The Priestly Society of Saint Pius X (FSSPX) consecrated four new bishops without a papal mandate on July 1 in Ecône, Switzerland, despite repeated appeals from the Holy See, including a heartfelt letter from Pope Leo on June 29 to “turn back” and not tear "the seamless garment of Christ."
The episcopal consecrations took place at the headquarters of the Priestly Society of Saint Pius X, where Bishops Alfonso de Galarreta and Bernard Fellay presided over the ceremony.
Vatican News reported that although the newly consecrated bishops answered "yes" to the traditional liturgical question, Habetis mandatum apostolicum? ("Do you have the Apostolic Mandate?"), the ceremony proceeded without papal authorization. The society maintained that the consecrations were necessary to ensure its continuity and survival.
The four newly consecrated bishops are Pascal Schreiber, a 53-year-old Swiss priest ordained in Ecône in 1998; Michael Goldade, originally from North Dakota and raised in Kansas in the United States; and French priests Michel Poinsinet de Sivry, 42, and Marc Happier, 36.
More than 1,000 priests, religious, and approximately 15,000 faithful attended the ceremony, which was held under a large marquee next to the FSSPX seminary and livestreamed in six languages through the society's official website, Vatican News said.
Bishop Alfonso de Galarreta served as the principal consecrator, with Bishop Bernard Fellay as co-consecrator. They are the two surviving bishops among the four consecrated by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre on June 30, 1988, an act that resulted in automatic excommunication under canon law.
At the beginning of the liturgy, FSSPX Superior General Fr. Davide Pagliarani defended the decision, saying, "We are prepared to pay any price to save the Church."
He described it as "a most serious duty" to confer the episcopate on the four priests and declared that "any penalties or censures imposed for this act have no value whatsoever."
According to Vatican News, the society regarded the consecrations as "a historic day" and "a celebration." The Vatican, however, viewed the event differently, describing it as the reopening of "an old wound" of division within the Church.
