for Mass with a congregation was allowed with the permission of the priest in charge of a church for stable groups attached to this earlier form of the Roman Rite, provided that the priest using it was "qualified to do so and not juridically impeded" (as for instance by suspension). That was abrogated by the 2021 motu proprio Traditionis custodes that emphasized deference towards the Missal of Pope St. Paul VI and added restrictions to which clergy could perform the Roman Rite according to the pre-Vatican II form. In February 2022, Pope Francis confirmed that the FSSP could continue to celebrate the Latin Mass "in their own churches or oratories[.]" Following from its charism, the fraternity's mission is twofold: to sanctify each priest through the exercise of his priestly function, and to deploy these priests to parishes. As such, they are to celebrate the sacraments, catechise, preach retreats, organize pilgrimages, and generally provide a full sacramental and cultural life for lay Catholics who are likewise drawn to the rituals of the 1962 missal. In order to help complete its mission, the fraternity has built its own seminaries with the goal of forming men to serve the fraternity. Founding The FSSP was established on July 18, 1988, at the Abbey of Hauterive, Switzerland, by twelve priests and twenty seminarians, led by Josef Bisig, all of whom had formerly belonged to Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre's Society of Saint Pius X; they were unwilling to follow that movement into what the Congregation for Bishops and Pope John Paul II declared to be a schismatic act and grounds for excommunication latae sententiae due to the consecration of four bishops without a papal mandate. Josef Bisig became the fraternity's first superior general. Organization , the fraternity included 526 members: 341 priests, 17 deacons, and 168 non-deacon seminarians in 147 dioceses spread among Australia, Austria, Benin, Canada, Colombia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Nigeria, Poland, Switzerland, the United States, and Vietnam. The fraternity's membership represents 35 nationalities, and the average age of its members is 38. , the lay Confraternity of Saint Peter had 8,399 members enrolled, who spiritually support the fraternity's charism. Superiors general The FSSP's current superior general is Andrzej Komorowski, who was elected in 2018. Former superior general include: Josef Bisig (1988–2000) Arnaud Devillers (2000–2006) John Berg (2006–2018) Provinces, districts and regions The fraternity is divided into four districts: German-speaking