The week of 29 June to 6 July brought Vatican excommunication of the Society of St Pius X after bishop ordinations in Switzerland, asset seizures from an alleged alchemy cult in Umbria, and investigative attention to Radha Soami’s purchase of a landmark Glasgow church. Scotland saw far-right blackshirt-style parades. A fishing skipper received community service for modern slavery aboard a trawler. A Peter Thiel-linked Dialog Society retreat planned for Wicklow was cancelled after protest. Items published before the coverage week appear under In previous weeks. Summaries draw on monitored European and UK outlets. Full source links follow.

Pope Leo excommunicates SSPX after Écône bishop ordinations

The Society of St Pius X ordained four bishops at its international seminary in Écône, Valais, on 1 July, defying repeated appeals from Pope Leo XIV. Pascal Schreiber of Switzerland, Michael Goldade and Michel Poinsinet de Sivry of France, and Marc Hanappier of France were consecrated by Bishop Alfonso de Galarreta and co-consecrator Bishop Bernard Fellay before a crowd The Guardian and France 24 put at about 16,500. France 24 reported the five-and-a-half-hour Latin Mass in the meadows below the seminary, with thousands watching on giant screens as the four priests lay prostrate during the Litany of the Saints. PBS NewsHour said the society dismissed resulting penalties as invalid and read a statement at the opening of the Mass calling the consecrations a “sacred duty.” The ordinations proceeded after Leo wrote to superior general Rev Davide Pagliarani on 29 June urging him to “please turn back,” warning that the schismatic act would deprive followers of licit sacraments. Freedom Times covered the SSPX and Vatican standoff earlier in June.

On 2 July Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, declared the consecrations an act of schism incurring automatic excommunication for the new bishops and consecrators. The decree went further than many observers expected by stating that SSPX priests and lay Catholics who “formally adhere” to the fraternity are schismatic and excommunicated, and that confessions and marriages administered by SSPX clergy are invalid. Vatican News said the move reversed limited faculties Pope Francis had granted in recent years. At Our Lady of the Rosary Church in Shanakiel, Cork, about 100 worshippers attended Latin Mass on 5 July as usual, the Irish Examiner reported, with parish priest Fr Jules Doutrebente telling the congregation there was no schism because canon law allowed action in necessity. Rev Georg Kopf told worshippers in Wil, Switzerland, on 5 July that a future pope would welcome the fraternity back, Reuters reported via Newsweek.

Italian police seize assets linked to alleged Pietralunga cult

Perugia prosecutors secured preventive seizure of a farmhouse, outbuildings, land, a luxury car and cash on 2 July from an alleged high-control group operating around Pietralunga in Umbria, Radio Galileo reported. The order followed a March arrest of four people on suspicion of criminal association, fraud, extortion and sexual violence against adherents. Investigators told the outlet that a father reported his son joined alchemy courses with a self-styled “Maestro” in mid-2023, quit his job, paid monthly fees and cut contact with family after moving between Pesaro-Urbino and Umbria.

Police said the group used defined roles including “Maestro,” “Maestra,” “Sciamano” and “Guaritore,” with recruitment through trust-building and threats of spiritual harm if members left. Bank records showed more than 500,000 euros in payments from adherents, partly spent on luxury cars and jewellery. Prosecutors allege a 56-year-old leader used his authority to coerce a vulnerable female member into repeated sexual contact, telling her it was necessary for soul purification. Three of the four arrested in March were held in Perugia and Naples prisons. The case remains in preliminary investigation and defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Radha Soami buys Glasgow‘s St Andrew’s in the Square

The Glasgow Bell reported on 4 July that St Andrew‘s in the Square, one of Scotland’s finest 18th-century churches, is now owned by a movement founded in the Punjab in 1891 and known as Radha Soami Satsang Beas or Science of the Soul. The investigative outlet describes the group as secretive and says sources have called it a spiritual group, religious sect or cult. A plaque outside reads “Science of the Soul.” The church near Glasgow Cross was built for the city’s Tobacco Lords and remained largely closed to the public in recent years, with gates often locked despite its listed status.

