Catholic Tradition

Corpus ChristiThe ruptures of our age -- two world wars in three decades -- have left their mark within the post-Vatican II church. In all likelihood, this was unavoidable, considering the considerable disquiet and disorder of the time.

It is thus all the more important that new spiritual communities have come into being and continue to be founded, to keep alive the roots and reconnect us to tradition. The Institute was founded at a time of growing realisation that the “old rite” was never abolished and that it belonged to the life of the Church as much now as it had done over 1,500 years.

We believe it is a key task for the whole church to incorporate all of its tradition into its public worship. We consider it important to present all of the Church’s riches as a tapestry of many threads and colours, where, in the end, the final pattern counts. We want to be part of this task.

How has the impression been created that everything is possible and permitted in the church - except the “old rite”? What went wrong? Pope Benedict has critisized the “hermeneutic of rupture” -- by which he means the attempt to describe everything in the second half of the 20th century, as something new and therefore better than what had preceded. He has coined the term "Hermeneutic of continuity" to open up a way of thinking in accordance with tradition.

in he institute traditional liturgy is alive, this is not just limited to the celebration of the old mass. People come here, take a deep breath and say “here I can be really Catholic” -- a reaction that is as it should be.

Traditional WeddingWe have not closed our eyes to the present day: in Berlin you cannot really do that. But we remain true to our view that, in the life of the church, change is not the be-all and end-all. Where there are breaches, one must work to heal them.

The traditional liturgy is at the heart of this healing process. It is an invigorating joy for ourselves to discover the richness of ritual and gregorian chant. Many young families are happy to pass this nourisment on to their children. Visitors from Germany and all over the world realized with happy amazement that in St. Afra's tradition presents itself as ever-young and thriving.

The beauty of our Lord Jesus Christ and his chosen bride, the Church, is tangible in the beauty of the Litirgy. The impülications for a godly life, sound spirituality and sober philosophical and theological thinking are plentiful. Therefor we love to welcome guests, who want to take part in the discovering of this richness. We help with the training of priests and altar servers to enable them to bring the traditional rite to their churches and communities. Others come for a retreat or just some quiet days to regain strength for their christian everyday life.


Das Institut baut auf Ihre Spende

  • Ihre Spende per Überweisung:

    Freundeskreis St. Philipp Neri e.V.
    Bank für Sozialwirtschaft
    Kontonummer: 0001202100
    Bankleitzahl: 37020500
    IBAN: DE57370205000001202100
    BIC: BFSWDE33XXX

  • Ihre einmalige Spende per Lastschrift:

    über unser Spendenformular bei der Bank für Sozialwirtschaft:

  • Ihre regelmäßige Spende per Lastschrift:

    über unser Lastschriftformular können Sie uns leicht regelmäßig unterstützen.
    Bitte füllen Sie das ausgedruckte Formular aus und senden Sie es uns zu.

  • Ihre Spende per PayPal:

    Wenn Sie ein PayPal-Konto haben, können Sie uns auch über diesen Dienst etwas zukommen lassen. Für Spender aus dem Ausland ist das sogar ein besonders praktischer Weg. Hier unsere PayPal-Verbindung.

Ohne Ihre Hilfe geht es nicht!