Difference between FSSP Priests and Diocesan Priests?

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Brockman138

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Correct me if I am wrong but the only difference is FSSP Priests
  • Don`t need a college degree
  • Don`t report to a Bishop
  • Only say the Latin Mass
Right?
 
Brockman138 said:
Correct me if I am wrong but the only difference is FSSP Priests
  • Don`t need a college degree
  • Don`t report to a Bishop
  • Only say the Latin Mass
Right?
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1- I would be surprised if they did not require a college degree.
2- They do report to a bishop; however I am not sure that their superior general is a bishop.
3- Their charisma is the EF of the Mass but they are not precluded from celebrating the OF when necessary. Both the EF and the OF can be celebrated in Latin.
 
Cristiano said:
1- I would be surprised if they did not require a college degree.
2- They do report to a bishop; however I am not sure that their superior general is a bishop.
3- Their charisma is the EF of the Mass but they are not precluded from celebrating the OF when necessary. Both the EF and the OF can be celebrated in Latin.
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Building on number 2 above, all priests have an Ordinary who is their superior, no matter who they are.

For religious/societies, their ordinary is the Superior General of the FSSP. When it comes to celebrating Mass in any form in public they require faculties from the Diocesan Bishop. The Bishop has authority over any public worship in his diocese.
 
FSSP (Fraternitas Sacerdotalis Sancti Petri) or Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter is a clerical society with pontifical rights.

They function just like any other religious order (Jesuits, MSC, SVD, etc). Members are limited to those who have received Holy Orders although they also confraternity for lay members.

They also have similar vow of obedience to local ordinary and superior as like other religious order. The only difference is members take oath to the fraternity.

In terms of education, FSSP runs 2 seminarians in Europe and USA so I doubt the claim that members do not have to have a degree.

As Latin rite clergies, they have the same right and obligation as other clergies. They can either pray the liturgy in Latin or the vernacular language wherever they are. Of course according to their spirituality, they say the liturgy in accordance to the 1962 liturgical books, which most of us know as Tridentine mass.

Hope this helps.
 
One of our priests has his Master’s degree in History, and the other has an advanced degree in biochemistry. Plus all FSSP priests are graduates of a 7-year Seminary program in addition to their non-clerical studies. From the experience I’ve seen, the FSSP priests I have ran across have all been very educated.

And our priests work with and report to the Bishop, but they are technically under the superior of their order for the US, from what I understand.
 
MACHIU said:
They function just like any other religious order (Jesuits, MSC, SVD, etc).
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FSSP priests do function in similar ways but just for purposes of clarification, they are not consecrated religious. So, while they do take an oath to their fraternity, they do not take solemn vows such as Jesuits, Franciscans, Dominicans, Benedictines, etc.

As an FYI, I’m not saying that you thought they were religious or that you were confused. Rather, I just wanted to make that others don’t misinterpret your statements. 🙂
 
I don’t know about the seminary in Europe, but, the one in Nebraska is not accredited and does not confer a recognized degree according to the transitional deacon I asked this question of a week ago. He goes back to Nebraska in May for ordination.

They do 7 years of formation, including philosophy. They also act as a community and do all the chores to keep the place running.

The whole diocesan/secular/religious/etc thing is complex, I’ll let someone else handle that.

They are secular priests though, not religious, unless I’m mistaken.
 
jwinch2 said:
As an FYI, I’m not saying that you thought they were religious or that you were confused. Rather, I just wanted to make that others don’t misinterpret your statements. 🙂
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Thanks for clarifying Jason 👍
Daralharb said:
They are secular priests though, not religious, unless I’m mistaken.
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You are correct. As clarified by Jason, FSSP is not a religious. It is a Fraternity (as in ‘college frat house’). So it is a membership based organisation. Members took oath, not vows to the charter of FSSP.

God Bless
 
Brockman138 said:
Correct me if I am wrong but the only difference is FSSP Priests
  • Don`t need a college degree
  • Don`t report to a Bishop
  • Only say the Latin Mass
Right?
Click to expand...
Most dioceses will take you without a college degree but then you will do the college degree while living in the seminary.

Priests need to have a two-year formation in Philosophy (which the college degree gets you for diocesan priests but the FSSP do it intense over just two years and hence don’t get a college degree) followed by a full 4 year degree in theology (in many places this is a B.Th. but for US diocesan seminarians it is a M.Div. and you need a Bachelors degree before taking any Masters degree) (some places [Rome, for example] manage to do the B.Th. instense in 3 years but then you have 17-20 hours of classes every semester rather than 12-15).

Someone said that the FSSP seminary is not accredited. It needs to be accredited by the Church for them to be ordaining men but accreditation by the state, although ideal, is not required for ordination.
 
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