Redemptorists

Disciplinary status: Church discipline
Theological status: Theological synthesis
Evidence type: Historical account
GuideCanonical form, vows, governance, and ecclesial status are governed by Church law; charism and spirituality require theological description, while origins and development are historical.
Contents

Redemptorists is the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, a clerical missionary religious institute founded by Saint Alphonsus Liguori to evangelize the most abandoned, especially the poor.

The Redemptorists, officially named the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (Latin: Congregatio Sanctissimi Redemptoris), abbreviated CSsR,[4] is a Catholic clerical religious congregation of pontifical rite for men (priests and brothers). It was founded by Alphonsus Liguori at Scala, Italy, for the purpose of labouring among the neglected country people around Naples. It is dedicated to missionary work, ministering in more than 100 countries. Members of the congregation are Catholic priests and consecrated religious brothers.

The Redemptorists are especially dedicated to Our Lady of Perpetual Help and were appointed by Pope Pius IX in 1865 as both custodians and missionaries of the icon of that title, which is enshrined at the Redemptorist Church of St. Alphonsus Liguori in Rome. Many Redemptorist churches are dedicated to her under that title.

However, the Patroness of the Congregation is the Blessed Virgin Mary under the title "Immaculate Conception", of which St. Alphonsus was a strong propagator even before Marian Dogma was officially promulgated.

Missionary community

Redemptorists unite consecrated community life with preaching the abundant redemption of Christ to people poorly served by ordinary pastoral structures. Members profess public vows of chastity, poverty, and obedience under the constitutions. Priests and brothers form one missionary body, each contributing through the ministry proper to him.[1]

The Congregation is a clerical missionary institute of pontifical right and contains members from several Catholic ritual traditions. Related women's and lay Redemptorist bodies share spirituality but have their own canonical identities.[2]

Government for mission

The General Chapter is the supreme internal organ and meets ordinarily every six years. The Superior General and general consultors govern the whole congregation, while provinces, vice-provinces, regions, and communities organize mission and common life according to proper law.

Foundation and development

Alphonsus Liguori was deeply moved by the plight of the poor living in Naples and the surrounding area and established his community with the aim of providing spiritual nourishment. Amongst his companions was Gerard Majella. In 1748 Alphonsus petitioned Pope Benedict XIV, to allow him to establish a congregation to minister to the poor in the area around Naples. Benedict agreed and the congregation was formed on November 9, 1732.

Within ten years of its foundation, communities had been established at Nocera, Ciorani, Iliceto, and Caposele. Due to political complications, there was an initial difficulty with the houses in the Papal States being separated from those in the Kingdom of Naples, but this was overcome in 1793 and the congregation soon opened houses in Sicily and other parts of southern Italy.[5]

The congregation was soon to move beyond the borders of present-day Italy. In 1785, two Austrians, Clemens Maria Hofbauer and Thaddeus Hübl, joined the Redemptorists. In 1786 Hofbauer and Hübl went to Warsaw, Poland where the papal nuncio gave them responsibility for the parish of Saint Benno in the New Town; their mission thrived until the community was expelled in 1808. In 1793, Hofbauer turned his sights on establishing communities in Germanic lands. Soon houses were opened in the south at Jestetten, Triberg im Schwarzwald, and Babenhausen. In 1818, a house was established in Switzerland at the abandoned Carthusian monastery in La Valsainte.[5]

19th century

In 1826, at the request of the government of Austria, the Redemptorists established a community in Lisbon, Portugal, with the purpose of ministering to German speaking Catholics.[5] Other houses quickly followed in German-speaking areas: Mautern an der Donau (1827), Innsbruck (1828), Marburg (1833), Eggenburg (1833), and Leoben (1834).

The congregation also rapidly expanded into Belgium with communities at Tournai (1831), Sint-Truiden (1833), Liège (1833), and Brussels (1849). A community was even established in the Netherlands, at the time somewhat anti-Catholic, when a house was opened in Wittem in 1836. The revolutions of 1848 which swept over Europe caused much upheaval, and the Redemptorists were expelled from Switzerland and Austria and were at risk elsewhere.

