On Saturday, June 22, 2013, Archbishop Guido Pozzo, Papal Almoner and former secretary for the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, raised three deacons to the Sacred Priesthood at Santissima Trinità dei Pellegrini, the Roman parish of the Fraternity.

Deacon Massimo Botta, FSSP, a member of the North American District, was Ordained along with Deacons Magdala Maria and Yousef Maria of the Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer, formerly known as the Transalpine Redemptorists. These latter are the first two priests ordained for the Papa Stronsay monastery since the group was reconciled with Rome in 2008.

Our gratitude and thanks to His Excellency for ordaining these men to the Holy Priesthood, our congratulations to these new priests and their families, and thanks to all our benefactors and friends who support our seminarians during the course of their studies, with prayers and other assistance. As each new priest has asked, and we always recommend, continue to pray for our new priests, and all of the priests of the Fraternity, along with the members of the Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer.

Fr. Bauknecht and Fr. Harkins will be arriving soon, on July 3, 2013, and are looking forward to assuming their priestly duties, meeting the parishioners, and establishing a regular schedule for Masses in the parish.

All Saints Catholic Church

435 4th Street NE
Minneapolis, MN 55413

Father Kevin Young, FSSP, was Ordained on Saturday, June 1, and offered his first Mass the next morning at Immaculate Conception, our apostolate church in Omaha, Nebraska. Fr. Young was assisted by Fr. John Byrne, FSSP, assistant pastor of Saint Benedict, our apostolate parish in Chesapeake, Virginia.

Father Young was born and raised in Boonton, New Jersey, where his family had roots since immigrating from Ireland in the 1840s.  Father Young spent his youth in the parishes his parents grew up in. These were Sts. Cyril and Methodius, the Slovak parish of his mother, and Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, the historically Irish parish of his father.  After graduating from high school, Father became more serious about his faith, as he worked delivering spring water and tending stables.

In this time, Father became involved in Catholic apologetics, due to a Protestant friend. In his search for sources to defend the Faith, he came across information related to the “Latin Mass.” At the time, he did not know he lived a mere 15 minutes from Our Lady of Fatima, the FSSP apostolate in Pequannock, NJ. Father did, however, locate the chapel, and began attending Mass there.

He was immediately convinced of the power and beauty of the Mass of the Ages.  All the more interesting, is that his experience came only with a low Mass. As Father states, “This was no grand polyphonic Solemn Mass either; it was ‘only’ Low Mass. I did not even see a High Mass for almost a year. I was hooked however. I began attending regularly and attended there until entering seminary.”

The priests of Our Lady of Fatima, and the power of the ancient Rite, made Father realize clearly what a priest is, and the crucial role a priest plays in the life of souls. Father’s vocation deepened seeing the example of several priests, especially Fr. Gregory Pendergraft and Fr. Joseph Howard.  After completing two years of theological coursework, Father applied to Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary, and the rest is history.

Enjoy Father’s first Mass, a low Mass.

Father Charles Vreeland, FSSP, was Ordained on Saturday, June 1, and offered his first Solemn High Mass the next morning at Immaculate Conception, our apostolate church in Omaha, Nebraska.  Fr. Vreeland was assisted by Fr. Christopher Hathaway, FSSP, chaplain of our Rapid City apostolate, and Fr. Gregory Eichman, FSSP, was Deacon.

Fr. Vreeland will begin his priesthood serving North American Martyrs, our apostolate in Seattle, WA.  Enjoy images of his first Mass.

Father Anthony Uy, FSSP, was ordained on Saturday, June 1, and offered his first Solemn High Mass the next morning at the Carmel of Jesus, Mary and Joseph in Valparaiso, Nebraska. Fr. Uy was assisted by Fr. Daniel Geddes, FSSP, Assistant Pastor of Holy Family in Vancouver, Rev. Mr. Paul Leung, FSSP, was Deacon, and Acolyte Danial Nolan, FSSP, was Subdeacon.

