Fr. Z's Blog

This is what the FSSP released after the meeting. My emphasis.

Published 1 March 2024

Official communiqué of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter – Fribourg, March 1st, 2024.

Following a request from the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, Pope Francis invited Fr. Andrzej Komorowski, Superior General of the FSSP, to meet with him. He received him in private audience at the Vatican on Thursday, February 29, 2024, accompanied by Fr. Benoît Paul-Joseph, Superior of the District of France, and Fr. Vincent Ribeton, Rector of St. Peter’s Seminary in Wigratzbad.

The meeting was an opportunity for them to express their deep gratitude to the Holy Father for the decree of February 11, 2022, by which the Pope confirmed the liturgical specificity of the Fraternity of St. Peter, but also to share with him the difficulties encountered in its application. The Pope was very understanding and invited the Fraternity of St. Peter to continue to build up ecclesial communion ever more fully through its own proper charism. Fr. Komorowski informed the Holy Father that the decree of February 11, 2022 had been given on the very day of the Fraternity of St. Peter’s consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, on the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes. The Holy Father hailed this coincidence as a providential sign.

First, “the difficulties encountered in its application”.  The FSSP use the liturgical books in force as the Council began.  They have to work with diocesan bishops in order to function within dioceses.  Some bishop are better in this regard than others. Sometimes they can obtain their own churches.  Sometimes they have to be hosted by some parish that has the Novus Ordo, share space.  The harsh Traditionis custodes perhaps has made functioning at a parish church problematic even though the harsh document wasn’t aimed at them.

Those could be some difficulties.

Second, Francis “invited the Fraternity of St. Peter to continue to build up ecclesial communion ever more fully through its own proper charism”.

What does that mean?

That is precisely what quite a few people have written to ask me.   They include their fears, stirred up by voices in the interwebs, videos, that the FSSP is going to be forced to say the Novus Ordo or at concelebrate at diocesan Chrism Masses as a sign of “building up ecclesial communion”.  “Communion”… get it?  Communion?  As in “Mass” and therefore the Novus Ordo?

That pushes way beyond the plain sense of the text of the statement.

I will be the first one to reaffirm the Fat Man’s Laws of the House of God:

VIII. They can always hurt you more.

It would not surprise me if such measures have been considered.   As a matter of fact, the issue of concelebrating at Chrism Masses has been brought up at every meeting of the FSSP leadership and Rome for 30 years.  It comes up.  And … that’s it.

For now, I suspect “Rome” will use the slow strangulation of the baby in diocesan parishes, rather than a hammer blow in the Fraternity or Institute.   They will aim at diocesan priests.  They are the weakest and easiest targets.  Rome sent bishops the garrots.

For many years I’ve written that the true renewal will begin when diocesan priests learn to celebrate the TLM.  Even if they don’t use it all the time, it will deeply affect their ars celebrandi, in turn producing a knock on effect in their congregations.  That’s just one benefit.   Tradition leaning diocesan priests are the real target, along with the people they serve.

This is something for other posts.

What was Francis’ invitation in that audience about?   He referred to the FSSP’s “proper charism”.   Let’s start there.   What is their “proper charism”?

The early documents of the FSSP can be helpful.

The Declaration of intention by the founders (2 July 1988) states that they viewed themselves – which speaks to their charism – as the as “pars sanior of this same Fraternity [from which they were now independent, that is, of the SSPX]”, that – this speaks to their charism – “they have but one desire: to be able to live as a religious society in this Church and place themselves at her service under the authority, of course, of the Roman Pontiff, her supreme head” and then also, they describe their “own particular vocation” – which speaks to their charism – “to dedicate themselves to the People of God and [NB] above all to the formation of future priests in an authentic Catholic spirit, and in so doing, as befits the venerable tradition of the Catholic Church, to celebrate Divine Worship according to the guidelines of immemorial tradition.”

So, three main things in there: they have maintained the spirit of the SSPX, to which they think they are connected but in a “pars sanior” way. This is a term that is found often in the context of electoral contests, about majorities, etc. There can be a pars maior and a pars sanior which could be a minority. The sanus does not mean “sane” or even necessarily “healthy”. In some contexts it might be those who have great authority by way of seniority or wisdom or role. In this context the founders of the FSSP seems to see themselves as a minority, but who have won the “contest” because they chosen the path of obedience to John Paul II. If it has to do with “health”, then perhaps it aims at a desire to be a “healing” element in relation to the Society.

They also have the work of formation of priests which will, of course, always be difficult.

In the FSSP’s Act of Foundation they say that the Constitutions will be “inspired by the approved statutes of the Priestly Society of Saint Pius X”.    Furthermore, they request swift approval of the Fraternity “in order that they may act effectively for the unity and the good of the Church”.    That last part, about “unity of the Church” points to their charism.

In the Declaration of the Ecclesia Dei Commission, in which the Commission says that the FSSP has been approved, adds that they are to “serve the Good of the Church and Her unity”.  Again, there is the point of unity.

In the Excerpt of the Constitutions of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter, there is a part called “Aim of the Fraternity”.  This says,

“The object of the Fraternity of Saint Peter is the sanctification of priests through the exercise of the priesthood, and in particular, to turn the life of the priest toward that which is essentially his raison d’être, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, with all that it signifies, all that flows from it, all that goes with it.”

Because of that…

“The members of the Fraternity will in this way take it to heart to do everything to prepare, spiritually and materially, the Sacrifice of the Mass”

Certainly Traditionis custodes makes all of that very difficult.

Lastly, there is the Decree of Pope Francis Concerning the FSSP (11 Feb 2022).

Without prejudice to [the grants] above, the Holy Father suggests that, as far as possible, the provisions of the motu proprio Traditionis Custodes be taken into account as well.

In statement after after the audience that the FSSP superiors at the time of that Decree, the FSSP said (my emphases):

During the very cordial meeting, they recalled the origins of the Fraternity in 1988, the Pope expressed that he was very impressed by the approach taken by its founders, their desire to remain faithful to the Roman Pontiff and their trust in the Church. He said that this gesture should be “preserved, protected and encouraged”.

I don’t want to go any farther into the weeds.  That’s enough.

It seems to me to be that the plain reading of the the FSSP Statement about the meeting with Francis is the correct meaning.

When Francis “invited the Fraternity of St. Peter to continue to build up ecclesial communion ever more fully through its own proper charism” surely that meant – at the very least – to be the pars sanior, to be a alternative for sake of unity with the Roman Pontiff for the priests of the SSPX (and anyone else who desires Tradition), to foster the use of the traditional liturgical books for the celebration of all the sacraments, and to form priests for this work into the future.

That it is not some sort of code about forcing the priests of the FSSP to concelebrate the Chrism Mass with the Novus Ordo or to say the Novus Ordo themselves.

For now, at least, the cross hairs are not on the so-called Ecclesia Dei groups, but rather on the most vulnerable figure in the Church, diocesan priests with traditional inclinations. May God help them.