SSPX to ordain new bishops
February 02, 2026
The superior general of the Society of Saint Pius X announced today that the Society’s bishops will consecrate new bishops on July 1.
Last August, Father Davide Pagliarani, the Society’s superior general, “sought the favor of an audience with the Holy Father, making known his desire to present to the Holy Father, in a filial manner, the current situation of the Priestly Society of Saint Pius X,” according to the announcement. “In a second letter, he explicitly expressed the particular need of the Society to ensure the continuation of the ministry of its bishops, who have been travelling the world for nearly forty years to respond to the many faithful attached to the Tradition of the Church and desirous, for the good of their souls, that the sacraments of Holy Orders and Confirmation be conferred.”
The announcement continued:
After having long matured his reflection in prayer, and having received from the Holy See, in recent days, a letter which does not in any way respond to our requests, Father Pagliarani, in harmony with the unanimous advice of his Council, judges that the objective state of grave necessity in which souls find themselves requires such a decision.
The Society was founded in 1970 by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre (1905-1991). Archbishop Lefebvre’s ordination of four bishops in 1988 without a pontifical mandate led to the automatic excommunications of the prelate and the four bishops (Canon 1387). In 2009, the Congregation for Bishops issued a decree remitting the excommunications, a decision that Pope Benedict XVI explained in a subsequent letter.
Two of the four bishops ordained in 1988—Bishop Bernard Fellay and Bishop Alfonso de Galarreta—are still alive. Bishop Bernard Tissier de Mallerais died in 2024; Bishop Richard Williamson, expelled from the Society in 2012, died last year.
For all current news, visit our News home page.
Further information:
All comments are moderated. To lighten our editing burden, only current donors are allowed to Sound Off. If you are a current donor, log in to see the comment form; otherwise please support our work, and Sound Off!