The Bell‘s reporters were asked on a second visit to destroy notes on the group’s Glasgow activities, which the piece says made the encounter stranger than their first. The article traces the building’s history from Presbyterian worship through Jacobite encampments to its current ownership, asking how a landmark classical church passed to a controversial movement with little public transparency about its local presence.

Blackshirt-style parades alarm historians in Scotland

The Herald Scotland reported on 3 July that far-right demonstrators dressed head to toe in black marched in columns outside Glasgow Cathedral on 18 June and again outside the Scottish Parliament on 24 June. Historian Thomas Weber of Aberdeen University told the paper the wreath left at the cathedral, inscribed “we apologise” and bearing the Italian phrase “il fine giustifica i mezzi” (“the end justifies the means”), echoed fascist symbolism. Weber said the events recalled how Hitler staged National Socialism as a “political religion of action” aimed at mobilising followers to violence.

Around 60 men took part in the first parade, which social media posts linked to the slogan “Glasgow Rising?” Keith Brown, SNP depute leader and a former Royal Marines commando, said the demonstrators had been emboldened by party rhetoric that demonises minorities. First Minister John Swinney blamed Reform UK members in the Scottish Parliament for inciting division after separate June disorder in Glasgow in which three men were arrested. The piece argues Scotland can no longer treat neo-fascist street activity as an English-only problem.

Skipper sentenced for “Dickensian” treatment of Ghanaian crew

Tom Nicholson Jr, 38, was sentenced on 3 July at Hamilton Sheriff Court to 300 hours of unpaid work for failing to provide adequate food, rest or training to five Ghanaian crew aboard the Sea Lady in the English Channel in 2017, BBC News reported. Sheriff John Hamilton KC called conditions “Dickensian” and said Nicholson’s conduct was callous and driven by profit, though he imposed a community sentence rather than custody under the presumption against short jail terms. All five men were later recognised as victims of modern slavery by the UK Home Office.

Crew member Gershon Norvivor told the BBC food ran out after three or four days and the skipper shouted if workers stopped to eat. Joshua Amissah testified that Nicholson told him he must treat Black crew as slaves, a claim Nicholson denied through his counsel Patricia Bailey KC, who said the offence occurred in a wider culture of mistreatment at TN Trawlers in Annan. The company featured in a 2024 BBC investigation that identified 35 foreign workers later confirmed as slavery victims. Nicholson pleaded guilty during trial in June after three days of evidence.

Wicklow hotel cancels Peter Thiel-linked Dialog retreat

The Powerscourt Hotel Resort and Spa in County Wicklow cancelled an August retreat planned by Dialog, an invitation-only group co-founded by US tech investor Peter Thiel and entrepreneur Auren Hoffman, the Irish Times reported on 3 July. A leaked schedule cited by the paper included sessions on preparing for a third world war, battlefield technology, nuclear energy and cult-building. The hotel confirmed the event would not proceed and declined further comment. Powerscourt Estate, the landlord, said it was relieved after weeks of concern from staff and neighbours.

Opposition politicians and pro-Palestine campaigners had urged cancellation, citing Palantir’s defence contracts and its partnership with the Israel Defense Forces. The Drop Dialogue campaign called the decision a victory for direct action and warned other Irish venues against hosting the group. People Before Profit TD Richard Boyd Barrett said activists would monitor any attempt to relocate the conference. Thiel co-founded PayPal and Palantir, which supplies data analytics to governments and militaries.

French magistrates college warns on Freemasonry membership

The Collège de déontologie des magistrats ruled on 9 June in opinion 2026-27 that membership of Freemasonry is incompatible with judicial ethics when a lodge oath implies prior allegiance, obedience or solidarity, Midi Libre reported on 2 July. The advisory body, responding to a referral from the Unité magistrats union, said that where no such oath applies, Freemasonry still raises serious reservations and requires heightened vigilance over independence, impartiality and neutrality because of the association’s secrecy and past judicial scandals. Actu-Juridique reported the college stressed magistrates retain freedom of association but must ensure private commitments cannot appear to influence their work, especially in smaller courts.

