In the 1983 Code's definition, 'the refusal of submission to the Supreme Pontiff or of communion with the members of the Church subject to him' (can. 751). Whether a given group is 'in schism' is often exactly what is disputed: the Holy See called the 1988 Écône consecrations 'a schismatic act' while later officials described the SSPX as not formally schismatic — and the 2026 decree changed that language again. Statements must be dated and attributed.[1] [2]