Bernard Fellay
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Most Reverend Bernard Fellay, SSPX (born 12 April 1958) is a bishop of the Society of St. Pius X and currently its Superior General. The Holy See, while maintaining his membership of the Roman Catholic Church, claims that he is excommunicated and guilty of a schismatical act. Dario Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos, President of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, has recently 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
Fellay was born in Sierre, Switzerland in 1958. In October 1977, at the age of nineteen, Fellay began studies for the priesthood at The International Seminary of Saint Pius X at Ecône, Switzerland. On 29 June 1982 he was ordained a priest by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre. After his ordination, Fellay was named Bursar General of the SSPX and was stationed at Rickenbach, the headquarters of the SSPX in Switzerland. He continued in the position of Bursar General for the next ten years.
[edit] Consecration and Excommunication
- See Ecône Consecrations for further information.
In June 1988 Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre announced his intention to consecrate Fellay 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 Fellay 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 Fellay and the three other priests were consecrated bishop by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre. On July 1, 1988 Cardinal Gantin issued a declaration stating that Lefebvre, Fellay, 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]
Fellay 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] Superior General
In July 1994 the General Chapter of the SSPX met at Econe where they elected Fellay Superior General in succession to Father Franz Schmidberger. On 12 July 2006, he was re-elected to another twelve-year term, which expires in 2018.
On 29 August 2005 Fellay was received in audience by Pope Benedict XVI at Castel Gandolfo.[2] The audience was also attended by Cardinal Castrillón Hoyos and Father Schmidberger. They discussed the present state of the Church and of the SSPX, the Society's concerns about Modernist infiltration in the Church, the re-allowance of the Tridentine Mass, and the possible recognition of the SSPX by the Holy See.
| Episcopal Lineage | |
| Consecrated by: | Marcel Lefebvre |
| Date of consecration: | June 30, 1988 |
