SSPX Italian District Superior: "The FSSPX Will Soon Consecrate New Bishops"

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Italian Superior: "The FSSPX Will Soon Consecrate New Bishops"

gloria.tv | December 3, 2024

The recent death of Bishop Bernard Tissier de Mallerais (FSSPX) raises the question that "everyone" is asking, said Don Gabriele D'Avino, the new Italian District Superior of the Fraternity, in an interview on November 30 (video).

The question is: When will the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X consecrated new bishops: "The answer is certain, is unequivocal: Yes, the Fraternity will consecrate more bishops," he said.

The current situation is "worse" than in 1988, when Archbishop Lefebvre consecrated four bishops without a papal mandate: "If in 1988 it was necessary to safeguard the Catholic priesthood by continuing the work of formation and therefore the ordination of priests, today it is even more necessary."

On the question of when, Don D'Avino added that it was not up to him to decide, but up to the superiors: "The Fraternity will make these ordinations and we expect them soon."

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Italian SSPX district superior says consecration of more bishops will happen ‘soon’
On November 30, SSPX District Superior of Italy Don Gabriele D’Avino sat down with Radio Spada and 

said bluntly that he expects the traditionalist group to consecrate more bishops 'soon.'



Don Gabriele D'Avino
FSSPX.it

Dec 10, 2024
(LifeSiteNews - adapted, not all hyperlinks included below from original) — The District Superior of the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) in Italy has weighed in on the increasingly important topic of future bishops for the SSPX following the death of Society Bishop Bernard Tissier de Mallerais in October of this year. 

On November 30, Don Gabriele D’Avino sat down with Radio Spada, an Italian website, to discuss the matter. His remarks are the latest in a string of public statements made by Society leaders on the subject.

“The fraternity will make these consecrations, and we expect them soon,” D’Avino bluntly stated. “It will be the superiors, as I said, who will decide the timing.”

D’Avino’s remarks come amid a flurry of public comments made by high-ranking SSPX clergy about the issue. 

In November, Fr. Stefan Pfluger, the Superior of the German district of the SSPX, spoke with Die Tagespost about the need for more bishops, as the Society currently has two down from its original four, Swiss Bishop Bernard Fellay, who is 66 years old, and Spanish Bishop Alfonso de Galarreta, who is 67.

While noting that “the question of bishops” is a “fundamental question about our existence,” Pfluger added that “we do not want to separate ourselves from Rome, we belong to the Church,” suggesting his desire to obtain permission from the Vatican for the consecration of future SSPX bishops. 

On the other hand, in June of this year, the District Superior of the SSPX in France, Fr. Benoît de Jorna, published a letter to friends and benefactors laying out arguments for why the time has arrived to consecrate more bishops regardless of Rome’s attitude.

“We’re … going to need [the virtue of strength] in the near future to face up to the ecclesial event that’s beginning to take shape,” he said. “We’ll have to face contradictions, insults, scorn, rejection, perhaps even break-ups with people close to us.” 

De Jorna further argued that the growth of the SSPX since the 1980s, coupled with the fact that the situation in the Church has not improved since then, means that “it has become necessary to consider giving [the bishops] assistants, who will one day become their replacements.” 

De Jorna’s sentiments were echoed by D’Avino in his Radio Spada interview. 

“The situation has not improved; on the contrary it has worsened, and if in ’88 it was necessary [for Archbishop Lefebvre] to safeguard the Catholic priesthood by continuing the work of formation … [by consecrating four bishops], it is even more necessary [today],” he explained. “The faithful have increased all over the world and bishops are needed to give the sacraments, to ordain other priests, to confer confirmations, to bless and consecrate churches and so on.”

The possibly of more SSPX bishops has been a consistent source of speculation in recent years. In June 2023, many Traditional Catholics on social media were convinced that an announcement was imminent. Website Rorate Caeli erroneously reported in September of that year that “consecration of new bishops for the SSPX is coming, sooner rather than later.” 

Father Jean-Michel Gleize, a professor at the SSPX’s flagship seminary in Ecône, Switzerland, published a rebuttal to the prognosticating on the Society’s website by dismissing the allegations as “tall tales” and “rumors.” 

At the same time, current SSPX Superior General Don Davide Pagliarani said in 2021 that if the need arose the SSPX would not hesitate to consecrate bishops to ensure its survival even without Rome’s permission. 

D’Avino was appointed Superior of the SSPX’s Italian District in August this year. In his interview, he echoed Pagliarani’s comments by stating that “the Church is in a state of necessity and there is a real need on behalf of souls, for the faithful, for the very survival of the Church, of the Catholic priesthood, and without bishops there are no priests.”

The SSPX has just over 700 priests and supports more than a dozen Traditional Catholic male and female religious orders across the world. Its headquarters are located in Menzingen, Switzerland.