Bishop Tissier de Mallerais: A Short Biography

We owe him immense gratitude for having transmitted, through his magnificent biography of Archbishop Lefebvre and his countless conferences to seminarians, priests and the faithful, the knowledge and love of our venerable founder, and the work he established, through which radiated his profound love for the Roman Catholic Church, the faith, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the priesthood and Christ the King.

It is also a way of sketching the wiry silhouette of this bishop who could always be thought to be shaky, but whose tireless zeal for the salvation of souls took him to the five continents where the Society is established. Our chronicles recount his ceaseless travels from one continent to another, and the number of confirmations and ordinations he has conferred since his consecration, just like our other bishops.

The beginnings of the Society

Bernard Tissier de Mallerais was born on 14^th September 1945 in Sallanches (Haute-Savoie), and earned himself a master’s degree in biology. For a number of years, he was involved in scouting, as, when Dom Guillou became chaplain to the traditional scout group in 1969, we find him at his side, along with a seminarian from Rome, Jean-Yves Cottard. In October 1969, Bernard joined Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, in Fribourg, and helped found the Society of Saint Pius X.

His first visit to Archbishop Lefebvre was in his vast office of Superior General of the Holy Ghost Fathers, on Rue Lhomond, in Paris, in 1967. For that visit, he was accompanied by Father Luc Lefèvre. When he left the office, he knew that he had found a spiritual father for the future. Two years later, on 13^th October 1969, he alighted from the train at Fribourg station, and found Paul Aulagnier and Pierre Piqué who were also on their way to 106 route de Marly, where the Archbishop was waiting to welcome his first candidates for the priesthood. In October, there were nine in all. However, by the spring of 1970, there were only four left!

A few days into the month of November 1970, the young abbé Tissier de Mallerais was among the seminarians who saw Archbishop Lefebvre, return from the Bishop’s House in Fribourg, with a beaming smile, after having obtained from Bishop François Charrière, the canonical document giving birth to the Priestly Society of Saint Pius X. The seminarians passed the document from hand to hand, reading the text and examining the signature and the episcopal seal.

“I remember well that on the eve of the First Sunday of Advent 1969, two months after I had entered Archbishop Lefebvre’s seminary in Fribourg, in Switzerland, His Grace called us together for a special spiritual conference, us, his very first nine seminarians, and he gravely told us: « Tomorrow the Novus Ordo Missæ comes into force. It is a New Mass instituted by Pope Paul VI, and it is for all the parishes of Fribourg, for all Switzerland, France and elsewhere… So what are we going to do? ». After a moment’s silence, in a small, almost timid voice, he added: « We are going to keep the old Mass, aren’t we?  » These words are the historic words with which Archbishop Lefebvre saved the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass!”

The heroic years

As a young seminarian, Bernard Tissier de Mallerais, knew the heroic year of 1971/1972 in Ecône. Twenty-four seminarians were there, and the house was too small for everybody. Some of them had to sleep in a storage area in the power station, which was just next door to the Ecône seminary, where Monsieur Guy Fellay was the director. Bernard Tissier was one of the lucky seminarians who stayed in that dormitory, which was nicknamed “the bachelors’ room”.

In the beginning, the seminary facilities were very basic, with the refectory and the washing machines installed in the old cellar for wine barrels! However, on 22^nd March 1972, the seminarians had the pleasure of moving into their brand-new rooms in the Saint Pius X Building.

While still a subdeacon, Reverend Mr Tissier de Mallerais was appointed Secretary General of the Society, by Archbishop Lefebvre, on 14^th September 1974. He held this post until 1979.

The first trials

On 11^th November 1974, a storm broke over the seminary, with the sudden arrival of two apostolic visitors, who were sent to investigate the seminary, at the Holy Father’s orders. They left without presenting any report of the visit to Archbishop Lefebvre. This is how Bishop Tissier relates the aftermath of this visit in his book: “Archbishop Lefebvre left for Rome on 16^th November. On 21^st November, while he was on his way to visit one of the Roman Congregations, a Swiss Guard, who until that moment had been like a statue, spoke to him suddenly: « Your Grace, do you really expect anything anymore from these people? » Stunned by the comment, the Archbishop said nothing. However he thought back over the canonical visit and understood that he could expect nothing more from these Congregations. When he returned to Albano, « in a moment of indignation », as he would later say,  he wrote in one go, and without any corrections, an admirable declaration of his principles, which he presented to the Ecône community on 2^nd December 1974.”

On the following 6^th May, Bishop Mamie withdrew the approval given by Bishop Charrière. A press campaign was quickly launched against Ecône, and various intimidation tactics were organised. Two young men even broke into the seminary and forced their way into a seminarian’s bedroom, whose shouting woke up his neighbour, Rev. Mr Tissier de Mallerais, who immediately came to his rescue, chasing the assailants into the cloister area, from where they managed to escape – you can imagine the pandemonium!

