French SSPX district superior says it is ‘necessary to consider’ consecrating new bishops

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French SSPX district superior says it is ‘necessary to consider’ consecrating new bishops
Fr. Benoît de Jorna, district superior of the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) in France, has published a letter to friends and benefactors laying out arguments for why the time has possibly arrived to consecrate more bishops.



Fr. Benoît de Jorna, district superior of the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) in France
YouTube / Screenshot

Jun 20, 2024
(LifeSiteNews) — The district superior of the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) in France has published a letter to friends and benefactors laying out arguments for why the time has possibly arrived to consecrate more bishops.

Fr. Benoît de Jorna was tapped to lead the French district in 2018 by SSPX Superior General Fr. Davide Pagliarani. De Jorna previously served as rector of the Society’s flagship seminary in Ecône, Switzerland.

On Wednesday, June 19, de Jorna, who was also the superior of France from 1994 until 1996, issued a statement titled “Let’s be strong!” on the Society’s La Porte Latine website.

In his remarks, de Jorna recalled that SSPX founder Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre (1905-1991) attempted to avoid consecrating bishops without Rome’s permission but that he ultimately had to do so for “the Church” to “continue.”

Fr. de Jorna further observed that the SSPX has grown to over 700 priests from the 200 it had in the 1980s. Schools, priories, and the overall missionary work of the SSPX has also increased. This has made life “easier” for Traditional Catholics, he said, but it is also “a danger, because it can lead us to fall asleep in comfort, and lose the vigor, dynamism and impetus of our spiritual life.”

De Jorna proceeded to argue that Catholics young and old need to be “strong” and not compromise the faith in the years ahead. He then noted that “we’re also going to need [the virtue of strength] in the near future to face up to the ecclesial event that’s beginning to take shape.”

That “ecclesial event,” he said, is the consecration of new bishops. “Since the ecclesiastical situation has not improved since 1988, it has become necessary to consider giving them assistants, who will one day become their replacements,” de Jorna explained, referencing the Society’s three bishops.

“When such a decision is announced by the Superior General, we can expect a media frenzy against the ‘fundamentalists’, the ‘rebels’, the ‘schismatics’, the ‘disobedient’, to name but a few. At that point, we’ll have to face contradictions, insults, scorn, rejection, perhaps even break-ups with people close to us.”

De Jorna concluded by recalling that “the virtue of strength will be very necessary for us on this crucial occasion, and through it we must all demonstrate our absolute fidelity to the Catholic faith.”

De Jorna’s letter is not the first time the consecration of bishops has been addressed by the Society. The matter was raised in June 2023 after Traditional Catholics on social media speculated that an announcement on the subject was imminent. Fr. Jean-Michel Gleize, a professor at the SSPX’s Ecône seminary, published a rebuttal on the Society’s website on June 5 dismissing the allegations as “tall tales” and “rumors.”

LifeSite emailed the SSPX’s headquarters in Menzingen, Switzerland, as well as its French district to learn if de Jorna’s letter is simply his own opinion on the subject or if it is supported by Pagliarani. LifeSite also asked what has changed in the last 12 months that prompted de Jorna to write the letter, especially in light of Gleize’s previous remarks. LifeSite has not received a response as of the publication of this article.

At present, the SSPX has three bishops who act as auxiliary bishops without jurisdiction: Bishop Bernard Tissier de Mallerais, who is 78 and was born in France; Bishop Alfonso de Galarreta, who is 67 and was born in Spain; and Bishop Bernard Fellay, 66, who hails from Switzerland. Bishop Richard Williamson of England, 84, was also a bishop of the Society until his expulsion in 2012.

Williamson’s dismissal came after discussions between the SSPX and Rome were taking place in the early 2010s about a possible prelature. De Jorna, Gleize, de Gallareta, and several other priests of the Society had been meeting with members of the Ecclesia Dei community in Rome, as well as the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith. Their reconciliation efforts ended primarily due to pushback within the Society from clergy like Williamson, who maintained Lefebvre laid down a policy of no practical negotiations with “the Conciliar Church” until it came back doctrinally to Tradition.

The topic of bishops for the SSPX has been a particular point of conversation for both priests and laity associated with the SSPX, especially in recent years as its current bishops continue to age. When Williamson consecrated French priest Fr. Jean-Michel Faure in 2015 for the SSPX “Resistance,” the SSPX issued a statement condemning the move, arguing that the two “no longer recognize the Roman authorities, except in a purely rhetorical manner.” Williamson has performed more than five similar consecrations since then, though the Society has not commented on them. Faure was one of the original four priests Lefebvre asked to be consecrated in 1988 but he refused the request.

One Traditional Catholic who spoke to LifeSite earlier today on condition of anonymity said if the SSPX were to consecrate one or even multiple bishops without Rome’s approval, they would be acting hypocritically in that they would be doing precisely what they rebuked Williamson and Faure for. LifeSite asked the SSPX for comment on this argument but as previously noted has not received a response.

De Jorna’s letter is especially notable in that the SSPX’s French district is generally considered one of its more conservative regions. In 2017, seven high-ranking priests in charge of the country’s “deaneries” issued a joint statement they collectively read from the pulpit. The letter denounced the Vatican’s decision to allow local ordinaries to recognize marriages of faithful who attend SSPX chapels.

The priests argued that the measure was a deceptive act and that there is “a real danger in placing one’s salvation in the hands of pastors who are imbued with this ‘adulterous’ spirit.” The priests were dismissed from their posts soon after.

Given that de Jorna’s letter was published just two days after news broke that the Vatican has its sights set on canceling the Latin Mass, speculation has been rampant about the future of Tradition. It has previously been theorized that the SSPX may welcome more diocesan bishops like the late Vitus Huonder, the former ordinary of Chur, Switzerland, into their ranks. The SSPX also may simply choose to elevate priests from within to the bishopric. The number they may select and whether a tacit agreement with Rome has already been made on the matter is not readily known.

The possibility of future SSPX bishops is also important given that former Apostolic Nuncio to the United States Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò has been charged by the Vatican with schism, which may result in him being excommunicated.

LifeSite will update this story with comment from the SSPX if and when it is provided.