Society of St. Pius X Consecrates Four Bishops in Switzerland

The Society of St. Pius X consecrated four new bishops during a five-hour ceremony in Ecône, Switzerland, on Wednesday. Hundreds of robed priests and around 15,000 attendees were present as Bishop Alfonso de Galarreta placed his hands on the heads of Pascal Schreiber of Switzerland, Michael Goldade of the United States, Michel Poinsinet de Sivry of France, and Marc Hanappier of France.

NBC News reported that the event was livestreamed on the society’s YouTube channel with simultaneous translation into several languages. Pope Leo XIV had written to the Rev. Davide Pagliarani, superior of the society, asking him to postpone the ceremony for the sake of church unity.

The request was ignored. The Vatican excommunicated the society’s six bishops the following day. The Society of St. Pius X was founded in 1970 by French Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre in opposition to reforms from the Second Vatican Council.

The Vatican suspended Lefebvre and suppressed the society the next year. In 1988 Lefebvre consecrated four bishops without papal consent and was excommunicated along with them. The society did not consecrate any other bishops until this week.

The group states it has six bishops, 751 priests, 264 seminarians, 145 religious brothers, 88 oblates, and 250 religious sisters representing 50 nationalities. It operates seminaries, schools, retreat centers, and chapels in dozens of countries. NBC News reported that the Vatican declared the sacraments of confession and marriage administered by SSPX priests invalid on Thursday.

Earlier reconciliation efforts included Pope Benedict XVI liberalizing the old Latin Mass in 2007 and lifting the excommunications of the four SSPX bishops in 2009. Pope Francis reauthorized SSPX priests to hear confessions and allowed them to celebrate marriages legitimately before those measures were reversed.