The Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter (FSSP) celebrated the priestly ordinations of twelve new priests yesterday morning at the Cathedral of Saint Cecilia in Omaha, Nebraska.
The ceremony was presided over by His Excellency Bishop Thomas Wenski, Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Miami, who conferred the ordinations according to the traditional liturgy proper to the Fraternity. The North American Province of the FSSP announced the news through its social media channels, sharing images of the twelve new priests accompanied by the prelate and the assisting clergy. The institution asked the faithful to keep the newly ordained in their prayers.
These ordinations in North America form part of the same ordination cycle that reflects the Fraternity’s international reach. On May 2, coinciding with the feast of Our Lady, patroness of Bavaria, another twelve new deacons were ordained at the Ottobeuren Abbey Basilica, one of the great Baroque churches of southern Germany. The ceremony was conferred by Bishop Wolfgang Haas, Archbishop Emeritus of Vaduz, and among the ordinands were three of Spanish origin and one Mexican, a sign of an emerging Hispanic presence within the Fraternity.
The most striking figure is the FSSP’s vocational rate, which maintains one of the highest ratios of vocations in the contemporary Catholic clergy. According to the most recent data published by the institution itself, the Fraternity has nearly 580 members, including around 380 priests, about thirty deacons, and more than 160 seminarians in formation, distributed mainly between its seminaries in Wigratzbad (Bavaria) and Denton (United States). The FSSP also maintains a consolidated presence in more than 150 dioceses worldwide. These figures contrast with the general decline in vocations in much of the Western Church and are interpreted by its supporters as evidence of the vitality of the traditional liturgy.
Founded in 1988, the FSSP is dedicated to celebrating the Mass and the sacraments according to the 1962 liturgical books, and its sustained growth strengthens its presence in Europe, North America, and other continents.