Bernard Tissier de Mallerais

His Excellency, The Most Reverend Bernard Tissier de Mallerais FSSPX
Auxiliary Bishop of the Society of Saint Pius X
Tissier de Mallerais, c. 2008
Church	Catholic Church
Previous post	Rector, International Seminary of Saint Pius X (1979 – 1983) Chaplain, Novitiate of the Sisters of the Society of Saint Pius X Secretary General, Society of Saint Pius X (1984 – 1996)
Orders
Ordination	29 June 1975 by Marcel Lefebvre
Consecration	30 June 1988 by Marcel Lefebvre
Personal details
Born	(1945-09-14)14 September 1945 Sallanches, France
Died	8 October 2024(2024-10-08) (aged 79) Martigny, Switzerland
Buried	International Seminary of Saint Pius X, Écône, Valais, Switzerland
Denomination	Roman Catholic
Alma mater	The International Seminary of Saint Pius X
Motto	Pax Christi Regis (Latin for 'Peace of Christ the King')
Signature
Ordination history
History Priestly ordination Ordained by Marcel Lefebvre Date 29 June 1975 Place The International Seminary of Saint Pius X, Écône Episcopal consecration Principal consecrator Marcel Lefebvre Co-consecrators Antônio de Castro Mayer Date 30 June 1988 Place The International Seminary of Saint Pius X
Episcopal succession Bishops consecrated by Bernard Tissier de Mallerais as principal consecrator Licínio Rangel 28 July 1991
Styles
Reference style	His Excellency, The Most Reverend
Spoken style	Your Excellency
Religious style	Bishop

Bernard Tissier de Mallerais FSSPX (French pronunciation: [bɛʁnaʁ tisje də maləʁɛ]; 14 September 1945 – 8 October 2024) was a French traditionalist Catholic prelate who served as a bishop of the Society of Saint Pius X from 1988 until his death in 2024. He was one of four men consecrated by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, incurring automatic excommunication and suspension.^[1] The excommunication was later lifted by Pope Benedict XVI in 2009. The SSPX denied the validity of the excommunications, citing canon law.^[2]

Early life and ministry

Tissier de Mallerais was born in Sallanches, Haute-Savoie, France, on 14 September 1945. After obtaining a master's degree in biology, he entered the International Seminary of Saint Pius X at Fribourg in October 1969. On 29 June 1975, he was ordained priest by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre at Écône. He served first as a professor, then as vice-rector, and finally as rector of the seminary at Écône. In 1979, he was appointed Rector of the Seminary where he remained until 1983. For a year, he served as Chaplain at the Novitiate of the Sisters of the Society of St Pius X (SSPX), until in 1984, he was elected to the post of Secretary General of the Society which he held until 1996.^[3]

Consecration and aftermath

In June 1988, Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, who sensed that he was approaching his death, consecrated de Mallerais and three other priests (Bernard Fellay, Richard Williamson, and Alfonso de Galarreta) as bishops. Lefebvre did not have a pontifical mandate for these consecrations, which was promised in exhausting negotiations, but always postponed or subjected to destabilizing conditions.^[4] On 1 July 1988 Cardinal Gantin issued a declaration stating that Lefebvre, bishop Antônio de Castro Mayer, de Mallerais, and the three other newly ordained bishops "have incurred ipso facto the excommunication latae sententiae reserved to the Apostolic See."^[4]

The validity of the excommunications is disputed by the SSPX. It argues that the consecrations were necessary due to a moral and theological crisis in the Catholic Church.^[5][6][7] Bishop de Mallerais argues for the validity and necessity of these consecrations in his article "Supplied Jurisdiction & Traditional Priests," stating: "in an exceptional situation the Church supplies for this absence of jurisdiction on the part of the priest or even the bishop," and "it is the case of necessity amongst the faithful which is responsible for the fact that traditional priests and bishops have a supplied jurisdiction with respect to your needs."^[8]

By a decree of 21 January 2009 (Protocol Number 126/2009), issued in response to a request which Bishop Fellay made on behalf of all four bishops whom Lefebvre had consecrated on 30 June 1988, the Prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, by the power expressly granted to him by Pope Benedict XVI, remitted the automatic excommunication which they had thereby incurred, and expressed the wish that this would be followed speedily by full communion of the whole of the Society of Saint Pius X with the Church, thus bearing witness, by the proof of visible unity, to true loyalty and true recognition of the Pope's Magisterium and authority.^[9]

SSPX bishop

In 1991, Tissier de Mallerais 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. The duties of Tissier de Mallerais in the SSPX included the administration of the sacraments, particularly the sacrament of confirmation. He travelled extensively throughout the world, visiting SSPX chapels and communities.^[10]

Death

On 28 September 2024, Tissier de Mallerais suffered a skull fracture and internal haemorrhage due to a trip and fall on stairs in the seminary in Écône. He was temporarily placed into an induced coma.^[11] Tissier de Mallerais died on 8 October 2024, at the age of 79.^[10]

His funeral was officiated on 18 October 2024 by Bishop Alfonso de Galarreta, after which he was buried in the crypt of the International Seminary of Saint Pius X at Écône, where Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre and Bishop Vitus Huonder also rest.^[12] Following his death, speculation concerning the consecration of a new bishop for the SSPX to fill de Mallerais' place intensified.^[13]

Bibliography

References