark, Austria, Sri Lanka, and New Zealand. Drop us a line and let us know what you think. In honor of the Fourth of July and the nation's 250th anniversary, we'll be off tomorrow, but we'll be back on Monday. Thanks so much for listening and God bless.