The press campaign even found an echo in the episcopal offices in Sion. Father Epiney, Parish Priest of Riddes, was ordered to celebrate the New Mass. He refused to comply, and was forced to vacate the Parish Church. On Sunday 22^nd June 1975, Bernard Tissier de Mallerais was among the twenty seminarians who were present for the evening of adoration in Riddes, where Father Epiney – expelled from his church for fidelity to the Traditional Mass – prayed for the last time, before removing the Blessed Sacrament from the altar, and transporting it to a temporary chapel in his presbytery.

29^th June of that year, along with Pierre Blin and Donald Sanborn, Bernard Tissier de Mallerais was ordained to the priesthood. At the start of the new academic year, in September 1975, he became the apologetics’ professor, taking the place of Père de La Presle.

One year later, on 29^th June 1976, at the first ordination ceremony in the tent-cathedral, the words of Archbishop Lefebvre’s sermon penetrated him deeply: “However, if, in all objectivity, we seek the true motive animating those who ask us not to perform these ordinations, it is because we are ordaining these priests so that they may say the Mass of all time. […] As proof of this, simply consider that six times in the last three weeks – six times – we have been asked to re-establish normal relations with Rome, and to give as proof our acceptance of the new rite – and I have been asked to celebrate it myself. They have gone so far as to send me someone who offered to concelebrate with me in the new rite so as to manifest that I accept willingly this new liturgy, and he told me that, by doing so, everything would be sorted out between us and Rome. […] Thus it is clear, it is obvious, that it is on the problem of the Mass that hangs the whole drama between Ecône and Rome.” This was the first sermon of what would become known as the ‘Hot Summer’, which culminated with the suspension a divinis of Archbishop Lefebvre.

At the end of the Spring of 1977, the seminary faced more trials. Archbishop Lefebvre asked one professor to leave and three others, including the Rector, Canon Berthod, left the seminary. However, Ecône continued! Archbishop Lefebvre, still Superior General, took over the direction of the seminary. While remaining a teacher, Father Tissier de Mallerais was promoted to Vice-Rector at the start of the new academic year. Then, in September 1978, he became Rector, remaining in charge of the seminary until 1983. Among other responsibilities, he was to liaise with the other seminaries to ensure the unity of the study programme, the unity between the various professors’ teachings, the exchange of students between seminaries, and the links with the house in Albano[1]
 

[1] Albano, near Rome, was the District House of Italy, which for a few years, provided part of the training for seminarians, enabling them to discover the Eternal City, and to imbue themselves with the Roman spirit.

The consecrations 

In 1983, Father Tissier was appointed chaplain to the sisters at Saint-Michel-en-Brenne. The following year, he once again became Secretary General of the Society, now based in Rickenbach (Switzerland), and also had a fairly regular ministry in Colmar (France), until 1992.

Around April 1987, Archbishop Lefebvre asked Father Tissier to come and see him. “He summoned me from Rickenbach to Ecône. In his office, he told me what he wanted. I replied « Your Grace, I have made many mistakes in my life, I do not feel capable of being a bishop! » To that he replied « I too have made mistakes! ». That answer reassured me very much, and so I said to myself: « He has thought this one through. He knows what he must do, much better than I could. He has made his choice. All I have to do is accept it. » Obviously, I thought of the excommunication that I would incur – not that I believed it to be valid. However, sociologically, it was an infamy to bear. Thus, I assumed it, by the grace of God. As one of my fellow priests had once said, I simply said to myself: « The Archbishop has the grace to decide. I have the grace to follow him. »”

Then on 29^th August 1987, Archbishop Lefebvre addressed his famous letter to the four priests of the Society, including Father Tissier de Mallerais, in view of their episcopal consecration. “My dear friends, […] I am writing this letter to ask you to agree to receive the grace of the Catholic episcopacy, just as I have already conferred it on other priests in other circumstances. […] I beseech you to remain attached to the See of Peter, to the Roman Catholic Church, Mother and Mistress of all Churches, in the integral Catholic faith, expressed in the various creeds of our Catholic faith, in the Catechism of the Council of Trent, and in conformity with what you were taught in your seminary. Remain faithful in the handing down of this faith so that the Kingdom of Our Lord Jesus Christ may come.”

The following year, 1988, talks were held in Rome. For the discussions, Archbishop Lefebvre chose a theologian, Father Tissier de Mallerais, and a canonist, Father Patrice Laroche. During the talks, His Grace went as far as possible, making various concessions. He signed the protocol document presented to him on 5^th May 1988, but withdrew his signature the following day, in the face of Rome’s obvious procrastination. Thus, no matter what, he consecrated bishops for the Society’s famous ‘Operation Survival’. This is how Father Tissier de Mallerais became His Lordship, Bishop Bernard Tissier de Mallerais, on 30^th June 1988, along with Bishop Richard Williamson, Bishop Alfonso de Galarreta and Bishop Bernard Fellay.

