Seattle Archbishop Paul D. Etienne reportedly informed a parish served by the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter (FSSP) that it will not be permitted to prepare its young people to receive the sacrament of Confirmation or to administer it according to the traditional rite. According to information published by LifeSiteNews, candidates will have to register at another parish in the archdiocese where the reformed liturgy is celebrated and complete their sacramental preparation program there.
The information comes from a message by a father of a family in the Archdiocese of Seattle, shared on X by Father Martin Navarro, Ob.S.A. LifeSiteNews subsequently contacted both the parish and the FSSP to try to confirm what happened. The pastor, Father John Shannon, referred the questions to the Fraternity’s superiors, while the North American Province of the FSSP stated that it would not comment.
Two years of catechesis in another parish
According to the message, the archbishop reportedly informed the FSSP community that its students will not be able to receive Confirmation there. The young people would have to register at a parish where the Novus Ordo is celebrated and complete a two-year catechetical program before receiving the sacrament.
The father of the family who described the situation also raised doubts about the formation the young people would receive and asked whether it might be possible for the parents themselves to handle their children’s catechetical preparation.
The affected community would be North American Martyrs, located in Edmonds, in the state of Washington, in the northwestern United States. It is a parish belonging to the Archdiocese of Seattle and served by FSSP priests. The parish itself notes that it was founded in 2008 and that its liturgical life follows the traditional books of the Roman rite.
Etienne, Archbishop of Seattle since 2019, also maintains an institutional relationship of several years with this apostolate. In November of that same year, he personally blessed the new church of North American Martyrs after the community acquired its permanent location in Edmonds.
Restrictions following Traditionis custodes
The question of confirmations according to the traditional rite was particularly affected by the restrictions introduced during Pope Francis’s pontificate after the publication of Traditionis custodes in July 2021.
The Responsa ad dubia issued by the then Congregation for Divine Worship in December of that year established that diocesan bishops could authorize, in certain canonically erected personal parishes, the use of the 1952 Rituale Romanum. However, they expressly excluded the use of the pre-reform Pontificale Romanum, the book that contains, among other rites, that of Confirmation.
Read also: The Pope responds to the ‘dubia’ on the intentions of Traditionis Custodes
Despite these provisions, there have subsequently been cases in which bishops have conferred Confirmation according to the traditional rite. InfoVaticana reported in 2022, for example, that Laurent Ulrich conferred this sacrament on 55 young people at the church of Saint-Étienne in Lille, assisted by priests of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest.
Read also: The new Archbishop of Paris confirms a group of young people with the Traditional rite
The FSSP does not comment on the decision
Liturgist Peter Kwasniewski argued that institutes such as the FSSP possess a canonical right to these sacraments derived from their recognition and their constitutions, and questioned whether the Responsa have sufficient authority to modify that legal framework.
For the time being, however, there is no public statement from the FSSP confirming the exact terms of the measure attributed to Etienne.
The parish’s own website continues to present North American Martyrs as a parish of the Archdiocese of Seattle served by the FSSP and dedicated to the celebration of Mass and the sacraments according to the usus antiquior.