The Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (In Latin: Fraternitas Sacerdotalis Sancti Petri--FSSP) is a traditional Catholic priestly order in full union with Rome. It was formed on July 18, 1988 at the Abbey of Hauterive (Switzerland) by twelve priests (led by Fr. Josef Bisig) who had formerly belonged to Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre's Society of St. Pius X and were unwilling to follow that order into excommunication. It maintains seminaries in Wigratzbad, Germany; Denton, Nebraska; Pendle Hill, New South Wales, Australia and a boarding school, St. Gregory's Academy in Elmhurst, Pennsylvania.
The Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter is a clerical society of apostolic life of pontifical right. This means that it accepts priests and seminarians (clerics) who intend to pursue the goal of Christian perfection by following the Constitutions of the order according to a specific charism. The FSSP's specific charism is to offer the Mass and other sacraments according to the Roman Rite , as it existed before the Second Vatican Council. The Fraternity's pontifical right status means that it has been established by the Pope and is subordinate only to him, through the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei , and not to the local bishops. The Fraternity has the privilege of using the Roman Missal, the Roman Breviary , the Roman Pontifical , and the Roman Ritual , according to the editions in use in 1962.
As of 2004, the FSSP included 170 priests and 120 seminarians in 15 countries and 50 dioceses. The FSSP has operated in the United States since 1992 and in Canada since 1995.
Fr. Josef Bisig was the Fraternity's first superior general. The FSSP's current superior general is the Very Rev. Arnaud Devillers.
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