Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter

The Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (In Latin: Fraternitas Sacerdotalis Sancti Petri—FSSP) is a group of Traditionalist Catholic priests and seminarians in good standing with the Holy See.

Canonical status

According to Canon law, the FSSP is a "Clerical Society of Apostolic Life of Pontifical Right." Unlike most religious orders, is not an Institute of Consecrated Life, and its members take no religious vows. They make the same promises of chastity and obedience as diocesan priests and, in addition, swear an oath as members of the Society. The Fraternity's Pontifical right status means that it has been established by the Pope and is subordinate only to him, through the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, and not to the local bishops. In this sense its organization and administrative reporting status are similar to those of religious orders of Pontifical Right such as the Jesuits or Dominicans.

Charism

The FSSP consists of priests and seminarians who intend to pursue the goal of Christian perfection according to a specific charism. The FSSP's specific charism is to offer the Mass and other sacraments according to the Roman Rite, as it existed before the Second Vatican Council. Thus, the Fraternity uses the Roman Missal, the Roman Breviary, the Roman Pontifical, and the Roman Ritual, according to the editions of 1962, the last before the liturgical reforms of the Second Vatican Council were promulgated.

Mission

Following from its Charism, the Fraternity's mission is twofold: to sanctify each priest through the exercise of his priestly function; and to deploy these priests to parishes. As such, they are to celebrate the sacraments, catechize, organize youth groups (e.g. Boy Scouts/Girl Guides or similar), preach retreats, organize pilgrimages, and generally provide a full sacramental and cultural life for lay Catholics who are likewise drawn to the rituals of the 1962 missal. In order to help complete its mission, the fraternity has built its own seminaries with the goal of bringing up priests to serve the fraternity.

Founding and organization

The FSSP was formed on July 18, 1988 at the Abbey of Hauterive (Switzerland) by twelve priests and a score of seminarians (led by Fr. Josef Bisig) who had formerly belonged to Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre's Society of St. Pius X and who were unwilling to follow that order into what the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith defined to be a schismatic act and grounds for Latæ Sententiæ. Fr. Josef Bisig became the Fraternity's first superior general.

The FSSP's current superior general is the Very Rev. John Berg. The Vicar General and Assistant is the Very Rev. Patrick du Faÿ.

The Fraternity is divided into three districts and three regions:

German-speaking District, Superior: Pater Axel Maußen
French (France) District, Superior: Abbé Xavier Garban
North American District, Superior: Father George Gabet
Belgium-Netherland Region, Superior: Abbé Hervé Hygonnet
Great-Britain Region, Superior: Father John Emerson
Southern Cross Region, Superior: Father Laurence Gresser

The Fraternity has two seminaries:

The International Seminary of St. Peter in Wigratzbad-Opfenbach, in the Bavaria region of Germany (Diocese of Augsburg), was established in 1988. It serves French and German-speaking seminarians.
Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary, in Denton, Nebraska, USA (Diocese of Lincoln), was established in 1994 and serves English-speaking seminarians.

They also operate a boarding school, St. Gregory's Academy in Elmhurst, Pennsylvania.

As of January 2005, the FSSP included 194 priests and 115 seminarians in 50 dioceses spread amongst Australia, Austria, Benin, Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Nigeria, Poland, Switzerland, and the USA.

Sources

FSSP Overview from the FSSP
Address by Fr. Devillers, FSSP Superior General, at the Ordinary General Assembly Of The Synod Of Bishops October 2001

External link

Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (International website) Main website with pages in English, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Polish, and Latin

Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter | Societies of Apostolic Life | Roman Catholic orders and societies