September 2026 Print

Interviews with the New Bishops

By Angelus Press

Bishop Michael Goldade

1. Tell us about your childhood and where you grew up. What in your youth made you desire the priesthood?

The first five years of my life were spent in North Dakota, where my family attended the chapel of Our Lady of the Prairies in Powers Lake. It was pastored by Fr. Frederick Nelson, a diocesan priest who remained faithful to Tradition and established a friendly relationship with Archbishop Lefebvre. He encouraged my parents to move to St. Mary’s, Kansas, which had only been established as a school for about five years.

The years in St. Mary’s brought me into regular contact with priests and religious. Respect for them was always upheld in the family. Since life revolved so much around the church and school, and since it was the rector and the other priests who made that life possible, it was natural to consider the priesthood as a very serious option.

Then in my junior and senior years of high school I received the great benefit of the Ignatian Exercises. It was through these that the decision to seek the priesthood was confirmed.

2. Was your family associated with the Society, or did you choose on your own to become a Society priest? If so, what drew you to it and convinced you that the Society was the best place to be?

For all practical purposes I was associated with the Society my whole life. Therefore, my process of discerning the difference between the Society and all else was more academic. There was hardly any exposure to the Novus Ordo Missae, and certainly no exposure to any other Latin Mass community.

3. What have been the most formative experiences of your priesthood within the Society? Tell us a little bit about your assignments and duties over the past few years.

Early in the priesthood, the most formative moments were connected to the mission chapels. Dealing with many different pastoral situations alone on the weekend circuit forced a certain maturity and self-regulation.

The first time I was assigned as prior began a new chapter of formation as a leader. It took years to understand the true nature of the role as superior of a house of the Society, and therefore as superior to priests and to all others connected to the house.

For the last three years, I have been the rector of the SSPX’s English-speaking seminary in Dillwyn, Virginia. I assist with the teaching, but principally the rector must oversee the formation of the seminarians in every way: spiritually, intellectually, and in their overall growth as human beings. In the end, I must make a difficult decision on the suitability or unsuitability of a candidate for ordination.

4. The consecration ceremony was both beautiful and powerful. Was there any moment in the ceremony that particularly stood out to you and that perhaps brought out the grace and responsibility of the episcopacy?

There were three moments in the ceremony which stand out in my memory. The first came when the form of the sacrament was recited, and I reflected that no matter what happened after that, I am a bishop for eternity.

The second was unexpected and came during the very long interruption at the faithful’s Communion, when the storm stalled the distribution of the Eucharist. It was a moment to reflect deeply upon the providential designs both for my life and for the SSPX within the Church.

The third came while walking through the immense crowd of faithful, giving the episcopal blessing. The episcopal responsibility became very concrete.

5. As a newly consecrated bishop, in what ways will you serve the Society?

A fundamental justification of the Society’s existence and work rests upon necessity. It is in light of this necessity that I understand episcopal service in the present circumstances. It is a response to the concrete needs of the Church through the work of the SSPX. If there are needs for confirmations somewhere, I respond to that. If there are needs for ordinations, I likewise respond to that.

As one confrere said: when we signed up for the SSPX, we signed a blank check, and the superiors are free to decide how we are best to be used.

6. What is the significance of your consecration for the Church and the Society of St. Pius X?

There is no question that it has great significance. Symptomatic of this is the amount of media attention given to the event.

For the priests, religious, and faithful of the Society, it suggests that we continue with the same work, motivated by the same spirit of Archbishop Lefebvre. This spirit is animated by a deep fidelity and love for the Church.

In 1982, Archbishop Lefebvre recalled within a spiritual conference a conversation he had with Cardinal Ratzinger where he boldly predicted that in the future the Church would have to look for bishops from the priests of the SSPX. His reason was the lack of true Catholic formation in the priestly candidates at the time. From our end, why not? It is the most natural thing to serve the Church. Right now, it is in an extraordinary way, and one day it will be more ordinary.

7. What advice would you give to the faithful in this time of crisis, especially given the harsh way that Rome has reacted to the consecrations?

It is important for the faithful to keep their peace. In this state of calm, the Will of God can be known and followed. Agitation is the work of the contrary spirit, and we hear many agitators.

