The order was founded by 12 priests who were formerly members of the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX), an order that is in a canonically irregular status with the Roman Catholic Church.

The Society of St. Pius X (SSPX), a canonically irregular priestly society that celebrates using the 1962 Roman Missal, also has not released a statement regarding the CDW's document.

The FSSP was founded by 12 priests who were formerly members of the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX), a group that has a canonically irregular status.

The SSPX defied Rome in 1988 by consecrating four bishops, triggering their excommunication. In a gesture of reconciliation, Pope Benedict has lifted those bans and promoted the use of the ...

The founders left the SSPX to establish the FSSP after the society's leader, Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, consecrated four bishops without the permission of St. John Paul II.