1987 Marian year announced by John Paul II in the encyclical Redemptoris Mater June 30, 1988: Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre of the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX), consecrates four men as bishops at Écône, Switzerland without the express permission of the Pope. Lefebvre et al. automatically incurs excommunication according to canon law. Traditionalist bishops of the SSPX continue to be suspended "a divinis" to this day.[28] December 31, 1991: The Soviet Union is officially dissolved.