Traditionalist Society Announces Unauthorized Bishop Ordinations for July 1

The Society of Saint Pius X (FSSPX) disclosed the names of four priests it will consecrate as bishops on 1 July at Ecône, Switzerland, without papal mandate. The candidates are Swiss‑born Pascal Schreiber (53), American Michael Goldade (45), and Frenchmen Michel Poinsinet de Sivry (42) and Marc Hanappier (36). The fraternity’s superior general Davide Pagliarini announced the list “with joy,” stressing that the ordinations are intended solely to ensure continuity of sacramental administration and do not aim to establish a parallel authority.

The Vatican warned that the act constitutes a “cismic act” and would trigger excommunication, a stance reiterated by Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith. The FSSPX asserts that the consecrations are necessary for the survival of its traditionalist mission, echoing its historic 1988 schism when similar unauthorized ordinations led to excommunications by Pope John Paul II.