Archbishop Lefebvre's Excommunication Ceremony

Ceremony full of the old-style Latin prayers and plainchant hymns, as well as traditional symphonic music,

the rebel archbishop this morning took the final step that ended his 12-year-old suspension

and placed him outside the Roman Catholic Church.

Canon Law 1013 specifically provides that no bishop may consecrate other bishops without Vatican approval,

and Monsignor Lefebvre clearly disobeyed that today.

Before a congregation of more than 6,000 traditionalists,

he said he had no choice because he was getting old and the future of the traditionalist community was at stake.

The Pope had sent his nuncio in Bern to Acon yesterday

and put a car at Monsignor Lefebvre's disposal to take him immediately to Rome for discussions,

but the archbishop refused, and with today's concentrations,

he himself, the four new bishops, all of whom are senior figures in the Society of St. Pius X,

and the Brazilian bishop who assisted in the ceremony, are all excommunicated.

Archbishop Lefebvre made it clear after the Vatican statement that he rejected both the penalties,

which he said were null and void, and the present leadership in Rome.