Franz Schmidberger

Last updated
Franz Schmidberger, Lourdes (France), 2008 Franz Schmidberger - Lourdes 2008.jpg
Franz Schmidberger, Lourdes (France), 2008

Franz Schmidberger FSSPX (born 19 October 1946) is a priest of the Society of St. Pius X, founded by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre.

Biography

Graduated in 1972 in the university of Munich, in the same year he entered the seminary of Écône where he was ordained priest on 8 December 1975. Later he taught in the seminary of Weissbad, the first German speaking seminary of the Society.

In 1978 he founded the seminary of Zaitzkofen in Germany, where he was appointed district superior from 1979.

In 1982 Schmidberger was appointed superior general of the society of St Pius X (quitting the post of district superior). In 1994, he was succeeded by Bishop Bernard Fellay. He subsequently served as 1st General Assistant (1994-2006), Austrian (1996-2000) and again German (2006-2013) district superior as well as regent of the Zaitzkofen seminary (2003-2005 and 2013-2020 [1] ).

With Fellay, he is said to be part of a faction that favours reconciliation with Rome on the basis of the Campos precedent, a program which is reportedly opposed by the other bishops of the SSPX. [2]

In a letter that he addressed to the Catholic bishops of Germany in October 2008, Schmidberger rejected the description that Pope John Paul II had applied to the Jews: "our older brothers in the faith", and declared that "for as long as they do not distance themselves from their forefathers' guilt through the avowal of Christ's divinity and baptism, they are complicit in the deicide". [3] [4]

Notes

  1. Priesterseminar Herz Jesu: Geschichte. Accessed May 10, 2023
  2. "The Word from Rome September 2, 2005".
  3. New York Times: Group Says It Doesn’t Share Views of Holocaust Denier
  4. Der Spiegel: German Far-Right Hails Holocaust Denier Williamson

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marcel Lefebvre</span> French traditionalist Catholic archbishop

Marcel François Marie Joseph Lefebvre was a French Catholic archbishop who greatly influenced modern traditional Catholicism. In 1970, he founded the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX), a community to train seminarians, in the village of Écône, Switzerland. In 1988, he was excommunicated from the Catholic Church for consecrating four bishops against the express prohibition of Pope John Paul II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Society of Saint Pius X</span> Traditionalist association in the Catholic Church

The Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX) is an international fraternity of traditionalist Catholic priests founded in 1970 by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, not a leading traditionalist voice at the Second Vatican Council but turned years later after voting in favor of the documents of Vatican II, the Coetus Internationalis Patrum, and Superior General of the Holy Ghost Fathers until 1968. The society was initially established as a pious union of the Catholic Church with the permission of François Charrière, the Bishop of Lausanne, Geneva and Fribourg in Switzerland. In 2022, the society reached over 700 priestly members, with 1,135 total members.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Williamson (bishop)</span> British Catholic traditionalist bishop

Richard Nelson Williamson is a British independent Traditionalist Catholic bishop who opposes the changes in the church brought about by the Second Vatican Council.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter</span> Catholic society of apostolic life

The Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter is a traditionalist Catholic society of apostolic life for priests and seminarians which is in communion with the Holy See.

John Bosco Manat Chuabsamai was the Catholic bishop of Ratchaburi from 1986 to 2003.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bernard Fellay</span> Swiss bishop (born 1958)

Bernard Fellay is a Swiss bishop and former superior general of the Traditionalist Catholic priestly fraternity Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX). In 1988, Pope John Paul II announced that Fellay and three others were automatically excommunicated for being consecrated as bishops by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, an act that the Holy See described as "unlawful" and "schismatic". Archbishop Lefebvre, and Bishop Antônio de Castro Mayer who co-consecrated these four bishops, were also said to be automatically excommunicated. At that time, he was the youngest bishop of the Roman Catholic Church at 30 years old.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bernard Tissier de Mallerais</span> French bishop

Bernard Tissier de Mallerais is a French Traditionalist bishop of the Society of Saint Pius X.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alfonso de Galarreta</span> Spanish-Argentine bishop

Alfonso de Galarreta Genua,, is a Spanish-born Argentine bishop of the Society of Saint Pius X. Bishop de Galarreta has served as the First Assistant of the Society of Saint Pius X, working under the direction of the Superior General Fr. Davide Pagliarani, since 2018. In addition to this, Bishop de Galaretta has been the President of the SSPX—Vatican Commission since 2009, which directs the Society's correspondence with the Holy See.

The Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei was a commission of the Catholic Church established by Pope John Paul II's motu proprioEcclesia Dei of 2 July 1988 for the care of those former followers of Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre who broke with him as a result of his consecration of four priests of his Society of St. Pius X as bishops on 30 June 1988, an act that the Holy See deemed illicit and a schismatic act. It was also tasked with trying to return to full communion with the Holy See those traditionalist Catholics who are in a state of separation, of whom the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX) is foremost, and of helping to satisfy just aspirations of people unconnected with these groups who want to keep alive the pre-1970 Roman Rite liturgy.

Clarence Kelly is an American sedevacantist traditionalist Catholic bishop. He is a co-founder of the Society of Saint Pius V and the founder of the Congregation of Saint Pius V.

The Écône consecrations were a set of episcopal consecrations that took place in Écône, Switzerland, on 30 June 1988. They were performed by Catholic Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre and Bishop Antonio de Castro Mayer, and the bishops who were consecrated were four priests of Lefebvre's Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX). The consecrations, performed against the explicit orders of Pope John Paul II, represented a milestone in the troubled relationship of Lefebvre and the SSPX with the Church leadership. The Holy See's Congregation for Bishops issued a decree signed by its Prefect Cardinal Bernardin Gantin declaring that Lefebvre had incurred automatic excommunication by consecrating the bishops without papal consent, thus putting himself and his followers in schism.

Philippe Laguérie is a French Traditionalist Catholic priest. He was the first Superior General of the Institute of the Good Shepherd, which upholds the Tridentine Mass.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joseph Maria Koudelka</span> Czech-born prelate

Joseph Maria Koudelka was a Czech-born prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who served as the second bishop of the Diocese of Superior in Wisconsin from 1913 until his death in 1921.

There have been several controversies surrounding the Society of St. Pius X, many of which concern political support for non-democratic regimes, alleged antisemitism, and the occupation of church buildings. The Society of St. Pius X is an international organisation founded in 1970 by the French traditionalist Catholic archbishop Marcel Lefebvre.

For a number of years after the controversial 1988 consecrations, there was little if any dialogue between the Society of St. Pius X and the Holy See. This state of affairs ended when the Society led a large pilgrimage to Rome for the Jubilee in the year 2000.

Rufin Anthony was a Pakistani Roman Catholic bishop.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Niklaus Pfluger</span>

Niklaus Pfluger, SSPX, is a Catholic priest and First Assistant of the Traditional Catholic Society of St. Pius X.

Davide Pagliarani is an Italian traditionalist Catholic priest of the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX) who has served as its superior general since 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Superior General of the Society of Saint Pius X</span> Honorific title

Superior General of the Society of Saint Pius X is the title given to the head of the traditionalist Society of Saint Pius X founded by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre in 1970.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Aulagnier</span> French Catholic priest (1943–2021)

Paul Aulagnier was a French Traditionalist Catholic priest. Once a member of the Society of Saint Pius X, he then became one of the principal founders of the Institute of the Good Shepherd, an organisation in full communion with the Pope which upholds the Tridentine Mass.