Voices from churchmen and influencers suppose that there is division within the Society, expecting some defection from its priests and laity. Yet the opposite is true. There has been a beautiful unity among the priests and faithful of the SSPX. The reasons for the SSPX’s extraordinary action were well explained and wonderfully communicated from the General Superior down through the ranks.

We have the benefit of the lesson of the 1988 Consecrations. God and history are on our side.

Bishop Marc Hanappier

1. Was your family associated with the Society, or did you choose on your own to become a Society priest? If so, what drew you to it and convinced you that the Society was the best place to be?

My family discovered the Society a few years before I was born. It was the need for good, truly Catholic schools that drew my parents to discover the Society. That is truly the purpose and the pride of the Society and its works: to respond to the objective need of souls. And our schools are a very beautiful example of this. My parents found in the Society what they had found nowhere else. I thus received the grace of attending Society schools with my brothers and sisters, and that is certainly where, nourished on the beautiful traditional liturgy and drawn by the example of the priests and religious of the Society, my vocation to the priesthood and in the Society developed.

2. What have been the most formative experiences of your priesthood within the Society? Tell us a little bit about your assignments and duties over the past few years.

After my ordination, I was sent to the Etoile du Matin school in France, a boarding school for boys, where I spent five years, before being transferred for two years to another boys’ boarding school, the Ecole Saint Michel in Chateauroux. These seven years in schools, working mainly with teenage boys, were an opportunity for me to give back to these schools what I had received in them, striving to imitate the zeal and generosity of the Society priests I had known a few years earlier.

I was then sent as a professor to the St. Thomas Aquinas Seminary in Dillwyn. I got there in November of 2021 after spending a year in Scotland. The apostolate at the seminary is very beautiful. It is the whole purpose of the Society, the formation of priests. It was Archbishop Lefebvre’s first concern, “to transmit the Catholic priesthood in its doctrinal purity and missionary charity,” and it is a great grace to participate in this same work and strive to be faithful to it by forming priests in this same spirit.

3. The consecration ceremony was both beautiful and powerful. Was there any moment in the ceremony that particularly stood out to you and that perhaps brought out the grace and responsibility of the episcopacy?

To mention only one thing, I would say the first blessings at the end of the ceremony when the four new bishops walked out through the crowd to bless them. The fervor and piety of this crowd, some of whom had traveled very far to attend the ceremony, was very indicative of the significance of the ceremony. The care of souls is entrusted very specially to the bishops, and even more specifically in the present situation, since it is the needs of souls that justified the July 1st ceremony. And this fervent, generous, crowd, impassive through the storm, represented all the souls throughout the entire world who need priests and therefore bishops. In Ecône, and everywhere in the world, it was the same crowd as the one in the Gospel, of which Our Lord said misereror super turbam, “I have compassion on the crowd.”

4. As a newly-consecrated bishop, in what ways will you serve the Society?

The role of the bishops in the Society is to give the sacrament of confirmation in our priories and chapels, and ordinations in our seminaries. Little by little, we will therefore begin traveling to administer these two sacraments. It will be gradual, especially since for my part, I will remain a professor at St. Thomas Aquinas Seminary in Dillwyn.

Through their preaching and ordaining, the bishops also represent the stability of the Society: stability in doctrine through preaching, stability in time by ordaining new priests every year. And the bishops are thus in the Society and for the faithful a sign of hope and confidence. The faithful thus see the Society as a stable and strong structure that, thanks to its bishops, will always bring them what they need for their Christian life.

5. What is the significance of your consecration for the Church and the Society of St. Pius X?

On July 1st, the Society gave itself the means to continue its work which is to give priests to the Church. It did this so that Tradition can continue, because the fullness of Tradition is the one thing the Holy Church and souls need today as yesterday.

In the present situation, these consecrations were, to quote Bishop de Galaretta’s words, the triumph of objectivity. And as Fr. Pagliarani said, in the face of the crisis in the Church, in the face of the objective reality of souls’ need for truth and life, it was necessary to act and no longer only to talk. And that is what these consecrations were: an act in response to an objective need. It is the pride of the Society that we do not only talk about the crisis in the Church, but we recognize the objective and real need of souls, and we respond to it. That is the meaning and significance of the July 1st ceremony. And that crowd of faithful from all over the world was a magnificent sign of this.