The congregation thrived throughout the remainder of the 19th century; in 1852 there were four provinces, and by 1890 this had increased to twelve with communities having been established in Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, England, Scotland, Spain, and Suriname.[5] The 20th century saw the continuation of expansion to where the congregation created new provinces, vice provinces, and missions in every decade, and established a network of lay associates and volunteers who work with the Redemptorists to bring the Gospel to the poor.

Apostolate

Redemptorists are essentially a missionary society although their ministry is not confined to developing nations. According to their rule they are "to strive to imitate the virtues and examples of Jesus Christ, our Redeemer consecrating themselves especially to the preaching of the word of God to the poor".[5] Their labors consist principally in missions, retreats, and similar exercises.[5] In 2019, there were approximately 5,500 Redemptorists in 82 countries throughout the world.[6]

Preaching and parochial missions

Alphonsus Liguori wanted his companions to be itinerant preachers of the Word of God. Traditionally, this has been the mainstay of the Redemptorists as they are well known for conducting parochial missions. The purpose of these parochial missions and the homilies preached by the Redemptorists is to "... invite people to a deeper love for God and a fuller practice of the Christian life."[7] In accordance with the instructions of Liguori, preaching is to be down-to-earth and understandable to all who are listening.

Shrines, sanctuaries and retreat houses

In order to advance their mission and provide places of pilgrimage, the Redemptorists administer several shrines, which draw hundreds of thousands of people, the best-known being in Brazil, Canada, Colombia, the Philippines, Rome, and Singapore. The congregation operates many retreat houses where people of all walks of life, Catholic or otherwise, can spend some time in reflection, either individually or in a group.[7]

Redemptorists are caretakers of the Byzantine icon of Our Mother of Perpetual Help, depicting the Virgin Mary with the Child Jesus and the instruments of the Passion. The icon was entrusted to them by Pope Pius IX. It is now enshrined in the Redemptorist Church of St. Alphonsus Liguori, Rome, and Redemptorists propagate devotion to Mary under this title.

Other ministry

As with most religious congregations, the Redemptorists are also involved in other forms of ministry such as parishes, education, youth and social communication. In recent years the congregation has increasingly become concerned with matters of social justice; as the Generalate website states "Redemptorists believe that the saving love of God touches the whole person and calls for the transformation of social injustice into respect for the dignity of all men and women".[7] The Redemptorist religious province of Cebu in the Philippines have made a specific commitment in this regard: "Moved by the poverty and dehumanised condition of our people, and encouraged by their faith and desire for justice ... We, the Redemptorists of the Province of Cebu, as an apostolic community dedicated through our vows, are called to respond to the urgent needs of our people, especially the most abandoned and the poor ..."[8]

Religious formation

After an initial period of contact and discernment, the person seeking to enter the Redemptorists becomes a "candidate" and goes to live in one of the communities so that both sides might become better acquainted. This lasts about two years during which they learn about Redemptorist prayer, life, and ministry.[6]

Assuming that all goes well, the candidate then begins the novitiate, lasting a year. The novitiate year is crucial, for it is then "... that the novices better understand their divine vocation, and indeed one which is proper to the institute, experience the manner of living of the institute, and form their mind and heart in its spirit, and so that their intention and suitability are tested."[9] Thus, the novices are given the opportunity for longer periods of prayer and spiritual reading as well as silence in order to reflect on the vocation God is offering and nature of their response. The spiritual development of the novice is of particular focus, especially through spiritual direction. During the novitiate the history and constitutions of the congregation are studied in depth.

A simple profession is made at the end of the novitiate, and the person officially becomes a member of the Redemptorists for "By religious profession, members assume the observance of the three evangelical counsels by public vow, are consecrated to God through the ministry of the Church, and are incorporated into the institute with the rights and duties defined by law."[10] At this point it is normal to begin studying philosophy and theology at university level. During this time there is ample opportunity to experience a variety of ministries in which the Redemptorists are engaged, both in the member's home country and internationally. Temporary vows are renewed annually.

