Alfonso de Galarreta
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Alfonso de Galarreta is a bishop of the Society of St. Pius X. He 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
Galarreta was born in 1957 at Torrelavega in Spain, but emigrated early in life with his family to Argentina. In 1975 he entered the seminary at La Plata where he remained for three years. In October 1978 he entered the Society of St. Pius X's International Seminary of St. Pius X at Ecône in Switzerland.
In August 1980 he was ordained priest by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre in Buenos Aires. After ordination he served first as a professor at the SSPX seminary in La Reja, Argentina. From 1985 to 1988 he was superior of the SSPX district of South America.
[edit] Consecration and Excommunication
- See Ecône Consecrations for further information.
In June 1988 Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre announced his intention to consecrate Galarreta 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 Galarreta 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 Galarreta and the three other priests were consecrated bishop by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre. On July 1, 1988 Cardinal Gantin issued a declaration stating that Lefebvre, Galarreta, 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]
Galarreta 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
Following his episcopal consecration Galarreta was appointed rector of the seminary of La Reja. In 1991, he assisted in the consecration of 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 1994 he became superior of the SSPX district of Spain and Portugal. In 2002 he became Second Assistant of the SSPX.
| Episcopal Lineage | |
| Consecrated by: | Marcel Lefebvre |
| Date of consecration: | June 30, 1988 |
| Consecrator of | |
|---|---|
| Bishop | Date of consecration |
| Licinio Rangel | July 28, 1991 |
