FSSP or ICKSP for seminary

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Hello, I am a Catholic male in university right now that wishes to enroll in seminary in around two years or so. Since finding the EF I fell in love with it instantly and would really love to work with the liturgy. Unfortunately due to my diocese not offering the EF I am not able to attend on a regular basis while going to a church that is within full communion. For around two years or so I’ve been pondering seminary and discerning. Over the past few months I have decided I will attend after I finish my degree in college.
My question is which seminary should I enter and for what reasons. Over this past year I have been in contact with a lot of people that go by the distinction of (little o) orthodox Novus Ordo as well as some people that follow the EF (some in full communion and others in quasi communion). While both groups have been very supportive of this issue no one has been able to give me a clear direction on what both of these seminaries would have to teach and deal with. From the research I’ve done so far it seems the ICKSP seems to want to put out men of a more Renaissance stature while the FSSP wants to make more of a hardened anti modernity man. While I have no problem with either or if that is the case I would just like to take what you all have to say in on it considering that many of you may have a lot more experience with the mass and these groups than I do.

TL; DR: Could you please tell me what type of man each organization (ICKSP and FSSP) prefer to put out and how their seminaries reflect this model of teaching.

Thank you all and God bless!
 
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Their priest are way solid in their theology and great, if strict, confessors. Sin is still sin, in other words, with them.
I guess the OP can’t go wrong either way.
 
I’m not sure if this will help, but I’ll offer it anyway. I heard a saying about the priests of the FSSP and ICKSP: an FSSP priest is a man you’d sit down in a pub and have beer with. An ICKSP priest is a man you’d sit down in a fancy restaurant and have a class of wine with.
 
I don’t think you get to choose your seminary. The bishop who sponsors you normally chooses it.
 
The FSSP has its own seminaries (Our Lady of Guadalupe in the US as an example), and while I’m not sure about the ICKSP, I imagine they do as well. They aren’t diocesan priests, so they’re not sponsored by a bishop.
 
TomH1 said:
I don’t think you get to choose your seminary. The bishop who sponsors you normally chooses it.
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The FSSP and ICKSP are different though. You join their specific society and they have their own seminaries. The FSSP has several seminaries, including one in the US. On the other hand, the ICKSP has one international seminary in Europe. So I believe you have to learn either French or Italian to enroll there.
 
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I’m pretty sure all of their priests are required to be fluent in French.
 
So, in the case of the FSSP it would be the ordinary (major superior is that’s what societies of apostolic life have) who would choose to which seminary you are sent. You do not simply enrol at a seminary in the same way as a university. You are sent to a seminary that is chosen for you by the diocesan bishop if you are going to be a secular priest and by your institute of consecrated life or society of apostolic life if you are going to be a regular priest.
 
TomH1 said:
So, in the case of the FSSP it would be the ordinary (major superior is that’s what societies of apostolic life have) who would choose to which seminary you are sent.
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Right. So for the FSSP as a society of apostolic life, the superior chooses one’s seminary. For an American, I imagine that it would almost certainly be the American seminary in Denton, Nebraska.
 
First of all, the only reason to enter seminary is the desire to give yourself, without reservation, to the service of God. Many times, this takes years of discernment - even spiritually agonizing discernment.

Once that process has been submitted to willingly and enthusiastically, and only then, should a search for a seminary begin. I would dismiss out of hand any and all which were not in full communion with Rome.

Those who remain separated are driven by the spirit of division, pride, ego or other negative factors. Spiritually, engaging with them is skating on thin ice.
 
Fauken said:
I heard a saying about the priests of the FSSP and ICKSP: an FSSP priest is a man you’d sit down in a pub and have beer with. An ICKSP priest is a man you’d sit down in a fancy restaurant and have a class of wine with.
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Based on those criteria, I think I’d go with the FSSP 🍻 Just the other night, I treated myself to one of those “build your own 6-pack” things at the grocery store. Red Stripe and Guinness Stout were in attendance 😋

You can’t go wrong either way.
 
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Jawasman said:
while the FSSP wants to make more of a hardened anti modernity man.
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I don’t think this is 100% true. I sometimes attend an FSSP parish and the priests are awesome.

However, PERSONALLY, if I was looking to become a priest, I would look very hard at the Canons Regular of St. John Cantius.


Though, the FSSP and ICKSP are great too.

With the FSSP (assuming you are an English speaker) then you would most likely attend the seminary in the United States (outside Lincoln, Nebraska). If you are a French or German speaker, then you would attend in Germany. There are also a few houses of formation too in other parts of the world.

For the ICKSP (really their abbreviation is: ICRSS), their seminary is in Italy, but they do have some houses for formation that focus on the “pre-seminary” year. For ICRSS, you will need to know two languages besides your own (including Latin).

God bless
 
TomH1 said:
So, in the case of the FSSP it would be the ordinary (major superior is that’s what societies of apostolic life have) who would choose to which seminary you are sent. You do not simply enrol at a seminary in the same way as a university. You are sent to a seminary that is chosen for you by the diocesan bishop if you are going to be a secular priest and by your institute of consecrated life or society of apostolic life if you are going to be a regular priest.
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Yes, but we pretty much know what they will be.

The FSSP has two international seminaries.
  • one in the United States for English speakers
  • one in Germany for German and French speakers
The FSSP also has a few houses of formation, one in Australia for first year seminarians from Australia & Oceania, and one in Mexico for Spanish speakers. Once they finish with their time at a house of formation (typically one year), they then attend one of the two seminaries listed above depending on the language(s) they know.
 
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po18guy said:
First of all, the only reason to enter seminary is the desire to give yourself, without reservation , to the service of God. Many times, this takes years of discernment - even spiritually agonizing discernment.

Once that process has been submitted to willingly and enthusiastically, and only then, should a search for a seminary begin.
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I think this is a little off. Discernment for the priesthood continues throughout the seminary years. One can, and should, start considering the options, ie. diocesan priest, religious order, etc, early on and talk to the vocational directors involved. They will help with the discernment and guide one through it. It’s imposible to discern on one’s own. Spiritual direction and other guidance is critical. So by all means the OP should be “looking for a seminary” now, although that’s is admittedly the wrong terminology. He should be looking into the groups he is considering. He should contact them now.
 
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OP, contact the FSSP and ICKSP, and start talking to them. They are better help than than CAF.
 
You mentioned you are in college—do you have student loans? If so, they would need to be paid off before either society allows you to attend seminary. Additionally, in the cases of both societies, you will need to pay the seminary tuition and living expenses (including travel) out of pocket, which I believe is about $7,000 a year for FSSP and $10,800 a year for ICKSP. Typically, neither of these financial burdens are the case when a man is sponsored by his diocese and enrolls in seminary to become a diocesan priest. Just something to keep in mind!
 
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Dropping out is a derogatory phrase with regards to quitting school. It should not be used for someone who went to the seminary and discerned a different vocation.
 
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