A Look Back at the Consecrations of June 30, 1988
The following article is written in response to Father Jean-Michel Gleize, SSPX, who recently wrote three articles expressing his view that the consecrations of the four bishops by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre on June 30, 1988 were legitimate, despite the absence of a Papal mandate. (His articles were published in the Courrier de Rome 655 (July-August 2022), and are referenced in the following article.) In response to Father Gleize, Father Louis-Marie de Blignières, founder of the Fraternity of Saint Vincent Ferrer, and Father Josef Bisig, co-founder of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter, seek to respectfully express disagreement with Father Gleize’s view, that an action resulting in the rupture of communion with the legitimate hierarchy of the Church founded by Jesus Christ cannot be legitimate, but is actually a schismatic action. Please read the following article for more details on this subject.
The following is a theological essay that was written by various members of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter under the direction of Father Josef Bisig, one of the co-founders and the first Superior General of the Fraternity. This essay, originally published in 1989, is an in-depth study of the nature of episcopal consecrations, and whether it is ever legitimate to consecrate a bishop against the will of the Holy Father. The essay analyzes various topics and answers many objections defending the actions of Archbishop Lefebvre in consecrating bishops in June of 1988 against the will of Pope John Paul II, and thus it seeks to show that these actions by the Archbishop cannot be justified.