Question about Church affiliations

[bdjohnbg]

I may not be asking in the correct forum, so please forgive me if that is the case.

I was searching online for Churches that say Latin Mass in my area, and noticed that each Church listed on the site also had an affiliation listed with it. Most of them said “Diocesan,” but there were many others. The list includes:

• Diocesan
• Benedictine
• Institute of Christ the King Soveriegn Priest
• Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter
• Mercenrian
• Oratory of St. Phillip Neri
• Canon Regular of New Jerusalem
• Institute of St. Joseph
• Franciscan
• Carmelite

I was wondering what the differences, if any, are between these, and really, what they mean in general.

Also, the website noted that it does not include listings for masses offered by SSPX, SSPV, CMRI, or independent priests. I was wondering what those stand for, or are.

Thanks, everyone!

 

[svid2]

Diocesan means the parish is part of the diocese of (insert name of nearest good-sized city). The priest is supervised by the bishop of that city.

Franciscan, Dominican, and the Oratory of St. Phillip Neri are religious orders founded by St. Francis of Assisi, St. Dominic Guzman, and, of course, St. Phillip Neri. The priests are friars of those orders, although they are still addressed ‘Father’. They are supervised by the local abbots of those orders. They are all Roman Catholic, and are what you’re looking for. The others are unfamiliar to me.

 

[svid2]

The Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter is dedicated to the Traditional Latin Mass.

The Carmelites (Order of Our Lady of Mount Carmel) are also a Catholic order.

By the way, I’m a cradle Catholic and I’ve never heard of an ‘independent priest’.

 

[Diakonia]

I may not be asking in the correct forum, so please forgive me if that is the case.

I was searching online for Churches that say Latin Mass in my area, and noticed that each Church listed on the site also had an affiliation listed with it. Most of them said “Diocesan,” but there were many others. The list includes:

• Diocesan
• Benedictine
• Institute of Christ the King Soveriegn Priest
• Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter
• Mercenrian
• Oratory of St. Phillip Neri
• Canon Regular of New Jerusalem
• Institute of St. Joseph
• Franciscan
• Carmelite

I was wondering what the differences, if any, are between these, and really, what they mean in general.

Also, the website noted that it does not include listings for masses offered by SSPX, SSPV, CMRI, or independent priests. I was wondering what those stand for, or are.

Thanks, everyone!

The Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest is an Italian-based order that originated in Africa, I think.

The Mercedarian Friars or Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary are an order that follows the Augustinian Rule.

The Canons Regular of the New Jerusalem were originally founded under the guidance of Archbishop Raymond Burke. They also follow the Augustinian Rule.

The Institute of St Joseph was also originally founded under Archbishop Burke.

All of them and the ones people mentioned above are legitimate Catholic orders.

The SSPX - or Society of St Pius X is an order that is currently without canonical recognition by the Catholic Church - its a very long story.

The SSPV - or Society of St Pius V broke from the SSPX and generally questions whether the papacy is truly vacant (they are sedevacantists - those who believe the Seat (of Peter) is vacant)

The CMRI - or Congregation of Mary Immaculate Queen (it has a few other names as well) are also sedevacantists (actually probably more ‘hard-core’ in their holdings of that belief than the SSPV, which sometimes expresses its belief as ‘doubts’ rather than absolutes - CMRI has always seen it as an absolute fact)

Independent priests are just that - a mix of former priests who have separated from the Church or been separated from it, some self-proclaimed or self-ordained “priests”, some who are or were members of ‘independent Catholic’ Churches - Churches that use the name ‘Catholic’ but are not in union with Rome and whose clergy may or may not have valid priesttly orders - but definitely lack licity or legitimacy in the exercise of those orders.

In other words, the site you found apparently limits itself to listing priests who are legitimately ordained, in communion with the Catholic Church, and saying the Traditional Latin Mass (sorry, I don’t know the current precise and correct term - maybe EF?) with the blessing of the bishop in whose diocese they do so.

 

[bdjohnbg]

Thank you all for your responses! That cleared up my questions, and now I know I can choose any of the listings that website offers to attend. Thank you!!

 

[TheDoctor]

Thank you all for your responses! That cleared up my questions, and now I know I can choose any of the listings that website offers to attend. Thank you!!

I see my friends above have answered your questions but I wanted to mention that I see that you are a Southern Baptist so I assume you are going to Mass out of curiousity or as a step in considering coming home. Either way, if you have any other questions, you are most welcome to come back and discuss them. God Bless.

 

[bdjohnbg]

I was raised Southern Baptist, but have actually decided I want to become Catholic. About a year ago, I started learning about it through discussions with a friend of mine, and agreed to attend his church just to see what it was like. I had attended Mass a couple of time prior to that with other friends, and didn’t feel like there was a whole lot of difference between them and the Baptist church I had attended, short of the way communion was done. The differences I could see, I didn’t care to learn about at that time. I wasn’t very open minded, and all I could see were a group of people being just as hypocritical there as in any other church I had ever attended. I felt nothing.

When I attended Mass with my friend at his church, though, I actually felt something. It was a Latin Mass, and everything seemed so… reverent. I had never attended a church service before where it seemed like the people were actually devoted to and adoring God. I was very moved. I have attended many times since then, and have begun reading a lot about Catholicism. (Though I did learn quickly that not every site or opinion that claims to be Catholic is actually representing Catholic views. I was confused at first by contradictions I was finding, but after further research was able to discern what sorts of things I should stay away from.)

At any rate, the time has come that I want to be a part of this. I want to do the things I should have been doing all along. I want to please God. That is why I was searching for churches. I want to find one to take RCIA classes (I think that’s what I’ve seen them called.) so that I can convert.

Again, I really appreciate the people of these forums taking the time to answer my questions. I’m sure there will be more in the future!