Fraternidade Sacerdotal São Pio X — Cronologia

Richard Williamson

8 March 1940 – 29 January 2025 · England

Last updated: 2026-07-30

Open verification flags

No item on this page carries an open verification flag. That means no flag has been raised — not that every date has been independently confirmed.

Dossier

This page gathers what this chronology records about one figure — the role summary, the events linked to them, and their position in the episcopal genealogy — with every claim carrying its source. It is a dossier page, not a full biography.

One of the four 1988 bishops; expelled from the SSPX in 2012 after public defiance; led the 'Resistance', for which he consecrated six bishops without mandate (2015–2022); his 2009 Holocaust denial caused a worldwide scandal.[4] [7] [12]

Position in the episcopal genealogy

Status characterizations are attributed to whoever made them, with their date; this site does not adjudicate them.

SSPX line — from Marcel Lefebvre

Écône, 30 June 1988; expelled from the SSPX 2012 — see the 'Resistance' branch; † 2025

Consecrated by
Marcel Lefebvre[2] [14] [15]
Canonical status as recorded here
1988 excommunication declared, remitted 2009; new excommunications declared for his later consecrations[4]

'Resistance' line — from Richard Williamson (ex-SSPX)

consecrated 1988 by Lefebvre (see SSPX line); expelled from the SSPX 2012; † 2025

Consecrated
  • Jean-Michel Faure — Santa Cruz Monastery, Nova Friburgo (Brazil), 19 March 2015[4] [13]
  • Tomás de Aquino Ferreira da Costa — Nova Friburgo (Brazil), 19 March 2016; prior of the Santa Cruz Monastery[11]
  • Gerardo Zendejas — Diocese of Arlington, Virginia (USA), 11 May 2017; co-consecrators: Faure and Tomás de Aquino[10]
  • Giacomo Ballini — consecrated privately in 2021 (announced by Williamson in December 2022); leader of the Resistance's Cork branch[4]
  • Paul Morgan — Cork (Ireland), 14 February 2022, in secret; co-consecrator: Ballini[4]
  • Michał Stobnicki — Poland, 15 August 2022[4]

Recorded events

11 dated events in this chronology name this figure or have them as their unambiguous actor. A ? flag marks a date not yet verified against a primary source.

YearDatePlaceEvent
1988 1988-06-30 Écône The Écône consecrations — Lefebvre, with Bishop Antônio de Castro Mayer (emeritus of Campos, Brazil) as co-consecrator, consecrates Bernard Fellay, Bernard Tissier de Mallerais, Richard Williamson and Alfonso de Galarreta without papal mandate.[1]
1988 1988-07-01 Rome Excommunications declared — The Congregation for Bishops declares that Lefebvre, Castro Mayer and the four new bishops incurred latae sententiae excommunication.[1] [5]
1991 1991-07-28 São Fidélis, Brazil Rangel consecrated for the Campos union — Licínio Rangel is consecrated without papal mandate by Bishop Tissier de Mallerais, assisted by de Galarreta and Williamson, to lead the Campos priests after Castro Mayer's death.[8] [9]
2009 2009-01 Worldwide Williamson affair — A television interview in which Bishop Richard Williamson denied the Holocaust airs just before the remission is announced, causing worldwide controversy; the SSPX removes him as rector of the La Reja seminary.[4]
2009 2009-01-21 Rome 1988 excommunications remitted — A decree of the Congregation for Bishops (dated 21 January, published 24 January) lifts the excommunications of the four bishops; some sources cite 10 March 2009, the date of Benedict XVI's explanatory letter.[6]
2012 2012-10-04 Menzingen Williamson expelled — The SSPX expels Bishop Williamson after unauthorized confirmations in Brazil and public defiance; he goes on to lead the loose 'Resistance' network.[4]
2015 2015-03-19 Nova Friburgo, Brazil Resistance consecration in Brazil — Williamson consecrates Jean-Michel Faure without mandate at the Santa Cruz Monastery, consolidating the 'Resistance' splinter. The local ordinary of Nova Friburgo, Bishop Edney Gouvêa Mattoso, and canonical commentators state that a new latae sententiae excommunication (can. 1382) was thereby incurred; no Holy See statement on the individuals has been located.[4] [13]
2016 2016-03-19 Nova Friburgo, Brazil Second Resistance consecration in Brazil — Williamson consecrates Tomás de Aquino Ferreira da Costa, prior of the Santa Cruz Monastery, without mandate.[11]
2017 2017-05-11 Diocese of Arlington, Virginia, USA Zendejas consecrated for the Resistance — Williamson, assisted by Faure and Tomás de Aquino, consecrates Gerardo Zendejas; the local bishop's statement notes the excommunication incurred.[10]
2022 2022 Cork, Ireland / Poland Later Resistance consecrations — Williamson consecrates Paul Morgan in secret at Cork (14 February 2022), with Giacomo Ballini — whose own private 2021 consecration Williamson announced only in December 2022 — as co-consecrator, and Michał Stobnicki in Poland (15 August 2022), bringing to six the bishops he consecrated for the 'Resistance' between 2015 and 2022.[4]
2025 2025-01-29 Margate, England Death of Richard Williamson — The expelled 1988 bishop and 'Resistance' leader dies at 84.[7]

