Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter

According to canon law, the FSSP is a clerical society of apostolic life of pontifical right.[2] It is not, therefore, an institute of consecrated life and members take no religious vows, but are instead bound by the same general laws of celibacy and obedience as diocesan clergy and, in addition, swear an oath as members of the society.[2] The fraternity's pontifical-right status means that it has been established by the Pope and is answerable only to him in terms of its operation (through the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life; prior to January 17, 2019, through the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei), rather than to local bishops.[3] A local bishop still governs the fraternity's work within his respective diocese. In this sense its organization and administrative reporting status are similar to those of religious orders of pontifical right (for example, the Jesuits or Dominicans).

Members of the fraternity celebrating Solemn Mass

The FSSP consists of priests and seminarians who intend to pursue the goal of Christian perfection according to a specific charism, which is to offer the Mass and other sacraments according to the Roman Rite as it existed before the liturgical reforms that followed the Second Vatican Council.[4] Thus, the fraternity uses the Roman Missal, the Roman Breviary, the Pontifical (Pontificale Romanum), and the Roman Ritual in use in 1962, the last editions before the revisions that followed the Council.

The 2007 motu proprio Summorum Pontificum had authorized use of the 1962 Roman Missal by all Latin Church priests as an extraordinary form of the Roman Rite without limit when celebrating Mass "without a congregation".[5] Its use for Mass with a congregation was allowed with the permission of the priest in charge of a church for stable groups attached to this earlier form of the Roman Rite, provided that the priest using it was "qualified to do so and not juridically impeded" (as for instance by suspension).[6] That was abrogated by the 2021 motu proprio Traditionis custodes that emphasized deference towards the Missal of Pope St. Paul VI and added restrictions to which clergy could perform the Roman Rite according to the pre-Vatican II form. [7][8] In February 2022, Pope Francis confirmed that the FSSP could continue to celebrate the Latin Mass "in their own churches or oratories[.]"[9]

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.[2][10] As such, they are to celebrate the sacraments, catechise, 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.[2] In order to help complete its mission, the fraternity has built its own seminaries with the goal of forming men to serve the fraternity.

For the honour and glory of the holy Catholic Church, for the consolation of the much troubled faithful, and for the peace of their conscience, the undersigned, members until now of the Fraternity of Saint Pius X, declare with profound regret over the illicit consecration of bishops on 30 June [1988] that they have remained within the Catholic Church as pars sanior of this same Fraternity, and that they have but one desire: to be able to live as a religious society in this Church and place themselves at her service under the authority, of course, of the Roman Pontiff, her supreme head.

— From the Declaration of Intention by the Founders (2 July 1988)[11]

The FSSP was established on July 18, 1988, at the Abbey of Hauterive, Switzerland, by twelve priests and twenty seminarians, led by Josef Bisig, all of whom had formerly belonged to Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre's Society of Saint Pius X; they were unwilling to follow that movement into what the Congregation for Bishops and Pope John Paul II declared to be a schismatic act and grounds for excommunication latae sententiae due to the consecration of four bishops without a papal mandate.[2][12][13] Josef Bisig became the fraternity's first superior general.

Palm Sunday procession at an FSSP apostolate in Perpignan, France

As of November 2021, the fraternity included 526 members: 341 priests, 17 deacons, and 168 non-deacon seminarians in 147 dioceses spread among Australia, Austria, Benin, Canada, Colombia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Nigeria, Poland, Switzerland, the United States, and Vietnam. The fraternity's membership represents 35 nationalities, and the average age of its members is 38. As of 2021, the lay Confraternity of Saint Peter had 8,399 members enrolled, who spiritually support the fraternity's charism.[14]

• George Gabet
• Antony Sumich

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter.

• Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter – International website with pages in English, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Polish, and Latin
  • Organizational chart of FSSP leadership
  • Documents relating to the foundation of the FSSP
• Confraternity of Saint Peter (Lay associate members of the FSSP)
• Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary
• The Seminary of Wigratzbad
• Saint Gregory's Academy