Vatican to visit with the FSSP; remember, FSSP Catholic; SSPX irregular

 Vatican announces apostolic visit to Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter

Solemn Mass is celebrated at St. Clement Parish, Ottawa, Canada, which is entrusted to the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP). | Credit: Public Domain

By Walter Sánchez Silva

CNA / EWTN Vatican, 2024-10-01

The Vatican has announced it will carry out an apostolic visitation to the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP), an institution whose priests celebrate the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) and which is in full communion with the Catholic Church.

The FSSP should not be confused with the Priestly Fraternity of St. Pius X (SSPX), a traditionalist group that is not in full communion with the Catholic Church and which has an irregular canonical status.

The Sept. 30 statement from the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life says that “it has called for an apostolic visitation to the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter … in order to deepen the understanding of this society of apostolic life of pontifical right and to offer the most appropriate support to its journey of following Christ.”

The apostolic visit, says the text signed by the prefect of the dicastery, Cardinal Joăo Braz de Aviz, and Sister Simona Brambilla, the dicastery’s secretary, is taking place “in the context of the process of accompanying the Institutes of Consecrated Life and the Societies of Apostolic Life that were previously established by the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei and which Pope Francis’ motu proprio Traditionis Custodes has placed under the jurisdiction of this dicastery.”

In a statement published by the FSSP on Sept. 26, the institution specified that “as the prefect of this dicastery himself made clear to the superior general and his assistants during a meeting in Rome, this visit does not originate in any problems of the fraternity but is intended to enable the dicastery to know who we are, how we are doing, and how we live so as to provide us with any help we may need.”

“The last ordinary apostolic visit of the fraternity was undertaken in 2014 by the Ecclesia Dei commission,” the statement added.

What is the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter?

The Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter states on its website that it is a society of apostolic life of pontifical right whose priests “work together for a common mission in the Catholic Church, under the authority of the Holy See.”

In its apostolate and mission, the FSSP uses “the liturgical books in force in 1962,” meaning it celebrates the Traditional Latin Mass, “as specified in its decree of erection of 1988, confirmed by decree of Pope Francis dated Feb. 11, 2022.”

In February 2022 the Holy Father authorized the FSSP to continue celebrating the TLM, but he also encouraged them to reflect on what is established in Traditionis Custodes. The authorization was then confirmed by the Holy Father himself in March of this year.

The general house of the FSSP is in Fribourg, Switzerland, and has about 368 priests and 201 seminarians. The society has eight members in Mexico, 10 in Chile, 13 in Spain, and a group of 25 in Canada.

What is the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei?

The Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei was created by Pope John Paul II in 1988 to dialogue with the Lefebvrists and to facilitate full communion with the Catholic Church for those “linked in various ways to the society founded by Archbishop [Marcel] Lefebvre” (the SSPX).

The Vatican further noted that “the pontifical commission exercises the authority of the Holy See over the various religious institutes and communities erected by it, which have as their own rite the ‘extraordinary form’ of the Roman rite [TLM] and preserve the preceding traditions of religious life.”

Pope Francis’ motu proprio Traditionis Custodes

The Vatican published Pope Francis’ motu proprio Traditionis Custodes on July 16, 2021. The text severely limits the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass (extraordinary form), or Tridentine Mass, i.e. celebrated with the 1962 missal.

Pope Francis thus modified the provisions given by Pope Benedict XVI in his motu proprio Summorum Pontificum, which in 2007 had liberalized the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

FSSP can continue to use the Mass/Books in use in 1962

 

FSSP Says Pope Francis Has Confirmed Its Use of 1962 Liturgical Books

An FSSP communique published Feb. 21 said that the Pope met with two members of the fraternity for nearly an hour one week before he promulgated a decree allowing their use of traditional liturgical texts.

Ordinands prostrate themselves during the Litany of the Saints at the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter's parish, Santissima Trinità dei Pellegrini, in Rome, June 22, 2013. (photo: CNA / CNA)

Courtney Mares/CNAVaticanFebruary 21, 2022

ROME The Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP) issued a communique Feb. 21 saying that Pope Francis promulgated a decree that will allow the traditional fraternity to continue to use the liturgical books in force in 1962.

An FSSP communique published Feb. 21 said that Pope Francis met with two members of the priestly fraternity for nearly an hour, a week before he published the decree.

The Holy See press office had not responded at the time of publication to a request from CNA to confirm the text of the decree.

“In the course of the audience, the pope made it clear that institutes such as the Fraternity of St. Peter are not affected by the general provisions of the motu proprio Traditionis Custodes, since the use of the ancient liturgical books was at the origin of their existence and is provided for in their constitutions,” it said.

The FSSP is a canonically approved community of priests dedicated to the “formation and sanctification of priests in the cadre of the traditional liturgy” and the care of souls and pastoral activities in the service of the Church. 

The group has more than 50 personal parishes in North America and is active in 39 dioceses across the United States. It also has 85 apostolates in France and Belgium and 79 apostolates in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.

The decree gives the FSSP full permission to offer the traditional Latin Mass, carry out the sacraments, and fulfill the Divine Office, according to the Missal, the Ritual, the Pontifical and the Roman Breviary that were used in 1962.

This faculty is limited to the FSSP’s own churches and oratories, unless there is consent from the local Ordinary, with the exception of private Masses.

The FSSP said that Pope Francis signed the decree, issued in Spanish and Latin, on Feb. 11, the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes and the date that the group was solemnly consecrated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

According to the group, the Pope received Father Benoît Paul-Joseph, the superior of the FSSP district of France, and Father Vincent Ribeton, the rector of St. Peter’s Seminary in Wigratzbad, Germany, in private audience on Feb. 4.

“During the very cordial meeting, they recalled the origins of the fraternity in 1988, the Pope expressed that he was very impressed by the approach taken by its founders, their desire to remain faithful to the Roman Pontiff and their trust in the Church. He said that this gesture should be ‘preserved, protected and encouraged,’” the FSSP said.

The meeting took place more than six months after Pope Francis issued Traditionis Custodes (Guardians of the Tradition), a motu proprio that restricted the use of the traditional Latin Mass and prohibited it from being celebrated in parish churches without the permission of the local bishop.

The priestly fraternity said in July 2021 that it was surprised and deeply saddened by the reasons given for limiting the use of the Missal of Pope St. John XXIII.

The group noted that the traditional Latin Mass had prompted “many people” to discover the Catholic faith or return to the Catholic faith. 

“How can we fail to notice, moreover, that the communities of the faithful attached to it are often young and flourishing, and that many Christian households, priests or religious vocations have come from it,” it said.

FSSP was founded by 12 priests who were formerly members of the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX), a group that holds a canonically irregular status in the Church.

The FSSP’s constitutions reference the teachings of the Second Vatican Council, and the fraternity says that it “has always sought to be in accord with what Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI called in 2005: ‘the hermeneutic of reform in the continuity of the Church.’”

“Grateful to the Holy Father, the members of the Fraternity of St. Peter are in thanksgiving for this confirmation of their mission,” the FSSP said on Feb. 21.

“They invite all the faithful who feel close to them as a spiritual family to attend or join them in prayer at the Mass tomorrow, on the feast of the Chair of St. Peter, and to pray for the Supreme Pontiff.”