At the end of this period of formation, which lasts for a minimum of three years[11] perpetual profession (final vows) is made and ordination to the diaconate and presbyterate follows for those called to holy orders (i.e. to become a priest).[12]

As the academic programs come to an end, all Redemptorists in temporary vows are required to participate in a pastoral experience for a minimum of six months to a year, outside of a brother's home province.[6]

Religious vows

As members of a religious congregation, Redemptorists embrace the evangelical counsels, taking the three traditional religious vows of poverty, chastity and obedience.[5] Poverty means that all possessions are held in common and that no member may accumulate wealth. Chastity means more than abstaining from sexual activity and its purpose is to make the religious totally available for service; it is also a sign that only God can completely fill the human heart. For a member of a religious congregation, obedience is not slavishly doing what one is told by the superior but being attentive to God's will by prayerfully listening to the voice of the person in charge. For the Redemptorist, the three vows challenge those values presented as being important by modern-day society. Recognising that the living out of the three traditional vows can be truly challenging, each Redemptorist takes a fourth vow and oath, that of perseverance.

Organization

The Generalate is in Rome. The most fundamental unit of the Redemptorists is the local community in which members live together, combining their prayers, experiences, successes and failures, as well as any possessions for the service of the Gospel. Each community has a local superior who is chosen to exercise the ministry of leadership and the service of authority for the common good. The superior is assisted by a vicar and a group of advisors.

Local communities are organized into larger groups: Missions, regions, vice-provinces, provinces. A province is led by a provincial and his council, composed of elected members. In terms of governance, the members of each province elect representatives who gather in a Provincial Chapter. Vice-provinces usually look to a founding province to provide support in terms of personnel and finances until it is able to become self-sufficient. Otherwise, they enjoy the freedom and authority necessary to adjust matters to the particular needs of its mission.[13] Regions and missions are normally communities established in new missionary areas and they depend on the founding province or vice-province.

The Superior General convokes the General Chapter every six years. The General Chapter is the primary governing and representative body of the Redemptorists, carefully examining the mission of the congregation in accordance with the spirit of Alphonsus Liguori and its traditions. The day-to-day international affairs of the congregation are handled by the General Council, which is composed of a superior general and six consultors. The General Council is both a directive and executive body.[13]

Regions and provinces

  • South Europe: 6 provinces and 2 regions
  • North Europe: 8 provinces, 2 vice-provinces, 2 regions and 1 mission,
  • North America: 4 provinces (Baltimore, Denver, Canada (founded in 2019 and composed of the former provinces of Edmonton-Toronto, Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré, and Yorkton), and Mexico) and one vice-province (Extra-Patriam, for the Vietnamese Catholics).[14]
  • Latin America: 13 provinces, 11 vice-provinces, 4 regions and 2 missions.
  • Africa: 1 province, 5 vice-provinces, 2 regions and 5 missions.[15]
  • Asia-Oceania: 6 provinces, 5 vice-provinces, 4 regions and 2 missions.[13]

Regional development

Africa

In 1899 the Belgian fathers were requested by their government to take charge of a number of missions in the Congo State,[5] at that time a Belgian colony: Kinkanda, Kionzo, Kimpese, Matadi, Sonagongo and Lake Tumba.

In 1987 the Denver Province established a mission in Nigeria which was so fruitful that it soon became a vice-province. The members of the vice-province have made concerted efforts to involve the laity in their work. The Redemptorists also minister in Angola (1967); Burkina Faso; Ghana; Ivory Coast (1993); Madagascar (1967); Niger; Zimbabwe (established by the British Redemptorists in 1960 and revitalized in 1989)[16]

In 1990 the Indian Redemptorists began a mission in Kenya where there are several professed members.

In South Africa Redemptorists administer parishes in Cape Town, Rustenburg and Howick. There is also a convent of Redemptoristines sisters in Merrivale, KwaZulu-Natal. For the Redemptorists of Southern Africa "... Justice and Peace is part and parcel of everything we are and do. In the South African context ... we are called by the poor to a simple life-style and we cannot avoid the struggle of the outcasts and oppressed of the townships and the desperate plight of the poor."[17]

In May 2011 a number of allegations of child sexual abuse by a member of the institute in South Africa were revealed on the RTÉ programme Prime Time Investigates.[18]

Alan Shatter, the Minister for Justice and Equality, stated:

I have been in touch with the Garda Commissioner about this matter who, of course, shares my concern at the revelations in the programme. The Superintendent in charge of the Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Investigation Unit is being appointed to examine the programme. In particular, he will examine whether any criminal behaviour was disclosed which can be pursued in this jurisdiction.[19]

Australia and New Zealand

The first house established was in Singleton, New South Wales, but during the summer heat missions were conducted in the cooler climate of New Zealand's dioceses. As Singleton was an unsuitable base, the community oversaw the building of a new monastery at Mount St Alphonsus, Waratah, New South Wales. It was opened on the founder's feast, 1887, just five years after the Redemptorists' arrival. In the first year at Waratah the community conducted 45 missions through New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia. A new house in Ballarat followed in 1888 and work began on a new monastery in the suburb of Wendouree. It was officially opened in September 1893.

