Latest FSSP statistics [Rorate Caeli]

The wonderful bloggers at Rorate Caeli, keeping abreast of the Catholic world, have a post on the latest statistics for the Priestly Fraternity of St Peter.

As of October 24, 2015, the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter has a total of 421 members (257 incardinated), of whom 262 are priests, 14 are deacons and 145 are seminarians (including postulants but not including the deacons). All the deacons are incardinated in the FSSP. Of the 262 priest-members, 243 are incardinated, 11 are incorporated "ad annum", 4 are associated and 4 are postulants. Fifteen priests have been ordained this year -- the highest since 2004, when the FSSP had seventeen sacerdotal ordinations. (FSSP has averaged at 11 ordinations per year since 2004). The average age of the membership of FSSP is 37.

This year the FSSP received 34 new major seminarians: 17 in Denton (USA) and 17 in Wigratzbad (Germany). In addition the society received 3 new seminarians for the Ezechiel House novitiate in Australia.

Worldwide, the FSSP currently serves in 219 Mass centers / locations in 121 dioceses, including 34 personal parishes. (No breakdown available of how many Mass centers have Mass every Sunday.)

In comparison, as of January 20, 2006 (presumably reflecting the statistics as of late 2005) the FSSP had a total of 300 members -- 180 priests, 13 deacons and 107 non-deacon seminarians -- serving 111 Sunday Mass centers / locations in 85 dioceses worldwide (including 6 personal parishes). A total of 34 seminarians were accepted in 2005.

More striking than the steady growth in the numbers of priests and seminarians,  is the great jump in Mass locations and personal parishes served by the FSSP -- from 111 Sunday Mass centers to 219 Mass locations (not all every-Sunday) and from 6 to 34 personal parishes in 10 years.

The following charts are from the FSSP statistics page as of October 24, 2015 (to which we link at the beginning of this blog post). The charts show the gradual but steady growth of the FSSP, despite the temporary setback it experienced in 1999-2000 over the controversy on Protocol 1411/99, which initially threatened to result in the imposition of TLM-Novus Ordo "biritualism" on the FSSP but eventually had the opposite and welcome effect of consolidating its all-Traditional Mass identity.