6. What advice would you give to the faithful in this time of crisis, especially given the harsh way that Rome has reacted to the consecrations?

We must keep the attitude God expects of us: great peace and renewed generosity. Nothing happens that is not permitted by God for the good of His Church and our souls, including the unjust condemnation of the bishops, priests and faithful of the Society by Rome. We follow the example set by Archbishop Lefebvre, which is that of the Apostles and Our Lord Himself. Stay in peace and be faithful to the graces we have received. And if there was ever a singular grace, it is this one: that of having received intact the treasures of Tradition and the Catholic priesthood. It is up to us to be faithful with a renewed daily generosity, trusting in the assistance of Our Lord who does not abandon His Church.

Bishop Michel Poinsinet de Sivry

1. Tell us about your childhood and where you grew up. What in your youth made you desire the priesthood?

I was born on April 10, 1984, in Paris, and I grew up in the French capital. I come from a family of seven children, and I received an education profoundly rooted in the Traditional Catholic Faith. Our parents took us to the first Traditional chapels in Paris. That is where I learned to know and love the Tridentine liturgy. With its transcendency and its acute sense of the sacred, it offers a resplendent image of the priest, an alter Christus and mediator between God and men.

As I did not always attend the schools of Tradition, my studies quickly brought me into contact with the world. I became aware of the profound ignorance of the Faith in many of my contemporaries, and the risk for their salvation. An ardent desire to work for the salvation of souls led me to enter the Saint-Curé-d’Ars seminary in Flavigny-sur-Ozerain, in October 2002. The example of zealous priests who fully incarnated the priestly ideal also gave me the desire to follow in their footsteps. Providence had placed good priests along my path, especially in the boy scouts and the priory’s youth movements.

2. Was your family associated with the Society, or did you choose on your own to become a Society priest? If so, what drew you to it and convinced you that the Society was the best place to be?

My family was always associated with the Society of St. Pius X. Entering Ecône was the obvious choice for me: I did not consider any other structure in which to let the priestly grace blossom. I knew that I would receive there a perfectly Traditional formation, one that quite simply molds the spirit of the Church in our souls.

3. What have been the most formative experiences of your priesthood within the Society? Tell us a little bit about your assignments and duties over the past few years.

I was blessed to exercise my ministry in Society schools for fourteen years. My first assignment was at the Saint-Joseph-des-Carmes school in Carcassonne. I then directed Saint-Nicolas-du-Chardonnet’s elementary school for five years, from 2011 to 2016. I deeply loved this Parisian ministry, which also allowed me to experience the pastoral care of a parish, since I serviced Saint-Martin-des-Gaules in Seine-Saint-Denis, while holding visiting hours at Saint-Nicolas-du-Chardonnet and serving as a chaplain for the boy scouts. It was a dense and rich apostolate, and I bless Providence for it. My superiors then sent me to direct a boarding school, Saint-Jean-Baptiste-de-la-Salle, in Camblain-l’Abbé, where I spent six years. And I am presently in charge of the district of Benelux, where I devote myself especially to the apostolate in Brussels.

In these eighteen years of priesthood, my work in the schools is what has left the deepest mark. They are where we truly transmit what we have received, where Christian civilization is built and perpetuated. Our dear founder, Archbishop Lefebvre, saw in these schools not only nurseries for priestly and religious vocations, but also a crucible in which to form future heads of Catholic families. They are where the future of Christendom plays out. Watching souls grow and blossom, then come back to thank you a few years later is an immense consolation for a priest. This mission is an exciting one, even if it does have its share of crosses and trials, which are necessary for greater spiritual fruits.

Another episode that deeply affected me was the day I was called to bring the sacraments to a little boy who had cancer. A true friendship developed with him and his family. I was able to give him catechism classes and hear his confession regularly. My joy was to bring him the consolation of Communion. I saw the effect of grace in this special soul. I witnessed his spiritual ascension. This boy has a very special story. His soul was most likely already ready for Heaven! I think of him often, of his courage and his faith in the terrible trial of illness and death.

