Meet the New Generation of SSPX Bishops

Candidates’ names released…

Meet the New Generation of SSPX Bishops

From top left (clockwise): Fr. Pascal Schreiber, Fr. Michel Poinsinet de Sivry,
Fr. Michael Goldade, Fr. Marc Hanappier (images: FSSPX)

On Tuesday, May 26, 2026 the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX or FSSPX), originally founded by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre (d. 1991), disclosed the names of the four priests whom they have chosen to receive episcopal consecration (=bishops’ ordination) on July 1.

They are Fr. Pascal Schreiber (from Switzerland), Fr. Michael Goldade (United States), Fr. Michel Poinsinet de Sivry (France), and Fr. Marc Hanappier (France). The announcement came via a communiqué from the SSPX General House in Menzingen, Switzerland, the day after ‘Pope’ Leo XIV released his first encyclical letter, Magnifica Humanitas.

So, who are these new bishops-to-be? What do we know about them?

The SSPX press release included some biographical notes on each candidate, which we are reproducing here:

Father Pascal Schreiber

At 53 years of age, Father Pascal Schreiber was born into a Catholic family of five children originating from the canton of Aargau, Switzerland. In 1992, he entered the Herz Jesu Seminary in Zaitzkofen, Germany, before continuing his studies at Écône, Switzerland, where he received priestly ordination in the summer of 1998.

After five years of ministry in Germany and French-speaking Switzerland, he was entrusted in 2003 with the direction of a boys’ secondary school in Mels, in German-speaking Switzerland.

Two years later, he assumed responsibility for the girls’ primary and secondary school in Wil, a ministry he exercised for nine years.

Called in 2014 to Rickenbach, at the headquarters of the Swiss District, he first served there for two years as bursar before being appointed District Superior.

Since August 15, 2020, he has been Rector of the Herz Jesu Seminary in Zaitzkofen, Germany, where he devotes himself to the formation of more than fifty future priests and brothers from sixteen countries. He speaks fluent German and French, and also speaks English.

 

Father Michael Goldade

Originally from North Dakota and raised in St. Marys, Kansas, United States, Father Michael Goldade comes from a Catholic family of ten children, including three Sisters of the Society of Saint Pius X. At the age of eighteen, he entered the seminary in Winona, where he was ordained priest in 2004.

He exercised his ministry in Armada, Michigan, for five years before being called to direct the retreat house in Ridgefield.

In 2014, he was appointed Prior in Kansas City, where he oversaw both the priory, a large parish, a school, and a community of religious sisters. Added to these responsibilities, in 2021, was the office of assistant to the District Superior.

Appointed in the summer of 2023 as Rector of Saint Thomas Aquinas Seminary in Virginia, he now oversees the formation of nearly one hundred seminarians. Aged 45, he speaks English, has studied French, and also possesses some knowledge of Spanish.

 

Father Michel Poinsinet de Sivry

A French national and born into a Catholic family of seven children, Father Michel Poinsinet de Sivry is 42 years old. He completed his priestly formation at the Seminary of Flavigny in France and then at Écône, where he received priestly ordination in 2008.

Beginning his ministry at Saint Joseph des Carmes School in southern France, he was entrusted in 2011 with the direction of Saint Louis Primary School in Paris. He fulfilled this office for five years while also serving a chapel in Seine-Saint-Denis and participating in the apostolate of Saint Nicolas du Chardonnet Church in Paris.

He subsequently directed the Saint Jean-Baptiste de La Salle secondary school in Camblain-l’Abbé, near Arras, for six years before being appointed Superior of the Benelux District in 2022, a position he still holds today. Besides French, he also speaks English and continues the study of German and Dutch.

 

Father Marc Hanappier 

Father Marc Hanappier, a French national, was born in 1990 into a Catholic family of ten children blessed with several vocations: one of his brothers is a priest of the Society, another is a priest among the Capuchins of Morgon, and one of his sisters is a Dominican teaching sister of Saint-Pré.

Formed at the seminaries of Flavigny and Écône, he received priestly ordination in 2013. He began his ministry in France in education, first at the Étoile du Matin School near Bitche, and later at Saint Michael’s School near Châteauroux.

In 2020, having been appointed professor at the seminary in Dillwyn, Virginia, he first spent a year in Scotland perfecting his command of English while also assisting in parish ministry.

At the seminary, he principally teaches metaphysics and dogmatic theology, while also exercising pastoral ministry on Sundays in several chapels. He speaks fluent French and English, has studied German, and has also acquired a knowledge of Spanish.