With the south now being cared for by the Ballarat community, those in Waratah looked north to Queensland and the first missions were preached there in 1889. Missions began in Brisbane and its surrounds, with their success convincing the Archbishop to extend the programme to the far flung country parishes.

The first structure that was purpose-built for the Redemptorists in New Zealand was St Gerard's Church in Wellington in 1908.[20]

In 1927, the province of Australasia, which included Australia and New Zealand, was created. New Zealand became an independent province in 1970 and from New Zealand, the Redemptorists went to Samoa in 1972.[21]

The years after World War II were a time of rapid expansion. As well as ongoing participation in the development of the vice-provinces in the Philippines and in Singapore and Malaysia, further houses were opened in New Town in Tasmania and Townsville and Miami in Queensland. There were also communities established in New South Wales: Campbell's Hill, Concord, Fairfield West, Penrith and Yagoona. In Victoria, there were communities at Balwyn, Box Hill, Brighton, Wongarra and Yarraville. In Melbourne, the order also conducted a psychotherapy clinic and Training Institute, Hofbauer Centre, from 1977 until 1998.

The Redemptorist Lay Community formed during the 1980s and led to the Olympic Village Exodus Community in Melbourne's Heidelberg West area in 1998, attempting to meet identified emerging needs of local residents. The live-in members of the Exodus Community volunteer their services to the Community and its ministries. Another Exodus Community was later established in Wendouree West in Ballarat. Exodus Community is currently supported by 50 volunteers.

Missionary activity continues to flourish across Australia. Through parochial missions, preaching, retreats, adult education, teaching in universities, social justice work, counselling, accompaniment of indigenous communities, chaplaincies, devotions to Our Lady of Perpetual Help, working with people on the margins of society and promoting the family through the Majellan magazine, Redemptorists have sought to highlight that people matter greatly to God.[21] For the Australian Redemptorists, the issue of social justice "... matters to the Redemptorists for it is at the core of our mission in the world."[22]

India

Three Irish Redemptorists Mathew Hickey, Gerard McDonell and Leo O'Halloran from the province of Dublin with great zeal and missionary dynamism set on a task to proclaim the Good News and arrived in the Island country of Sri Lanka in the year 1938. The long cherished dream of the Redemptorists to establish a foundation in India was actualized in the year 1940 when the first community was established in Bangalore in 1940.

It was Hugo Kerr, the Provincial Superior of the province of Dublin who obtained permission from Maurice Bernard Departures, the Bishop of Mysore, to establish a foundation in Bangalore. In the Lent of 1941 St. Gerard's House at John Armstrong Road became the First Permanent residence of the Redemptorists. On 1 October 1945 the Indian Redemptorist mission became a Vice-Province and Mathew Hickey was the first Vice-Provincial. And the next ten years (from 1945 to 1955) saw great structural developments with Mt. St. Alphonsus (MSA) being built which would be the permanent house of the Studentate (7 June 1951) and the much awaited Holy Ghost Parish[23] was opened for public worship on 24 May 1953. It was during this time St. Alphonsus School with the help of Sisters of St. Joseph of Tarbes, began in the Students' wing of MSA. The school was later moved to Davis Road which stands till today catering to the education of the poor children who come from the vicinity of the area. In July 1964 Sadupadesa College on Hennur Road was built to house students who would study philosophy. It is now turned into a Juvenate which is the first stage of formation (as of 2015). In July, 2010 Holy Redeemer Parish was erected in Sadupadesa.