4. The consecration ceremony was both beautiful and powerful. Was there any moment in the ceremony that particularly stood out to you and that perhaps brought out the grace and responsibility of the episcopacy?

Indeed, this ceremony manifests the greatness of the episcopate, both through the depth of the liturgy and through the majesty of the rites. The most poignant moment for me was the blessings by the new bishops during the Te Deum. The looks of faith and hope from the priests, religious, and faithful from all over the world deeply moved me. I fully realized what a bishop represents for the Church, and the gravity of our obligation to strive for holiness each day. The countless accounts of prayers and sacrifices offered by the faithful give an extraordinary strength and momentum for the episcopal ministry ahead of me.

5. As a newly-consecrated bishop, in what ways will you serve the Society?

In absolute fidelity to the example set by His Excellency Archbishop Lefebvre and his direct successors. I simply wish to pass on in turn what I have received from the Holy Church. I wish to serve her with the utmost simplicity, responding to the needs of the priests and faithful who ask of us the sacraments for the salvation of their souls.

6. What is the significance of your consecration for the Church and the Society of St. Pius X?

It was certainly a historic act for the Holy Church and for the Society of St. Pius X. These consecrations are the guarantee that Catholic Tradition will go on, ensuring the faithful transmission of the Faith, grace, and the discipline of all time. It is a very great cause for joy and hope.

7. What advice would you give to the faithful in this time of crisis, especially given the harsh way that Rome has reacted to the consecrations?

I would pass on this advice from the first Pope, St. Peter: “Let your conversation be good among the Gentiles: that whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by the good works which they shall behold in you, glorify God in the day of visitation” (I Pet. 2:12).

We must keep our serenity and our inner peace. The surest means to do so is to strive daily for our own sanctification; Providence asks nothing else of us. The best proof of the rectitude and prudence of our position is in our good works. Let all the faithful ask this grace of Mary, Our Lady of Peace.

Bishop Pascal Schreiber

1. Tell us about your childhood and where you grew up. What in your youth made you desire the priesthood?

My four siblings and I grew up in a very rural area, in a village of about 1000 inhabitants. The church was the center of our small town. I received my call to the priesthood when I was around ten or eleven years old. It happened at the location where Saint Nicholas of Flüe, a Swiss hermit and ascetic and the patron saint of Switzerland, lived centuries before.

Ever since, God has guided me through the various stages of life, and the certainty of this calling has never left me, for which I am very grateful to this day.

2. Was your family associated with the Society, or did you choose on your own to become a Society priest? If so, what drew you to it and convinced you that the Society was the best place to be?

My siblings and I primarily grew up in the Novus Ordo. At the same time, this was in the 1970s, we were introduced to the old Mass and the FSSPX. Although we mostly practiced the Novus Ordo during the time of my calling, I already knew that I would become a priest in Ecône.

When I was 17 years old, I started to attend Mass at the society with some regularity, and finally exclusively. My siblings and eventually my parents followed soon after.

I was convinced by the reverence of the Holy Mass of the Ages, but also by a priest in our priory, who became my role model and who took me under his wings.

3. What have been the most formative experiences of your priesthood within the Society? Tell us a little bit about your assignments and duties over the past few years.

In the first year of my priesthood, I spent time in the German region of North Rhine-Westphalia. I served as a religion teacher and dorm father at a boys’ boarding school of the fraternity. Next, I was stationed in the French and German-speaking region of Fribourg, Switzerland, where I was the pastor for four years. It was a great privilege to be allowed to serve at the birthplace of the society.

In 2003, I became rector of a boys’ boarding school in Mels. In 2005, I was appointed headmaster of a co-ed primary school and a girls’ boarding high school in Wil, both in Switzerland. I stayed there for nine years before I was appointed bursar at the headquarters of the Swiss District in Rickenbach in 2014. Two years later, I was nominated to serve as the District Superior. In 2020, I became rector of the Herz Jesu Seminary in Zaitzkofen, Germany.

These different fields of responsibility prepared me to share my experience in personnel and financial management, communications, conflict resolution, time management, lesson planning, and delegating resources with the seminarians. Amongst other subjects, I also teach pastoral theology at the seminary.