Father will begin his priesthood serving at Holy Family, our apostolate in Vancouver, BC. Enjoy the images.

Father Michael Passo, FSSP, was Ordained on Saturday, June 1, and offered his first Solemn High Mass the next morning at Immaculate Conception, our apostolate church in Omaha, Nebraska. Fr. Passo was assisted by Fr. John Brancich, FSSP, pastor of Immaculate Conception, Rev. Mr. Joseph Heffernan, FSSP, was Deacon, and Rev. Mr. Joshua Passo, FSSP, was Subdeacon.

Father was born and raised in Omaha, Nebraska, and began attending the Traditional Latin Mass at Saint Patrick in Omaha when he was about 12 years of age.  Shortly thereafter the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter was invited to Omaha to assume offering the traditional Sacraments.

Father credits the example of his parents, his sister, and the priests of the Fraternity with nurturing his spiritual life and later his vocation.

He recalls the profound effect his sister entering the religious life had on him.

“At the age of six, I was already exposed to a vocation when my older sister left for the Poor Clare Monastery in Roswell, NM. I remember asking her why she was leaving. At six years old I just couldn’t understand, but she looked at me and told me “Because I love God.” The answer didn’t really satisfy a six year old mind, but I never forgot it.”

In a bit of youthful irony, while other friends talked of a possible vocation, Father never particularly contemplated a priestly vocation until he was in high school. After both having attended parochial schools and being home-schooled, he enrolled in a public high school for the sports opportunities, but quickly became disillusioned with the gross immorality of his classmates. This stark contrast first provoked in him the idea of a religious vocation, faced with how different he desired to be compared to “the world.” In particular, while dating a girl in high school, Father realized he was really more concerned for her soul than he was about their relationship.

Even though he first felt a vocation during this time, he spent most of his years in college preparing for a medical career, passively “running from” the call of the Priesthood. Despite his resistance the calling only grew stronger, and he realized that he only felt true peace while at Mass or in adoration before the Eucharist.  He made the habit of praying intensely in church ahead of his exams, which fostered his eventual path to the seminary because of his unfailing trust in Our Lady.

In his senior year of college, Father traveled to Mexico to serve with the Missionary Fathers of Mother Theresa.  At seeing the happiness of the poor, and their sanctity despite their circumstances, he realized his choice of a medical career was but vanity.

Father returned to Omaha and found a spiritual director that aided his vocation. He realized that if he wanted to be a priest, he wanted to be one according to the model of the Fraternity priests he knew.  After entering the seminary with a mentality of “Just one year… give God at least one year to see…”, and thinking that he might return to the medical career, he realized he was where he was supposed to be, gaining peace in what he called “a relief, like a runner after a marathon.” Father didn’t need to run anymore, because he was where God wanted him to be. Seven years later, Father was ordained a priest and offered his first Mass.

Fr. Passo will begin his priesthood serving in our apostolate in Columbia. Enjoy the images.

Father Joseph DeGuzman, FSSP, was Ordained on Saturday, June 1, and offered his first Solemn High Mass the next morning at Saint Francis of Assisi, our apostolate church in Lincoln, Nebraska.  Fr. DeGuzman was assisted by Fr. William Lawrence, FSSP, our Director of Vocations, Deacon Massimo Botta, FSSP, was Deacon, and Acolyte Caleb Insco was Subdeacon.

In the short version of his vocation story, Father relates jokingly that a friend of his introduced him to cognac, and then to the Fraternity.  Father was not sure what he wanted to do once he graduated from college, so he stayed in school for a while completing post-graduate work.  When graduation finally approached and he had to make a decision, Father DeGuzman began to discern the Priesthood.  When he mentioned this to his friend, his friend suggested that he investigate the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter.  Never having attended a traditional Latin Mass before, Father DeGuzman first experienced the Mass of the Ages at our seminary, Our Lady of Guadalupe.  He decided to apply and, being accepted, spent his first year of seminary in profound discernment of the path of Tradition and his vocation to the Priesthood.  As the years went on he became more confirmed in his vocation and the Fraternity, to the point that he knew that the Fraternity was the place for him.