The Vice-Province of Bangalore grew steadily facing all odds and overcoming all obstacles to become the province of Bangalore on 15 August 1972 and also took a momentous initiative in the year 1990 by establishing a Redemptorist community in Kenya, Africa. Now the mission has 7 indigenous priests along with the members of the province serving in the mission. The Province of Bangalore has also given birth to two other units, the Liguori Province of Kerala and the Vice-province of Majella along the western coast of India.[24]

As of 2011 there were some 260 Redemptorists in India, belonging to two Provinces, one Vice-Province, one Region and one Mission. The Region of Alwaye was established in 1992 and became a Province (Province of Liguori) in 2008. The Region of Mumbai was established in 1999 and was raised to the status of a Vice-Province in 2011. The Mission of Kenya began in 1990 and there are several perpetually professed Kenyan members.

Mesopotamia (now Iraq)

Christianity first arrived during the 1st and 2nd centuries AD through the preaching of St Thomas the Apostle.[25] Centuries later, in 1952, Cardinal Eugène Tisserant approached the Superior General in Rome Fr. Amerigo Buijs, a Dutch priest, asking if the Redemptorists would take on a new mission in Iraq. The missionaries from Flemish Belgian province accepted the task. In 1958, the new Chaldean Patriarch Paulus III Cheikho (1958-1989) invited the Redemptorist Fathers officially to come to Baghdad. Fr Jan Praats and Fr Maurits Demarey were the first to arrive. In 1960, Fr Lucien Cop joined them. Four years later in 1964 Fr Frans Van Stappen (known as Fr Francis) arrived in Baghdad, and in 1965 Fr Vincent Van Vossel arrived together with Fr M. Demarey.[26][27]

The Philippines

The first Redemptorists, belonging to the Irish province, arrived in Opon, Cebu, on 30 June 1906, setting up missions in Compostela, San Francisco and on the Camotes Islands.[28][29] From 1914 to 1928 further communities were established, the most prominent being: Luzon (where the Redemptorists preached the first mission completely in Tagalog), Lipa, Iloilo, Tacloban and Cagayan de Oro on Mindanao.

In 1928, the Philippines was divided into two vice provinces, each under a different province—the Cebu vice-province responsible for the Visayas and Mindanao under the Irish province; and the Manila vice-province responsible for Luzon under the Australian province, now headquartered at the National Shrine of Our Mother of Perpetual Help in Baclaran.

The Second Vatican Council (1962–1965) had a profound impact on the Redemptorist Congregation and this resulted in them pledging themselves more strongly to the poor and disadvantaged in imitation of Alphonsus Liguori. When the political and social upheavals came in the 1960s and 1970s the Filipino Redemptorists stood in solidarity with those seeking justice and equality for they were to "... embrace the mission to proclaim by word and action, the Gospel of justice so that the poor's aspirations can be fully realised in Christ, the source of liberation."[30]

In 1996, the Cebu vice-province became an independent province, known as the Cebu Province.[28]

Vietnam

Redemptorists arrived to Vietnam in 1925, with 66 missionary members from the Canadian Redemptorist Missionaries of the Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré Shrine.[31] The Province of Vietnam was officially established in 1964, with apostles in major cities such as Ha Noi, Sai Gon, Da Nang, Da Lat, and more. Their activities briefly stopped by 1975, likely due to the fact that the Vietnam War resumed and the South was defeated.

Redemptorist missionaries are still active in Vietnam to this day, and have sent members to other countries such as Australia, Thailand, Laos, Philippines, Angola, France, the US and Canada.[31]

United Kingdom and Irish provinces

Redemptorists arrived from Belgium in 1843, and the new province owed its great progress to Robert Aston Coffin, one of the band of converts associated with Cardinal John Henry Newman, Cardinal Henry Edward Manning, and William Faber in the Oxford Movement. Coffin was engaged in missions until he was appointed first provincial in 1865. During his administration new houses were founded in various parts of the United Kingdom, St Mary's Monastery at Perth being the first Scottish monastery opened since the Reformation. By 1910, the province had eight houses: Clapham in London, Bishop Eton in Liverpool, St Benet's Church, Monkwearmouth, Bishop's Stortford, Kingswood, Edmonton and a total membership of one hundred and twenty-three.[5]

Today the Redemptorists of Britain are engaged in a variety of ministries: the mission amongst the poor of Zimbabwe, a renewal centre in Kinnoull, Perth where people can spend time in prayer and reflection as well as parishes in Birmingham, Bishop Eton in Liverpool and London. Their goal is "to defend our joy in Jesus Christ and to bring to others Plentiful Redemption"[32]

