Statistics for the Priestly Fraternity of St Peter

The Priestly Society of St Peter (FSSP), which celebrated its 25th anniversary earlier this year, has 244 priests, 10 transitional deacons and 153 other seminarians, giving a total membership of 407.  The average age of these members is 37.

The United States is the largest source of vocations, representing 32% of the membership.  This is followed by France with 28% and Germany with 12%.  England and Wales has a smaller, but still significant, representation.  I think that I am correct in saying that this amounts to five priests and eight seminarians.

The Fraternity serves 215 Mass centres worldwide, distributed in 122 dioceses.  Included in the Mass centres are 29 personal parishes, of which 21 are in the USA.


In recent years, the number of ordinations has averaged 12, a figure which is expected to rise due to the expansion of their seminaries.  With this regular influx of young men, the FSSP can look forward to steady growth for the foreseeable future.

Christmas Eve Mass in York

There will be a Latin Mass at 5pm on Christmas Eve at St Wilfrid's Church in York.  It will be a Low Mass.  Please support this Mass if at all possible as it will be the only Latin Christmas Mass in the diocese.

First Sunday Mass at St Wilfrid's, York

Yesterday,  the First Sunday of Advent, Mass was celebrated in the usus antiquior at the Church of St Wilfrid in York.  The Mass, which was at 5pm and followed at 6pm by Rosary and Benediction, attracted a congregation of about 50.

The celebrant was Fr Daniel Seward, provest of the Oxford Oratory, who was visiting their new foundation in York.  Fr Richard Duffield, also from the Oxford Oratory and who was appointed parish priest at St Wilfrid's a month earlier, was also in attendance.  It is expected that he will be joined by a second member of the community before long, and that a new Oratorian community will be established in York.

From now on, this Sunday evening Latin Mass, followed by devotions, will be a regular feature at St Wilfrid's Church.  Fr Duffield was particularly keen to reintroduce a Sunday evening service at St Wilfrid's Church, which is just across the road from York Minster, and visited by thousands of tourists every year.

The Mass replaces the Sunday Latin Mass that was previously celebrated at the Church of the English Martyrs in York.