The apostolate of a Society’s auxiliary bishop

From then on, our bishops, including Bishop Tissier de Mallerais, devoted themselves body and soul to their new mission, the main aim of which, as stated by His Grace in his letter to the future bishops, was “to confer the grace of the sacrament of Confirmation upon children and upon the faithful who ask for it”, as well as, obviously, the ordinations to major and minor orders.

It is impossible to retrace here all the peregrinations of Bishop Tissier de Mallerais around the world. However, we will mention a few that stand out, as well as a few that were particularly memorable for the Society’s District of Switzerland.

On Holy Thursday 1989, His Lordship had the joy of celebrating the very first Chrismal Mass in the history of the Zaitzkofen seminary, in Germany.

On 13^th October 1990, Bishop Tissier consecrated the first church built by the Society in Switzerland, the Church of the Holy Ghost, in Delémont. The entire seminary from Ecône had come to grace this solemn ceremony.

A few months later, our venerable founder passed away. His Lordship had the honour of celebrating the Pontifical Requiem Mass, on 2^nd April 1991. The Superior General, Father Franz Schmidberger, preached the eulogy.

On 3^rd April, the Society’s General Council decided to set up a canonical commission, as suggested by Archbishop Lefebvre. Bishop Tissier de Mallerais was entrusted with the task of chairing this commission.

After the death of Bishop de Castro Mayer, Bishop Tissier was the principal consecrator, on 28^th July 1991, for the consecration of Bishop Licinio Rangel, as successor of Bishop de Castro Mayer, at the head of the Priestly Union of Saint John Mary Vianney, in the Diocese of Campos (Brazil).

Bishop Tissier de Mallerais remained Secretary General of the Society until 1996. He was then asked to prepare a biography of our founder, Archbishop Lefebvre. A long period of research led him in the footsteps of this great missionary, culminating in the excellent book Marcel Lefebvre: une vie, which was published in 2002  – and in English as Marcel Lefebvre: the biography, in 2004.

It was under His Lordship’s authority that the first Marian Congress organised by the Society was held in Lourdes (France), from 14^th to 18^th August 1996. Also in 1996, Father Arnaud Sélégny replaced Bishop Tissier as Secretary General. However, he continued to reside in Menzingen and was able to devote more of his time to his mission as auxiliary bishop of the Society.

In the year 2000, he left Menzingen and took up residence at Ecône seminary, which is the heart of the Society, much to the great joy of all, especially the seminarians to whom he passed on all his knowledge of Archbishop Lefebvre and the Society during many lively spiritual conferences.

Saturday 2^nd October 2004 was the day that His Lordship consecrated the church in Wil, once again assisted by the seminarians from Ecône, with more than six hundred faithful attending. In 2004, he also blessed the foundation stone of the church in Oberriet, which would replace the former priory chapel that had become much too small.

In 2012, he moved to Our Lady Immaculate Priory in Chicago (USA). The proximity of the airport made it an ideal base for his apostolic and missionary journeys.

In September 2015, during a visit to the La Reja seminary (Argentina), he gave a series of conferences on the foundation of the Society, in order to pass on to the younger generation the spirit of Archbishop Lefebvre and his work. He would do the same, in October of the same year, at the Zaitzkofen seminary, giving the seminarians thus the chance to discover how Divine Providence had clearly guided events and blessed the Society. This series of conferences was also given in the newly established Dillwyn seminary, in 2017, to the great joy of the whole community.

March 2019, saw Bishop Tissier de Mallerais take up residence in Dillwyn seminary, before returning to Switzerland and Ecône, in 2020.

There was great concern for His Lordship’s health, in December 2020, when news spread that he had contracted COVID-19. However, although Brother Gabriel did not survive the virus, Bishop Tissier recovered extremely well. So much so, that it was he who celebrated Brother Gabriel’s funeral in Ecône, on 22^nd December, exactly forty-six years – day-for-day – from when Brother Gabriel first arrived at Ecône.

Bishop Tissier de Mallerais had been showing signs of weakness recently, causing concern even among the faithful, particularly when he would lose his balance during the celebration of Holy Mass. Thus, on 28^th September 2024, the day decreed by Divine Providence, after reciting the morning Angelus in the seminary chapel, His Lordship fell down the stairs on his way to the oratory to say his daily Mass. Suffering a fractured skull and considerable loss of blood, he received the sacrament of Extreme Unction before being taken to hospital. After several days in a coma, he gave his soul back to his Creator and Saviour, on the evening of 8^th October. The seminary Rector, several seminarians and his brother were present during his final moments. Requiescat in pace.

Writings

2002 : Marcel Lefebvre : une vie.
     =>2004: Marcel Lefebvre: the biography (Angelus Press).

2012 : L’étrange théologie de Benoît XVI. Herméneutique de continuité ou rupture.
     =>2010: Faith Imperilled by Reason: Benedict XVI’s Hermeneutics.

2022 : Marcel Lefebvre, raconté par ses proches. Une vie dialoguée pour les jeunes.
    =>2021: The Rest of the Story (Angelus Press).

As well as numerous articles, conferences and interviews given for various periodicals and magazines.

Father Philippe Lovey