In 1898 the houses in Ireland were constituted a separate province with the provincial house at Limerick. On 25 March 1901, the foundation of the juvenate house at Limerick was laid. The province of Ireland then comprised four houses: Limerick, Dundalk, Belfast, and Esker, Co. Galway.[5] In 1904, John Creagh orchestrated the antisemitic "Limerick boycott" by giving two antisemitic sermons that invoked the blood libel, blamed Jews for the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, and called for a de facto boycott; under Creagh's watch, a number of Jews were violently beaten, and the majority of the Jewish population was driven out of Limerick after two years of near-total economic boycott.[33][34] Today, the provincial house is located in Dublin with other communities being found in Belfast (Clonard Monastery and the parish of Saint Gerard), Cork, Dundalk, Athenry in Galway, Limerick and four houses are established. The Irish Redemporists are involved in parish ministry, youth work, Redemptorist publications and retreats. They also help staff the missions in Cebu in the Philippines[35] Alec Reid, of Clonard Monastery, were instrumental in cross community initiatives, and helped facilitate the Irish Peace Process.[36] Reid also helped promote talks for peace in the Basque country.

North American Province

United States

In 1828 Frederick Rese, Vicar-General of Cincinnati, visited Europe in search of priests. While at Vienna he secured three priests and three lay brothers; they arrived in New York on 20 June 1832 and began working amongst the people of northern Michigan. In 1839 they were called to Pittsburgh to assume charge of the German congregation and from this time the care of German congregations became a prominent element of the Redemptorists in North America.[5]

The US province was erected in 1850 and one of the first tasks was the establishment of a seminary and the selection of a suitable place for a novitiate. Cumberland in Maryland, was chosen for the seminary and Baltimore for the novitiate. In 1868 the students were transferred to the new house of studies at Ilchester, Maryland and in 1907 the faculty and the students moved to Esopus, New York, on the Hudson River where a more spacious building had been erected.[5]

In 1882, the congregation sent priests to the Archdiocese of Washington and eventually established five parishes. In 1861 they opened a community in Chicago, Illinois. Soon after, due to the many successful missions they had given in the Archdiocese of St. Louis a house was opened at St. Louis. In 1871 an important mission house was opened at Roxbury, Boston and was dedicated to Our Lady of Perpetual Help. When, in 1883, a new parish was formed, the fathers of the mission church took charge.[5] (In 2009, its later basilica, of the same name, hosted the nationally televised funeral of Massachusetts Senator Edward Kennedy, attended by President Barack Obama, three former US presidents and first ladies, among other dignitaries.)

From 1883 onward, the Redemptorists spread throughout most of North America and are present in a variety of states such as California in the west, Michigan and Illinois in the midwest, Washington, DC, and Baltimore in the northeast and Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas in the south.

North American Redemptorists are involved in giving parochial missions, social justice, retreats, youth ministry, ministry to adults with special needs, bioethics, publication of religious materials and chaplaincy work[37] as well as outreach to the Hispanic community, ministry amongst the poor, and helping to staff missions in the Caribbean[38] The Denver Province owns Liguori Publications, which publishes books and Liguorian magazine.

Canada and Caribbean

In 1874 the Redemptorists were called to St. Patrick's Church, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, the only church in that city for English-speaking Catholics. In 1878 they became the custodians of the shrine of Ste-Anne de Beaupré, near Quebec and then of St. Anne's, Montreal, a large parish in a very poor district of the city.[5] Two other foundations were quickly established in Canada: Saint Patrick's, Toronto and Saint Peter's, New Brunswick in 1881 and 1884 respectively.

