SSPX elects new Superior General: Fr. Davide Pagliarani

Succeeds Bp. Fellay effective immediately…

Society of St. Pius X elects Fr. Davide Pagliarani new Superior General

[UPDATE 11-JUL-18 23:20 UTC: Bp. de Galaretta and Fr. Bouchacourt elected first and second assistants to new superior Fr. Pagliarani — see updates below]

Today, July 11, 2018, the Lefebvrist Society of St. Pius X lected a new Superior General. It is Fr. Davide Pagliarani. The SSPX has released an official communiqué making this announcement:

Election of the Superior General

On July 11, 2018, Father Davide Pagliarani was elected Superior General, for a mandate of 12 years, by the 4th General Chapter of the Society of Saint Pius X.

The new Superior General is 47 years old and is of Italian nationality. He received the sacrament of Holy Orders from the hands of Bishop Bernard Fellay in 1996. He exercised his apostolate in Rimini (Italy), then in Singapore, before being appointed Superior of the District of Italy. Since 2012, he was Rector of Our Lady Co-Redemptrix Seminary of La Reja (Argentina).

After accepting his office, the elected pronounced the Profession of Faith and took the Anti-Modernist Oath at the seminary church. Then, each of the members present came before him to promise their respect and obedience, before singing the Te Deum in thanksgiving.

The 41 capitulants will proceed tomorrow with the election of the two Assistants General, for the same mandate of 12 years. The Chapter will continue until July 21st at the Seminary of St. Pius X of Ecône (Switzerland)

Ecône, July 11, 2018

(Source: “Communiqué of the General House of the Society of Saint Pius X”, fsspx.news, July 11, 2018)

Although originally not scheduled until tomorrow, the General Chapter decided to go ahead with the election of the Superior General’s first assistants today as well. The SSPX released the following message to announce the results:

Election of the General Assistants

Just as the day was coming to an end, the new Superior General of the Society of Saint Pius X, Father Davide Pagliarani, and the 40 other capitulants have decided to proceed to the election of the two General Assistants.

The 1st Assistant elected is Bishop Alfonso Gallareta, auxiliary bishop of the Society, of Spanish nationality. Aged 61, he was ordained priest in 1980 at Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he lived for a certain time. In the past he has held the roles of Rector of Our Lady Co-Redemptrix Seminary at La Reja, Argentina, and superior of the Autonomous House of Spain and Portugal. He was 2nd Assistant of the Society from 2002 to 2006. Until now, he resided in Geneva, Switzerland.

The 2nd Assistant elected is Father Christian Bouchacourt, of French nationality. Aged 59, he was ordained priest in 1986 by Archbishop Lefebvre. For a long time he was stationed in Paris, especially at Saint-Nicolas du Chardonnet, before becoming District Superior of South America and then, in 2014, District Superior of France.

Now that these elections have taken place, the General Chapter will be able to address the numerous questions which have been proposed for discussion, until July 21st 2018.

Ecône, the 11th of July 2018

(Source: “Second communiqué of the General House of the Society of Saint Pius X”, fsspx.news, July 11, 2018)

Bp. de Galarreta is one of the bishops consecrated by Abp. Lefebvre in 1988, which ceremony led to the formal schism between the SSPX and the Modernist Vatican. In 2016, Bp. de Galarreta warned of an agreement with Rome under Francis. Fr. Bouchacourt was a key player in the suppression of the mutiny of seven SSPX deans in France in 2017. SSPX insider Dr. Peter Chojnowski believes the new SSPX leadership represents a “clear swing to the right” overall, “balanced by” Fr. Bouchacourt. From 2006-2018, the Superior General had been the Swiss Bp. Bernard Fellay with the Swiss Fr. Niklaus Pfluger and the French Fr. Alain-Marc Nely serving as his first and second assistants, respectively.

Today was the first day of the Society’s General Chapter, which is meeting until July 21. The election of the Superior General had been placed as the first order of business.

The following image of Fr. Pagliarani making his profession of faith after his election today, was released by the SSPX General House together with the first communiqué.

The second communiqué included a photo of the new Superior General with his first and second assistants.

The coming weeks and months will show what direction the new Superior General wishes his Lefebvrist Society to take, specifically with regard to the Modernists in Rome they still verbally recognize as the Roman Catholic Church’s legitimate hierarchs. Some insight into Fr. Pagliarani’s ideas can perhaps be gleaned from the following interview, conducted in 2011:

• “An Initial Evaluation of the Outcome of the Talks with Rome and of some Agitation in the Traditionalist World” (SSPX U.S. District)

The Society of St. Pius X was founded in 1970 by Abp. Marcel Lefebvre (1906-1991). Its General Chapter meets once every six years, and the Superior General is elected every twelve years. The former Superiors are: Bp. Bernard Fellay (1994-2018), Fr. Franz Schmidberger (1982-1994), and Abp. Marcel Lefebvre (1970-82).

For a truly Catholic assessment of the Lefebvrists and their false theology, the following links will be helpful:

• Pope Pius IX condemns Bishop Fellay
• The SSPX and “Pope” Francis: Theological Absurdistan of Full Display
• The Stumbling Block of the Papacy: Why Bergoglio doesn’t fit
• Public Relations Disaster: Bishop Fellay’s Epic Interview Fail
• Does this apply to Francis?
• Twelve Inconvenient Questions for the Society of St. Pius X
• Stumbling at the Finish Line: The SSPX’s Illogical Stance on the Pope Question
• The Trojan Horse of the Vatican-SSPX Negotiations
• Quo Vadis, SSPX? The Society of St. Pius X after the Lifting of the 1988 Excommunications

Pray for the new SSPX Superior General and his assistants, that God may open their eyes.

Image sources: fsspx.org (cropped) / fsspx.news / fsspx.news
Licenses: Fair use / fair use / fair use