Thus far the brief introductions of the bishops-elect given by the SSPX general house.

Not surprisingly, the question that is on many people’s minds is to what ‘current’ within the Society each of these candidates may adhere. For example, are they conciliatory towards Rome, hoping for eventual regularization, or are they staunchly opposed to any kind of ‘deal’ with the Vatican? What is their stance on the validity of the Novus Ordo sacraments, and were any of them ordained priests only in the 1968 Novus Ordo rite of Paul VI (as is the case for some SSPX priests)? Are any of them friendly towards Sedevacantism? Etc.

A lot surely remains to be seen, but the WM Review has already pointed out that none of the four candidates was ordained in the doubtful Paul VI rite of 1968. In other words, their episcopal ordinations on July 1 will be certainly valid.

Furthermore, we can affirm that Fr. Schreiber was actively present at the attempted consecration of holy oils for the SSPX by Novus Ordo bishop Vitus Huonder (d. 2024) in 2023. This would certainly imply that Schreiber accepts Novus Ordo ordinations as valid, but this should not be surprising, given that it is now the official position of the Society (which was not the case before approximately 2006).

As regards Fr. Poinsinet de Sivry, photos of him celebrating Mass on the altar of St. Pius X at St. Peter’s Basilica in 2014 while wearing a Novus Ordo chasuble (and without the required maniple) have been making the rounds on social media. The pictures also show altar boys in plain clothes and women assisting at the Mass without head coverings. Other users quickly responded saying that this was (or was probably) on account of an unexpected permission to offer Mass as part of a school trip, and Father may have had to borrow a chasuble, and this was the only one he could get.

However, the official SSPX accounts of this event seem to refute any kind of “last-minute-didn’t-know-it-was-coming” narrative. In fact, this Mass was recorded professionally and specifically for the French district of the SSPX, and the United States district site notes that “this occurred with the prior knowledge and consent of the basilica’s ‘highest authority’…” as part of a pilgrimage for Pope St. Pius X’s centenary. The full video is available here.

In any case, the following video is a discussion with Vatican reporter Niwa Limbu on the new SSPX bishop candidates. By including it here, we merely wish to inform and do not, of course, necessarily endorse the theological views of either of the speakers:

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Like the first round of SSPX consecrations in 1988, so too the 2026 consecrations will take place in Écône, Switzerland, and once again the new bishops will be ordained not merely without the required mandate from the person they recognize as the Pope of the Catholic Church (Robert Prevost, aka Leo XIV) but even against his express prohibition and under the threat of the worst possible penalty.

The severest type of ecclesiastical punishment the Novus Ordo Code of Canon Law of 1983 has to offer — that of excommunication latae sententiae reserved to the Holy See (see Canon 1387) — awaits the four new bishops as well as the two consecrating bishops (Alfonso de Galaretta and Bernard Fellay) under the supposition that Leo XIV is the Pope (as the Lefebvrists erroneously believe). Because it is inflicted automatically (latae sententiae), the penalty is incurred by the very commission of the act (ipso facto), without the need for an official declaration or any other kind of authoritative intervention. In other words, even if the Vatican does not react at all, the excommunication is still incurred.

Of course the SSPX has its own canonical arguments, according to which the penalty of excommunication is not incurred. For the purposes of the present post, we will not dwell on them here. Suffice it to say that the highest judge in this world to determine whether these arguments have any value is Leo XIV, and he is the one warning the Lefebvrists not to go ahead with the planned ordinations or else be excommunicated. Thus, any SSPX defense is going to be dead on arrival.

Unlike other scenarios in Church history in which episcopal consecrations were carried out without a papal mandate because there was no Pope at the time or because access to him was impeded, what the SSPX will be doing is of a different caliber, as recourse to the ‘Pope’ has been had and he has explicitly forbidden them from proceeding, regardless of any other argument or consideration.

The Society of St. Pius X cannot have it both ways. They cannot insist on Leo XIV as a valid Pope but then, when the rubber meets the road, act unilaterally even contrary to his expressly manifested will. As Pope Pius IX asked rhetorically, “What good is it to repeat over and over declarations of faith in the Catholic Church and of obedience to the Apostolic See when actions give the lie to these fine words?” (Encyclical Quae in Patriarchatu, n. 23).

There will be plenty more to say about the SSPX and the post-Catholic Vatican in the coming weeks.