Sources cited on this page

15 sources · 14 with an Internet Archive fallback, numbered for this page. Sources span the spectrum of perspectives by design; contested claims are attributed to their authors.

  1. Society of Saint Pius X · 🗄 archived 2026-07-07 Wikipedia (EN) · encyclopedia
  2. Marcel Lefebvre · 🗄 archived 2026-07-16 Wikipedia (EN) · encyclopedia
  3. 2026 Écône consecrations · 🗄 archived 2026-07-08 Wikipedia (EN) · encyclopedia
  4. Richard Williamson (bishop) · 🗄 archived 2026-07-08 Wikipedia (EN) · encyclopedia
  5. Ecclesia Dei — Apostolic Letter of John Paul II (2 July 1988) · 🗄 archived 2026-11-02 Holy See (vatican.va) · official
  6. Decree remitting the excommunication of the four bishops (Congregation for Bishops, 21 January 2009) · 🗄 archived 2026-10-12 Holy See (vatican.va) · official
  7. Bishop Richard Williamson, excommunicated bishop and Holocaust denier, dies (31 January 2025) · 🗄 archived 2025-10-10 The Washington Post · news
  8. Licínio Rangel · 🗄 archived 2026-06-10 Wikipedia (EN) · encyclopedia
  9. Personal Apostolic Administration of Saint John Mary Vianney · 🗄 archived 2026-07-02 Wikipedia (EN) · encyclopedia
  10. Statement of Bishop Michael F. Burbidge on the consecration of Fr. Gerardo Zendejas (8 May 2017) · 🗄 archived 2025-10-09 Catholic Diocese of Arlington (official) · official
  11. Bp. Williamson consecrates Fr. Tomás de Aquino a bishop for Resistance group (March 2016) Novus Ordo Watch (sedevacantist site — labeled as such) · analysis
  12. Excommunicated Bishop Williamson dies at 84 (Cindy Wooden, 30 January 2025) · 🗄 archived 2026-02-18 OSV News (mainstream Catholic news service) · news
  13. Former SSPX bishop Williamson consecrates Fr. Jean-Michel Faure (19 March 2015) · 🗄 archived 2026-04-17 Rorate Caeli (traditionalist blog — labeled as such) · news
  14. Achille Cardinal Liénart — episcopal record (dates, offices, consecrators) · 🗄 archived 2026-07-07 catholic-hierarchy.org — a compiled episcopal database, not an official Holy See source; used here for dates and consecration lineage, which is what it is reliable for · database
  15. Fr. Douglas Laudenschlager, 'The validity of holy orders', The Angelus, February 1978 · 🗄 archived 2026-11-02 The Angelus / sspx.org — the Society's own position, republished by its US District. Preserved in cronologia/archive as webcaptures/sspx-validity-holy-orders.html · analysis