At the headquarters of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X in Switzerland, Bishops Alfonso de Galarreta and Bernard Fellay preside over the episcopal consecration, and the Superior General declared: "Any penalties or censures imposed for this act have no value whatsoever."
Source: Vaticannews
The seamless garment of Christ, which Pope Leo XIV had urged in a heartfelt letter on June 29 "not to tear apart," has now, in the Vatican's view, been torn.
This morning, Wednesday, July 1, in Ecône, Switzerland—the headquarters of the Priestly Society of Saint Pius X (FSSPX)—the Lefebvrists, followers of Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, consecrated four new bishops without a papal mandate.
They did so even though the new bishops answered affirmatively to the liturgical question, "Habetis mandatum apostolicum?" ("Do you have the Apostolic Mandate?"). They justified the consecrations as necessary to ensure the continuity and very survival of their society, despite the Holy See's efforts at dialogue and repeated warnings against proceeding with what it viewed as a schismatic act. Those warnings came from Cardinal Victor Manuel Fernández, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, as well as from Pope Leo XIV himself in a letter issued two days before the consecrations.
More than 1,000 priests, religious men and women, and about 15,000 people attended the ceremony, which began at 9:00 a.m. in a large white marquee next to the FSSPX seminary. The event was livestreamed in six languages on the society's official website, where a countdown to the ceremony had been running in recent days, accompanied by commemorative merchandise and other related events.
The four bishops consecrated today are Pascal Schreiber, a 53-year-old Swiss priest ordained at Ecône in 1998; Michael Goldade, originally from North Dakota and raised in Kansas, United States; Michel Poinsinet de Sivry, 42; and Marc Happier, 36, both French.
The main celebrant performing the consecrations was Bishop Alfonso de Galarreta, with Bishop Bernard Fellay serving as co-consecrator. They are the two surviving bishops among the four originally consecrated by Archbishop Lefebvre on June 30, 1988. According to Catholic canon law, carrying out such consecrations without a papal mandate incurs latae sententiae (automatic) excommunication.
At the beginning of the liturgy, the Superior General of the Society of Saint Pius X, Fr. Davide Pagliarani, delivered a brief address saying, "We are prepared to pay any price to save the Church."
According to the Superior General, it is therefore "a most serious duty" to "hand on the grace of the episcopate to these priests."
"We consider that any penalties or censures imposed for this act have no value whatsoever," he added.
For the Lefebvrists, their superior concluded, today is "a historic day" and "a celebration." For the universal Church, however, it is a day on which, in the Vatican's assessment, an old wound has been reopened—the wound of division.
Excommunication decreed for Lefebvrian episcopal ordinations
A document signed by Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, defines the rite celebrated on 1 July as an “act of a schismatic nature,” with an explanatory note providing details of the grave canonical sanction of excommunication.
The bishops of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X, Alfonso de Galarreta and Bernard Fellay—respectively principal consecrator and co-consecrator—and the newly consecrated bishops Pascal Schreiber, Michael Goldade, Michel Poinsinet de Sivry, and Marc Hanappier have incurred “ipso facto” the “latae sententiae” excommunication reserved to the Apostolic See for having carried out “an act of a schismatic nature”: the “episcopal consecration of four presbyters, without pontifical mandate and against the will of the Supreme Pontiff.”
This was stated in a decree released on July 2 and signed by Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, and countersigned by the two Secretaries of the same Dicastery.
The decision came twenty-four hours after the solemn ceremony celebrated in Écône, Switzerland, on the morning of July 1, 2026.
The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith’s decree establishes that, in the act of carrying out the consecration, both the consecrators and those consecrated incurred the prescribed excommunication.
The painful epilogue was the consequence of the decision taken by the Lefebvrites against the will repeatedly expressed by Pope Leo XIV.
The excommunication newly separates the bishops and priests of the Fraternity of Saint Pius X from the Church of Rome.
As for the lay faithful, those who formally adhere to the Fraternity are to be considered excommunicated.
In this regard, from now on:
1. The sacred ministers belonging to the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X are in schism and must therefore be considered schismatics (cf. Ecclesia Dei, 5 c; Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, Explanatory Note on the excommunication for schism incurred by those adhering to the movement of Bishop Marcel Lefebvre, 24.08.1996, 5-6), and are subject to the excommunication prescribed by law (can. 1364 § 1 CIC).
2. As regards the lay faithful, those who formally adhere to the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X are to be considered schismatics and excommunicated under the conditions established in the 1996 Explanatory Note of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts (cf. ibidem, 7), which remains in force and which this Dicastery adopts as its own.
3. Finally, the holy People of God are warned that the sacred ministers of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X administer the sacraments illicitly, and that the sacrament of penance administered by them and marriages assisted by them are invalid.
The Church, as a caring mother, will welcome with sincere affection and lively solicitude all those who wish to return to full communion. The Apostolic Nuncios will arrange the procedures that Ordinaries may use in the various cases.
Finally, all the faithful are urged to remain steadfast in communion with the Roman Pontiff, with the Bishops in communion with him, and with the whole Church (cf. Lumen Gentium, 22; can. 751 CIC), and to refrain from taking part in celebrations and activities promoted by the aforementioned Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X.