The Redemptorist presence in Canada was made a vice-province in 1894, where four more houses were opened. This province was initially dependent on the Belgian province. The West Indies were made a vice-province in 1904. There is also a house at Mayagüez in Puerto Rico. Spanish Redemptorists settled at San Juan. A parish with a population of 30,000 is confided to their care. On 26 July 1911, the Belgian houses of Canada were erected into a new province called Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré.[5] On May 19, 1918, the English-speaking houses in Canada, with 83 Canadian members and nine foundations, were erected into a new province called Toronto Province. The dawn of the new province also heralded the expansion of the order in parishes across the country. This included parishes in Vancouver (1923), Edmonton (1924), Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan (1927), Calgary (1929; 1931), Charlottetown (1929), Corner Brook, Newfoundland (1931), Grande Prairie, Alberta (1931), Saskatoon (1934), Dawson Creek, BC (1936), Nelson, BC (1938), Williams Lake, BC (1938), Athabasca, Alberta (1940), Wells, BC (1941), Claresholm, Alberta (1941), Winnipeg (1942) and Peterborough (1945).

The rising number of Redemptorists foundations in Western Canada led to the creation of the Edmonton Vice-Province in July 1945, which would be responsible for any foundations that were located west of the Ontario-Manitoba border. In July 1961, Edmonton achieved provincial status and took responsibility of 14 foundations and 80 members.

The Redemptorists continued to expand following the creation of the Edmonton Vice-Province and served in parishes in St. George's, Newfoundland (1947), Edson, Alberta (1949), Sudbury, Ontario (1949), Whitbourne, Newfoundland (1950), Toronto (1950), Windsor (1952), St. John's, Newfoundland (1956), and Hinton, Alberta (1958).

In 1996, due to declining numbers in both provinces, the Edmonton and Toronto Provinces were merged to become the Edmonton-Toronto Province.

The newly combined province continued to see the number of parishes administered by the Redemptorists shrink. They withdrew from Quebec City and Edmonton in 1999, Moose Jaw in 2002, Kelowna in 1999, 2002, and 2005 respectively, Saint John in 2006 and Sudbury in 2012.

On 12 August 2014 a court in Quebec approved a settlement by which the Redemptorists of the province of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré will pay $20 million in compensation to people who had been sexually assaulted by members of the order while school students in their care.[39]

The Yorkton Province is an Eastern church branch of the worldwide Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, serving the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in North America and is based in Saskatchewan and Manitoba, Canada.

On August 1, 2019, the Redemptorist Provinces of Edmonton-Toronto, Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré, and Yorkton merged to become a new province called "The Redemptorist Province of Canada". The provincial offices of the new province are located in the Bedford Park neighborhood of Toronto.

Saints, Blesseds, and other holy people

Saints

Blesseds

Venerables

  • Domenico Blasucci (5 March 1732 – 2 November 1752), cleric, declared Venerable on 23 May 1906
  • Joseph-Amand Passerat (30 April 1772 – 30 October 1858), priest, declared Venerable on 29 April 1980[40]
  • Vito Michele di Netta (26 February 1787 – 3 December 1849), priest, declared Venerable on 7 July 1935[41]
  • Giuseppe Maria Leone (23 May 1829 – 9 August 1902), priest, declared Venerable on 18 December 2024[42]
  • Antonio Filomeno Maria Losito (16 December 1838 – 18 July 1917), priest, declared Venerable on 30 September 2015[43]
  • Bernard Alojzy Łubieński (9 December 1846 – 10 September 1933), priest, declared Venerable on 6 March 2018[44]
  • Wilhelm Janauschek (19 October 1859 – 30 June 1926), priest, declared Venerable on 15 April 2014[45]
  • Alfred Pampalon (24 November 1867 – 30 September 1896), priest, declared Venerable on 14 May 1991
  • Pelágio Sauter (9 November 1878 – 23 November 1961), priest, declared Venerable on 7 November 2014
  • Francisco Barrecheguren Montagut (8 August 1881 – 7 October 1957), widow and father of Blessed María Concepcion Barrecheguren García and priest, declared Venerable on 5 May 2020[46]
  • Vítor Coelho de Almeida (22 September 1899 – 21 July 1987), priest, declared Venerable on 5 August 2022[47]

