Fraternitas Sacerdotalis Sancti Petri
 
  
  
 Origin of the Fraternity

The Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter is a Clerical Society of Apostolic

Life of Pontifical right, that is, a community of Roman Catholic

priests who do not take religious vows, but who work together for

a common mission in the world.  The mission of the Fraternity is

two-fold:  first, the formation and sanctification of priests in the

cadre of the traditional liturgy of the Roman rite, and secondly,

the pastoral deployment of the priests in the service of the

Church.

The Fraternity was founded on July 18, 1988 at the Abbey of

Hauterive (Switzerland) by a dozen priests and a score of

seminarians.  Shortly after the Fraternity’s foundation and

following upon a request by Cardinal Ratzinger, Bishop Joseph

Stimpfle of Augsburg, Germany granted the Fraternity a home in

Wigratzbad, a Marian shrine in Bavaria that now lodges the

Fraternity’s European seminary and international headquarters. In

the same month of October there arrived a handful of priests and

some thirty seminarians ready to start "from scratch".  There are

currently over 170 priests and 120 seminarians in the Fraternity.

 

Priestly Formation in the Fraternity
he Fraternity of St. Peter currently operates two international

houses of formation: the original formation house in Wigratzbad,

Germany (diocese of Augsburg), and the other in Denton,

Nebraska, U.S.A. (diocese of Lincoln).  The Fraternity has

organized its seminary training in accordance with the Church’s

norms on priestly formation, including a year of more intense

spiritual preparation before entering the cycles of philosophy and

theology.  By fostering a balanced life of prayer, study,

community life, and personal discipline, care is taken to foster

human maturity and to acquire the spirit of the Gospel, in close

union with Christ.  The spiritual life in the houses is centered on

the sacrifice of the Mass.  Special attention is paid to the faithful

observance of the "liturgical and spiritual traditions" according to

the dispositions of the Motu proprio Ecclesia Dei adflicta of July 2,

1988, which is at the origin of the Fraternity’s foundation

(Constitutions, Art. 8).

 

Pastoral Mission of Fraternity Priests
nce the formation progamme has been completed, the Fraternity’s

priests serve the faithful – under the direction of their bishop and

within the terms of the Fraternity’s own constitutions – in its

various apostolates in France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria,

Italy, the USA, Australia, Canada, Great Britain , Nigeria. and

Benin.  In the world, the priests of the Fraternity live in small

communities and work to spread the Gospel by means of

preaching, catechesis, youth education (Scout troops, schools),

and organizing pilgrimages and retreats, etc.  With the full

approval of the Holy See and the permission of local bishops, the

priests provide a full sacramental life for the faithful,

administered according to the liturgical books of 1962.

 

Information provided by:
http://www.fssp.org/en/presentation.htm