By the grace of God, in the midst of the confusion and heterodoxy of the 1970s, the founders of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest — Monsignor Gilles Wach, STD, and Father Phillipe Mora, STD — cultivated a deep love for the unbroken stream of Catholic tradition under the tutelage of Cardinal Giuseppe Siri and other orthodox Cardinals and clergymen.
Since then, they have sought to defend and pass on to the members of the Institute and Catholics throughout the world the majestic patrimony of Catholic traditionm always trusting in God’s Providence and co-operating with His Grace.
1979
Monsignor Gilles Wach, STD and Father Philippe Mora, STD, future founders of the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest, are ordained priests by Pope Saint John Paul II.
1980s
Working for Cardinal Silvio Oddi in Rome and with a priestly association in France, then Father Wach is approached by more and more young men seeking a traditional Catholic formation to the priesthood. Several Roman Cardinals urge Wach to found a religious community. By 1988, the idea of the Institute for Christ the King Sovereign Priest is formed.
1990
Bishop Obamba of Mouila in Gabon, Africa, who invited Fr. Wach’s young community to help with missionary work in his diocese, gives the Institute of Christ the King the necessary canonical erection. At the same time, he appoints Wach his Vicar General, officially bestowing to him the title Monsignor. The Institute continues mission work in Gabon to this day.
1990s
With the help of Augustinus Cardinal Mayer, OSB, a member of the Roman Curia, Monsignor Wach pinpoints an appropriate location for a seminary and motherhouse for his quickly growing Institute: an ancient chateau at Gricigliano in Tuscany, Italy, just outside of Florence. Then Archbishop of Florence, Silvio Cardinal Piovanelli, immediately gives the motherhouse and seminary canonical erection in his diocese. The Institute’s St. Phillip Neri Seminary is established.
More and more seminarians join the Institute for traditional Catholic formation to the priesthood. The Institute sees steady growth and increased apostolic work around the whole world. Apostolates are established in France, Spain, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, South America, and the United States.
1996
The Institute is invited to establish its first apostolate in the United States by His Eminence Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke, then Bishop of the Diocese of La Crosse, Wisconsin.
2000s
American bishops across the country begin inviting the Institute into their dioceses to introduce the faithful to classical Roman Liturgy and restore and repopulate historic churches slated for demolition.
2001
The Sisters Adorers of the Royal Heart of Jesus Sovereign Priest, the Institute’s community of religious sisters, is canonically established to aid the priests in their mission through prayer and apostolic work.
2004
Chicago Archbishop Francis Cardinal George invites the Institute into the archdiocese to restore the congregation and the building of the earmarked-for-demolition St. Clara/St. Gelasius church, the last remaining Catholic church in the area. For the Institute this was a profound opportunity and the American provincial headquarters was estabilished there. The church was renamed the “Shrine of Christ the King” and restoration began immediately.
2007
Pope Benedict XVI issues Summorum Pontificum his motu proprio formally permitting the celebration of the Sacrifice of the Mass following the typical edition of the Roman Missal promulgated by Blessed John XXIII in 1962. In his letter to bishops accompanying the announcement, Benedict emphasises, “What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too, and it cannot be all of a sudden entirely forbidden or even considered harmful.”
2008
The Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest is formally recognized and approved by Rome, being granted the status of a “society of pontifical right” directly dependent on the Holy See.
2012
Having arrived in the UK a short time before, in March 2012, Bishop Mark Davies of Shrewsbury re-established Ss Peter and Paul Church in New Brighton as a Shrine dedicated to the Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and invited the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest to take care of the building. A Pontifical Mass celebrated by the Bishop to commemorate the opening of the Shrine took place on 24th March 2012.
2014
In September 2014, the then Bishop of Lancaster, the Rt. Rev. Michael Campbell OSA was present at St Walburge’s, Preston for an inaugral Mass as the Institute are granted a second Shrine Church in England.
2017
The Institute are asked to care for a second Preston church, English Martyrs an arrangement that continues until 2024.
2018
Following the good work of Father Gerard McGuiness at St Winefride’s, Monkmoor, near Shrewsbury, Bishop Davies allows the Institute to estabilish a house there.
The first Sisters Adorers arrive to take up residency at House of St. Augustine in Preston.
2021
The then Bishop of Plymouth, the Rt. Rev. Mark O’Toole invites the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest to begin a new apostolate at Chelston near Torquay. Later, the Institute are also asked to appoint a priest to serve the Carmelite Convent in Lanherne, Cornwall.