As customary within the Society of St. Pius X, I never got to choose any of these positions, but was appointed to them. This allowed me to understand that a priest never follows his own path, but serves where obedience calls him.

4. The consecration ceremony was both beautiful and powerful. Was there any moment in the ceremony that particularly stood out to you and that perhaps brought out the grace and responsibility of the episcopacy?

As you mentioned, the consecration ceremony is tremendously beautiful and includes many impressive moments. What moved me most was when the four bishops, with staff and miter in hand, left the altar and went out to bless the faithful during the Te Deum.

At that moment, I realized that the episcopacy was not a personal award, but service to the Church and its souls. What could be more beautiful than to bless people?

5. As a newly-consecrated bishop, in what ways will you serve the Society?

I will continue to serve diligently as the rector of the Herz Jesu Seminary in Zaitzkofen. When the General Superior calls, I will travel to administer the sacraments of confirmation or ordinations.

It is my hope that wherever I am allowed to serve, I can deepen the faith in the Church, strengthen the priests and the faithful, and lead as many souls as possible to Christ.

6. What is the significance of your consecration for the Church and the Society of St. Pius X?

A bishop is not consecrated for his own good but for that of the Church. His most important tasks are to pass on the unadulterated faith, to ordain priests, to administer the sacrament of confirmation, and to accompany the faithful on their path to heaven.

This episcopal consecration primarily signifies continuity for the Society of Saint Pius X. The fraternity is growing in many countries, enabling the faithful to continue to have access to the sacraments of the traditional faith.

In this context, the episcopal consecration is not an end in itself; rather, it serves as a means to facilitate the ongoing service of the Church for the salvation of souls.

Subsequently, the episcopal consecrations are also very important for the survival of Tradition within the Catholic Church. There are influential movements within the Church that seek to obliterate Tradition. The episcopal consecrations ensure Tradition’s survival.

But I would like to go even further: the Society of Saint Pius X is working with all its available resources to ensure that one day Tradition will return to Rome and modernism will be driven out. It is then that the Church will blossom again.

7. What advice would you give to the faithful in this time of crisis, especially given the harsh way that Rome has reacted to the consecrations?

Two passages of Holy Scripture come to mind:

“To them that love God, all things work together unto good” (Rom. 8:28). St. Paul emphasizes that not only joys or obvious blessings contribute to good, but everything! Thus, even difficult situations in life or the crosses we bear ultimately serve a purpose for our good. Our loving God is almighty; He can transform every evil into good. Those who love God understand that, in the end, only sin can truly harm them. This knowledge provides true Catholics with remarkable strength for their daily lives.

The second passage I want to highlight is the imagery of the storm on the Sea of Galilee. The boat serves as a symbol for the Church. The apostles in the boat are anxious, while Jesus is sleeping. Jesus accuses them: “Why are you fearful, O ye of little faith?” (Mt. 8:23-26). He reprimands them for their little faith.

The bottom line in these two passages is that we should try to accomplish two things daily: be charitable with the utmost love for God and our neighbor, and remain peaceful at heart.

This reminds me of the following story. Many years ago, a Capuchin priest held missions in various communities. His sermons frequently led to conversions, and people returned to the sacrament of penance. One day, the fruits of his service stopped. He wondered what might have been different that day. Eventually, he realized that his usual companion, another Capuchin friar who faithfully prayed the rosary beneath the pulpit while he preached, had not been present. This made him realize that prayer was the key to the fruitfulness of his sermons.

We experienced something similar in connection with the episcopal consecrations. In the weeks prior, countless faithful of the Society of St. Pius X had unleashed a true prayer storm through their devotions, sacrifices, and holy masses that were offered.

God willing, if we bishops can be a blessing, then we owe this to the great multitude of praying faithful who sustain us through their prayers, their sacrifices, and their faithfulness.

I am deeply grateful and profoundly moved by this, but I also feel a great sense of responsibility. Therefore, I encourage everyone to remain steadfast in their prayers. Hidden and faithful prayer, in particular, is one of the greatest forces for the life of the Church.