The opinion carries no automatic sanction. Nausica Avocats, a French law firm summarising the ruling, noted membership alone cannot trigger discipline without a characterised breach assessed case by case. Unité magistrats said the college confirmed concerns the union had raised with successive justice ministers about transparency and interest declarations for magistrates holding lodge leadership roles.

In previous weeks

The following items were published before the coverage week of 29 June to 6 July 2026 but are included from operator seeds and follow-up reporting on monitored outlets.

AllatRa gains European Parliament platform for climate pseudoscience

The Nepali Times republished an openDemocracy investigation reporting that AllatRa, a movement founded in Ukraine in 2014 and now US-based, co-hosted a February conference on nanoplastics inside the European Parliament with far-right Czech MEP Ondřej Knotek. President Maryna Ovtsynova and Trump spiritual adviser Pastor Mark Burns appeared on panels that mixed invited scientists with AllatRa Global Research Centre staff. The outlet said AllatRa advances pseudoscience claiming climate change stems from plastic pollution and a recurring 12,000-year “cosmic” cycle rather than greenhouse gas emissions, and that deleted website material had warned humanity could face extinction by 2036.

According to the investigation, AllatRa has also co-hosted events in the US Capitol complex with Burns, received Vatican foundation invitations under Pope Francis, and entered recent UN climate summits through an Egyptian NGO observer delegation. Ukrainian police raided AllatRa offices in November 2023 and issued arrest warrants against co-founder Igor Danilov on treason charges, while Czech authorities investigate alleged pro-Russian disinformation. German MEP Michael Bloss told openDemocracy that far-right Patriots for Europe members had handed a parliamentary room to “pseudo-scientific theatre.” AllatRa communications head Valeria Smian said the group recognises anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions and denied promoting doomsday messaging.

Source citations

The Guardian (UK): “Pope Leo pleads with ultra-conservative sect not to ordain own bishops”, 30 June 2026.

The Guardian (UK): “Fears of Catholic schism as defiant sect ordains ultra-conservative bishops”, 1 July 2026.

The Guardian (UK): “Vatican excommunicates all members of ultra-conservative rebel group SSPX”, 2 July 2026.

France 24 / AFP (France): “Catholic society defies Vatican by consecrating new bishops”, 1 July 2026.

PBS NewsHour / Associated Press (United States): “Defying Pope Leo XIV, traditionalists go ahead with bishop consecrations in Switzerland”, 1 July 2026.

Vatican News: “Excommunication decreed for Lefebvrite episcopal ordinations”, 2 July 2026.

BBC News: “Vatican excommunicates conservative SSPX followers”, 2 July 2026.

Irish Examiner (Ireland): “Cork sect excommunicated by Pope Leo to celebrate Mass ‘as usual’ on Sunday”, 3 July 2026.

Irish Examiner (Ireland): “Catholic sect in Cork says prayers for Pope Leo after being excommunicated by pontiff”, 5 July 2026.

Newsweek: “Priest from excommunicated sect says future Pope will reverse Vatican move”, 5 July 2026.

Blick (Switzerland): “Wegen Bischofsweihe: Piusbrüdern droht Rausschmiss”, 28 June 2026.

Radio Galileo (Italy): “Pietralunga, sequestri preventivi di beni contro presunta setta”, 2 July 2026.

The Glasgow Bell (UK): “Why was one of Scotland’s finest churches sold to a secretive religious sect?”, 4 July 2026.

The Herald Scotland (UK): “Welcome to Scotland in 2026 - where Blackshirts parade on our city streets”, 3 July 2026.

BBC News: “Skipper sentenced to unpaid work for ‘Dickensian’ treatment of crew”, 3 July 2026.

The Irish Times (Ireland): “Wicklow hotel cancels ‘secretive’ Peter Thiel group conference”, 3 July 2026.

Actu-Juridique (France): “FLASH : L’appartenance à la franc-maçonnerie déclarée incompatible avec la déontologie des magistrats”, 9 June 2026.

Midi Libre (France): “Le collège de déontologie estime incompatible l’appartenance à la franc-maçonnerie avec la déontologie des magistrats”, 2 July 2026.

Nepali Times (Nepal): “Doomsday ‘cult’ spreads climate disinformation”, 26 June 2026.