Fr. DeGuzman will begin his priesthood serving Our Lady of Fatima, our apostolate in Pequannock, NJ.  Enjoy images of his first Mass.

At the invitation of the Charlotte Latin Mass Community, Fr. John Berg, Superior-General of the FSSP, offered an Evening of Reflection at Saint Ann Catholic Church in Charlotte on May 2, 2013. The topic was “Ephesus, Vatican II, and the Year of Faith,” and he compared different aspects of these two ecumenical councils in light of the Year of Faith. Fr. Berg also discussed various issues related to the Mass and Traditions of the Church, and accepted questions following the talk.

The talk lasted a little more than an hour and addressed many salient points about the founding principles of the Fraternity of St. Peter, which was based, in part, on the Protocol of 5 May 1988. Father Berg explained that the Year of Faith and the Second Vatican Council were both intentionally opened on October 11th – the Feast of the Maternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary – which was established by Pope Pius XI to commemorate the 1500th anniversary of when the Council of Ephesus bestowed the title of Theotokos (“Mother of God”), to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Father Berg also outlined problems that arose after the Second Vatican Council, as theologians on both the left and the right radicalized one another. In the end those on the right came to the conclusion that the documents of the Council should be read as a break with the pre-conciliar Church (a “hermeneutic of rupture”), while those on the left, in their triumphalism, reached the same conclusion, seeing the documents of the Council as a radical departure which thankfully left behind the pre-conciliar Church. In this common conclusion, both parties ultimately decided not to do the more difficult work of finding the “hermeneutic of continuity,” which Pope Benedict XVI said must be present. He then reviewed the solutions offered by Pope Benedict XVI to these problems, as well as the many gifts to the Church provided during his pontificate.

The talk was well attended and well received. During a reception that followed, Fr. Berg took questions from attendees. In addition, those present made a good will offering for the benefit of the FSSP Seminary. The following morning, Friday, May 3rd, Fr. Berg celebrated First Friday Mass and heard confessions.

The Charlotte Latin Mass Community is a stable group of faithful (coetus fidelium) who gathered together on the Feast of the Assumption in 2011 to request a regular Sunday Mass in the Extraordinary Form. After 18 months of prayer and patience, their petition, which was ultimately elevated to the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei in Rome, was granted. On February 10, 2013, one day prior to Pope Benedict’s abdication, a letter was read from the pulpit of St. Ann Catholic Church in Charlotte granting this petition by order of the Bishop of Charlotte, His Excellency Peter Jugis. Mass in the Extraordinary Form was officially added to the regular Sunday Mass schedule starting on March 3, 2013 at 12:30 pm.

For more information about the Charlotte Latin Mass Community contact Chris Lauer.

On Saturday, June 1, 2013, five deacons of the Fraternity of St. Peter were raised to the Sacred Priesthood of Christ by His Excellency, Bishop James D. Conley, at the Cathedral of the Risen Christ in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Our gratitude and thanks to His Excellency for ordaining these men to the Holy Priesthood, our congratulations to our new priests and their families, and thanks to all our benefactors and friends who have supported these men and the seminary during the course of their studies with prayers and other assistance. As each new priest has asked, and we always recommend, continue to pray for our new priests, and all of the priests of the Fraternity.

The newly ordained priests of the Fraternity are:

• Father Michael Passo
• Father Joseph DeGuzman
• Father Anthony Uy
• Father Kevin Young
• Father Charles Vreeland

As a reminder, Deacon Massimo Botta, native of Rome, will be Ordained on Saturday, June 22, 2013, in the Fraternity parish in Rome, Santa Trinita dei Pelligrini. Please keep him in your prayers.

Please look for additional coverage of ordinations in an upcoming edition of the monthly newsletter.