F.S.S.P North America 10th Anniversary

ELMHURST, PA The North American District of The Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter will celebrate the tenth anniversary of its establishment in the United States and Canada with an official day of thanksgiving on Trinity Sunday, June 10.

According to Father Paul J. Carr, F.S.S.P., the Fraternity's North American District Superior, the occasion will be marked by special events, both liturgical and social in the twenty-one North American dioceses where the District maintains apostolates. Father Carr said the day will be, "A joyful day of celebration, but also a day of sincere thanksgiving that God has blessed the work of the North American District over these past ten years and a day of prayer that He will continue to guide and strengthen us spiritually for many more years to come".

The Fraternity of Saint Peter, an international society of priests, was founded in 1988 in response to Pope John Paul II's letter, Ecclesia Dei. Its members celebrate the Sacrifice of the Mass and administer the sacraments in the traditional Latin Rite.

The North American District was established in 1991 in the Diocese of Dallas, Texas at the invitation of Bishop Charles V. Grahmann. With the invitation of Bishop James C. Timlin of the Diocese of Scranton, Pennsylvania the North American District, under the direction of Father Arnaud Devillers, F.S.S.P., entered into a period of rapid growth with the establishment of District Headquarters, Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary and Saint Gregory's Academy. Over the past decade the District has grown from two priests to nearly three dozen.

In 1999, with the approval of Bishop Fabian W. Bruskewitz, the Fraternity began construction of Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary in the Diocese of Lincoln, Nebraska. The seminary, under the direction of Father James Jackson, F.S.S.P., Rector, was dedicated last fall and houses over fifty seminarians.

The Fraternity's North American District will have eight deacons ordained to the priesthood this year, most of them by Bishop Bruskewitz in the Cathedral of the Risen Christ, Lincoln on June 30. Another deacon, a native of France, will return to France for ordination before assuming his duties in the North American District. In addition, seven seminarians will be ordained to the diaconate by Bishop Bruskewitz on June 30.