Bernard Tissier de Mallerais
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Bernard Tissier de Mallerais is a bishop of the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX). Tissier de Mallerais is a member of the Roman Catholic Church; the Holy See claims that he is excommunicated and guilty of a schismatical act. Recently Cardinal Hoyos, head of the Ecclesia Dei Commission, has referred to this as a "situation of separation, even if it was not a formal schism."[1]
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[edit] Early life and ministry
Tissier de Mallerais was born in 1945 in Sallanche, Haute-Savoie, France. After obtaining a university degree in biology, he entered The International Seminary of Saint Pius X at Fribourg in October 1969. On June 29, 1975 he was ordained priest by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre at Ecône. He served first as a professor, then as vice-rector, and finally as rector of the seminary at Ecône. Then he was appointed Secretary General of the SSPX.
[edit] Consecration and Excommunication
- See Ecône Consecrations for further information.
In June 1988 Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre announced his intention to consecrate Tissier de Mallerais and three other priests as bishops. Lefebvre did not have a pontifical mandate for these consecrations (i.e. permission from the pope), normally required by Canon 1382 of the Code of Canon Law. On June 17, 1988 Cardinal Bernardin Gantin, Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops sent Tissier de Mallerais a formal canonical warning that he would automatically incur the penalty of excommunication if he were ordained by Lefebvre without papal permission.
On June 29, 1988 Tissier de Mallerais and the three other priests were consecrated bishop by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre. On July 1, 1988 Cardinal Gantin issued a declaration stating that Lefebvre, Tissier de Mallerais, and the three other newly-ordained bishops "have incurred ipso facto excommunication latae sententiae reserved to the Apostolic See".
On July 2, 1988, Pope John Paul II issued the apostolic letter Ecclesia Dei in which he reaffirmed the excommunication, and described the consecration as an act of "disobedience to the Roman pontiff in a very grave matter and of supreme importance for the unity of the church", and that "such disobedience - which implies in practice the rejection of the Roman primacy - constitutes a schismatic act."[1] Cardinal Castrillón Hoyos, head of the commission responsible for implementing Ecclesia Dei, has said this resulted in a "situation of separation, even if it was not a formal schism."[2]
Tissier de Mallerais and his supporters deny the validity of the excommunication, saying that the consecrations were necessary due to a moral and theological crisis in the Catholic Church.[3][4][5]
[edit] Life after 1988
After his episcopal consecration Tissier de Mallerais continued in his position of Secretary General of the SSPX until 1996. In 1991, he consecrated Licínio Rangel as bishop for the Priestly Society of St. John Mary Vianney after the death of its founder, bishop Antônio de Castro Mayer.
In 1996, he was charged with writing a biography of Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre; the work was published in 2002.
In that same year, the history professor Luc Perrin claimed that he "went as far as to consider the present Roman Catholic Church is not a Christian Church, casting serious doubts on the validity of the 'conciliar' priesthood, calling it a 'gnostic priesthood' (Homily of June 27, 2002)." [2]
| Episcopal Lineage | |
| Consecrated by: | Marcel Lefebvre |
| Date of consecration: | June 30, 1988 |
| Consecrator of | |
|---|---|
| Bishop | Date of consecration |
| Licinio Rangel | July 28, 1991 |
[edit] References
- ^ Interview for 30 Days, 2005
- ^ Luc Perrin, professor at the University of Strasbourg 2 - Marc Bloch, where he teaches History of the Church, in a 2 September [[2006] interview A Historian observes the Catholic moment
