Fraternité Notre-Dame


Fraternité Notre-Dame is a Traditional Catholic order of priests and nuns that is not in union with the Pope.

Origins

The origins of Fraternité Notre-Dame are in the reported apparitions of the Virgin Mary in Fréchou, France. They were received in 1977 by Jean Marie Kozik, a Frenchman of Polish origin, who was consecrated as a bishop in 1978 by the dissident and excommunicated Vietnamese Archbishop Ngô Đình Thục.

Rite

The general religious practices of followers of Fraternité Notre-Dame are in line with other Traditionalist Catholics, who prefer the pre-Vatican II Church, especially the Tridentine Mass in Latin as opposed to the post-Vatican II Mass in vernacular languages.

Today

Fraternité Notre-Dame operates religious and humanitarian missions on four continents. The order operates soup kitchens and weekly food pantries in Paris, New York City, Ulan Bator, Chicago, and San Francisco. Additionally, a hospital for the poor has been opened in Mongolia, and it has also operated humanitarian convoys to benefit those victimized by war in Croatia, Bosnia, Kosovo, and Rwanda. The Fraternité opened a new mission in Detroit during the summer of 2018. The mission is in what was Most Holy Name of Jesus parish until 1990, and most recently Shield of Faith Ministries.

Chicago

In 2000, the movement opened its Mother House for North America in Chicago's Austin neighborhood in the former Gammon United Methodist Church, a structure built by noted Cleveland architect Sidney Badgley and featured in a number of books on Chicago architecture, notably The AIA Guide to Chicago by Alice Sinkevitch. Fraternité Notre-Dame uses the complex as a Novitiate/Seminary for religious friars and future priests, as well as a Novitiate for religious nuns out of the complex.
Since then Fraternité Notre-Dame nuns have become a fixture at numerous Chicago area farmer's markets selling traditional French pastries to raise funds for the group.