Today's Transalpine Redemptorist Consecration: Validity, Succession, and Schism
Lefebvre line (FSSPX)
Among the different splinter groups, only the SSPX has significant size.
In 1988, Lefebvre consecrated Alfonso de Galarreta, Bernard Fellay, Bernard Tissier de Mallerais, and Richard Williamson as bishops. All four later consecrated additional bishops.
In 1991, Tissier de Mallerais consecrated Licínio Rangel for the Priestly Union of St. John Mary Vianney, Brazil.
Rangel and his community reconciled with Rome in 2002 and became an Apostolic Personal Administration. The same year Fernando Arêas Rifan became Rangel's coadjutor, but he was consecrated by Cardinal Darío Castrillón Hoyos, with Rangel serving only as co-consecrator.
The FSSPX's most recent episcopal consecrations were performed by Alfonso de Galarreta (principal consecrator) and Bernard Fellay (co-consecrator), who consecrated Pascal Schreiber, Michael Goldade, Michel Poinsinet de Sivry, and Marc Hanappier.
Richard Williamson
Richard Williamson was expelled from the FSSPX in 2012. Until then he had not consecrated any bishops, though he had served as co-consecrator for Rangel.
He founded the Priestly Society Marcel Lefebvre ("FSSPX Resistance"), composed mainly of former FSSPX members opposed to rapprochement with Rome.
Williamson later consecrated several bishops. Known consecrations include:
Jean-Michel Faure (2015)
Tomás de Aquino Ferreira da Costa (2016)
Gerardo Zendejas (2017)
Giacomo Ballini (2021)
Paul Morgan and Michał Stobnicki (2022)
It is unknown how many bishops Williamson consecrated in total or whether his bishops have carried out further consecrations.
A credible rumor is that in 2023 Williamson conditionally reconsecrated Carlo Maria Viganò, who had originally been consecrated bishop by John Paul II.
The Thục line
The Thục line, from which many present-day wandering bishops trace their succession, is considerably more complex and doubtful.
Pierre Martin Ngô Đình Thục, Bishop of Vĩnh Long from 1938 and later the first Archbishop of Huế, is said to have received a blanket authorization from Pius XI allowing him, for unspecified reasons, to consecrate bishops without papal mandate. If such authorization existed, it was reportedly never revoked.
Thục resigned as diocesan bishop in 1968 in protest against developments following the Second Vatican Council.
Living in exile in Italy and France, he associated with opponents of the Council and joined the movement surrounding the alleged Marian apparitions at El Palmar de Troya.
On 1 January 1976 he ordained Clemente Domínguez y Gómez and others as priests, then consecrated Domínguez and four others as bishops ten days later. Domínguez claimed to receive visions form Our Lady.
After Domínguez proclaimed himself pope in 1978, Thục broke with the Palmarian movement, briefly reconciled with Rome, then resumed unauthorized episcopal consecrations from 1981 onward.
At least 15 bishops are recorded as having been consecrated by Thục, with dozens more tracing succession to him. Disputes over validity led to repeated conditional ("sub conditione") consecrations.
Validity
Whether Thục's consecrations were valid remains unresolved.
Following the Palmarian consecrations, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith declared those involved excommunicated and stated that the Church neither recognized nor would recognize the resulting consecrations, treating those involved as remaining in their previous canonical state.
If this were interpreted as meaning the consecrations were invalid, the explanation would be that Thục lacked the mental capacity to confer valid orders. However, the decree never explicitly said this, nor was such a judgment ever formally made.
As a result, the Thục succession line remains doubtful as a whole.
Connection to today's consecration
The Lefebvre and Thục lines frequently overlap, especially through priests ordained in one line and later consecrated bishops in the other.
One example is Daniel Dolan, a former FSSPX priest ordained by Marcel Lefebvre in 1976. Dolan became a bishop in 1993 through Mark Anthony Pivarunas, whose own succession came through Moisés Carmona y Rivera, a bishop consecrated by Thục.
In 2021 Dolan consecrated Rodrigo Henrique Ribeiro da Silva as bishop.
Ribeiro da Silva had been ordained a priest by Richard Williamson in 2017 and became known for living for a time with the later dissolved Poor Clares of Belorado.
At today's consecration of Michael Mary, Ribeiro da Silva will serve as co-consecrator, while the principal consecrator will be the Canadian bishop Pierre Roy, whom Ribeiro da Silva previously consecrated.
Michael Mary was born in 1954, making it likely that today's consecration is intended to secure the future succession of the Transalpine Redemptorists.
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