Two SSPX bishops receive excommunication for the second time

Fellay entered the seminary of Écône, Switzerland, in 1977 and was ordained a priest in 1982. After serving as general treasurer of the fraternity, he was elected superior of the SSPX in 1994, a position he held until 2012. During his tenure, there was a certain rapprochement between the SSPX and the Vatican, leading to Pope Benedict XVI’s decision to lift the excommunication in January 2009. However, this decision did not eliminate the illegitimacy of his ministry, as the Bavarian pontiff explained in a letter published in March of the same year.

De Galarreta was born in Torrelavega, Spain, and his family emigrated to Argentina, where he entered the La Plata seminary in 1975. Rejecting the reforms driven by the Second Vatican Council, he decided to transfer to the Écône seminary in 1978. Lefebvre ordained him a priest in Buenos Aires in 1980. Five years later, de Galarreta assumed the role of superior of the fraternity’s South American district. He was later appointed superior of the Autonomous House in Spain and served as director of the Our Lady of Corredentor Seminary in La Reja, Argentina. After the election of Father Davide Pagliarani as superior of the SSPX in 2018, Galarreta was promoted to first assistant general of the fraternity.

©2026 Catholic News Agency. Published with permission. Original in English: 2 SSPX bishops hold dubious distinction of being excommunicated twice https://www.ewtnnews.com/vatican/2-sspx-bishops-hold-dubious-distinction-of-being-excommunicated-twice