In 1984 the idea to create a Federation of Pastoral Institutes arose in order to formulate a common vision of formation, and create a cooperative system to share and learn from common experiences. In 1986 the by-laws and goals of the FIP were officially approved.

Among the contributions of FIP, we highlight the Training Manual for Theological-Pastoral Reflection (1989), the setting up of the charter meeting that gave birth to the National Catholic Council for Hispanic Ministry (NCCHM) in 1991, the launching of the bilingual books Prophetic Vision (1992), Bilingual Manual Guide for Pastoral Institutes (1996) and Concepts and Practical Instruments for Pastoral Institutes (1998) and the starting up of an accreditation program in 2006.