(LifeSiteNews) — Bishop Bernard Tissier de Mallerais of the Traditionalist Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) died today from complications arising from a fractured skull accompanied by internal hemorrhaging, which he suffered after falling down a flight of stairs on Saturday, September 28 at the group’s flagship seminary in Écône, Switzerland, according to a press release issued by the SSPX. “Bishop Tissier,” as he was known, was 79. His funeral will be held at the seminary on Friday, October 18 at 9:30 a.m. local time. 

His Excellency was born in Sallanches, Savoy, in France and was one of four priests consecrated by SSPX founder Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre (1905-1991) and Brazilian Bishop Antônio de Castro Mayer (1904-1991) in 1988 against the wishes of then-Pope John Paul II. 

The decision, dubbed “Operation Survival” by Lefebvre, prompted the Vatican to issue a decree stating that the parties involved had incurred an automatic excommunication. The SSPX contested the validity of that pronouncement and in 2009 Benedict XVI lifted the punishment. 

42-years-old at the time of his consecration, Tisser and his family were some of the earliest supporters of the archbishop, who also made British priest Richard Williamson, now 84, Spanish priest Alfonso de Galarreta, now 67, and Swiss priest Bernard Fellay, now 66, “auxiliary” bishops of the Society. 

Prior to his consecration, Tissier served as a theology professor, vice-rector, and finally rector of the SSPX’s international seminary in Écône. From 1974 to 1979, and again from 1984 to 1996, he was Secretary General of the Society. 

The author of three books, including Faith Imperiled by Reason: Benedict XVI’s Hermeneutics and Marcel Lefebvre: The Biography, Tissier wrote many public statements about the crisis in the Church, including an essay that compared the Catholic Church with “the Conciliar Church,” which he said, “analogically resembles the Church, temporarily occupying it, and turning it away from its end.” 

Catholics in North America were familiar with His Excellency as he would often administer confirmations there. He also resided at the SSPX’s Chicago-based Our Lady Immaculate priory for several years in the 2010s before returning to Écône.  

Generally considered to be from the more conservative wing of the SSPX, Tissier famously delivered a forceful sermon warning against “false friends” who were pushing for a canonical “regularization” with the Vatican. He made similar remarks to French periodical Rivarol in 2012, stating, “the Society of Saint Pius X has never left the Church … the irregularity is not ours. It is that of Rome. A Modernist Rome.” In recent years, His Excellency has given more moderate remarks on the subject. 

Tissier’s death leaves the Society with just two bishops — De Gallareta and Fellay, as Williamson was expelled in 2012. Bishop Vitus Huonder, the former head of the Diocese of Chur, Switzerland, had joined the SSPX after his retirement in 2019, living at one of their schools with encouragement from the Vatican, prompting concerns among some faithful who attend SSPX chapels. Huonder later died in 2024.   

Various other clergy, including Bishop Joseph Strickland and Bishop Athanasius Schneider have praised the Society in recent years. 

In June of this year, the district superior of the SSPX in France, Fr. Benoît de Jorna, published a letter to friends and benefactors laying out arguments for why the time has possibly arrived to consecrate more bishops. De Jorna had been tapped to lead the French district in 2018 by current SSPX Superior General Fr. Davide Pagliarani.  

In his essay, de Jorna recalled that Archbishop Lefebvre attempted to avoid consecrating bishops without Rome’s permission but that he ultimately had to do so in order that “the Church” could “continue.”  

De Jorna also posited that the growth of the SSPX since the 1980s, coupled with the fact that the situation in the Church has not improved since then, means that “it has become necessary to consider giving [the bishops] assistants, who will one day become their replacements.” 

De Jorna’s letter is not the first time the consecration of bishops has been addressed by the SSPX. The matter was raised in June 2023 after Traditional Catholics on social media speculated that an announcement on the matter was imminent. Fr. Jean-Michel Gleize, a professor at the group’s Ecône seminary, responded by publishing a rebuttal on the Society’s website dismissing the allegations as “tall tales” and “rumors.” At the same time, Pagliarani said at the 2021 gathering of the Angelus Press conference in the U.S. that if the need arose the SSPX would not hesitate to consecrate bishops to ensure its survival.  

The SSPX currently has just over 700 priests and supports more than a dozen Traditional Catholic male and female religious orders across the world. Its headquarters are located in Menzingen, Switzerland.