Servants of God

  • Cesare Sportelli (19 June 1701 – 19 April 1750), lawyer and priest
  • Paolo Cafaro (5 July 1707 – 13 August 1753), priest[48]
  • Johann Baptist Stöger (4 October 1810 – 3 November 1883), professed religious[49]
  • Emmanuele Ribera (2 March 1811 – 8 November 1874), priest[50]
  • Vittorio Lojodice (25 July 1834 – 10 January 1916), priest[51]
  • Francesco Pitocchi (21 September 1852 – 13 June 1922), priest[52]
  • Friedrich Grote (16 July 1853 – 30 April 1940), priest[53]
  • Antonio Solari (27 January 1861 – 14 July 1945), oblate, declared as Servant of God on 18 October 1995[54]
  • Isidoro Fiorini (23 May 1867 – 24 July 1956), priest, declared as Servant of God on 24 September 2002[55]
  • Ángel Vesga Fernández (1 October 1886 – 1 October 1936), Martyr of the Spanish Civil War, declared as Servant of God on 8 May 2008[56]
  • Celso Alonso Rodríguez (28 July 1896 – 29 September 1936), Martyr of the Spanish Civil War, declared as Servant of God on 8 May 2008[56]
  • Danylo (Roman) Bakhtalovs'kyi (21 October 1897 – 6 October 1985), Ukrainian priest and founder of the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary of Fatima, declared as Servant of God on 30 September 2005[57]
  • Ján Ivan Mastiliak (5 November 1911 – 18 September 1989), priest, declared as Servant of God in 2014[58]
  • Jorge Gottau (23 May 1917 – 24 April 1994), Bishop of Añatuya, declared as Servant of God in 2016[59]
  • Marian Halan (28 September 1927 – 5 June 1952), professed religious and Martyr of Ukraine, declared as Servant of God on 6 July 2002[60]
  • Gioakim (Marcel) Nguyen Tân Văn (15 March 1928 – 10 July 1959), Vietnamese professed religious and martyr, declared as Servant of God on 7 January 1995

Famous Redemptorists

Educational institutions (partial list)

  • Our Lady of Perpetual Succour High School (Mumbai, India)
  • St Alphonsus School, Bangalore, India
  • Ruamrudee International School (Bangkok, Thailand)
  • Saint Alphonsus Catholic School (Cebu, Philippines) – now under the Benedictine Sisters
  • de:Collegium Josephinum Bonn (Bonn, Germany)

From the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia

(CONGREGATION OF THE MOST HOLY REDEEMER)[3]

A society of missionary priests founded by St. Alphonsus Maria Liguori, 9 Nov., 1732, at Scala, near Amalfi, Italy, for the purpose of labouring among the neglected country people in the neighbourhood of Naples.

Mission and religious life

The Redemptorists are essentially and by their specific vocation a missionary society. According to their rule they are "to strive to imitate the virtues and examples of Jesus Christ, Our Redeemer, consecrating themselves especially to the preaching of the word of God to the poor". They take the simple vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, and by the vows of poverty they are bound to refuse all ecclesiastical dignities outside of the congregation. To these vows they add the vow and oath of perseverance to live in the congregation until death. Their labours consist principally in missions, retreats, and similar exercises. In order to render these labours most effective, all their sermons and instructions should be solid, simple, and persuasive. On all their missions they are obliged to preach a sermon on prayer and one on the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In order to secure the salutary effects of their missions, they should, after four or five months, return to the places where they have given missions, and preach another, shorter course of sermons. On missions proper the rule obliges them to hear all the confessions themselves. Wherever the Redemptorists have parishes they labour in the same spirit, both in the pulpit and in the confessional. One of the great means of preserving truly religious fervour among all classes of the faithful is the Archconfraternity of the Holy Family, which they establish in all their parishes. They are also most solicitous in providing well-equipped parochial schools, and they take special care of growing youth.

Foundation and early history

Within ten years of the order's foundation, permanent establishments were made at Nocera, Ciorani, Iliceto, and Caposele. In 1749 Benedict XIV canonically approved the work, under the title of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer. Royalism, however, caused the greatest obstacle to the development of the new congregation. An effort to obtain the royal exequatur to the papal approbation proved disastrous, and brought about a temporary separation of the Neapolitan houses and those which had been founded in the Papal States. In 1793 a reunion was at last effected under the new superior general, Pietro Paulo Blasucci, who governed the congregation until 1817. In the next six years several houses were opened in different parts of Southern Italy and Sicily, and the society flourished, though subjected to many grave trials. It was destined, however, to take on an international character. In 1785 a young Austrian, Clemens Maria Hofbauer, journeyed to Rome with a companion, Thaddeus Hübl. There they were deeply impressed by the fervour of the Fathers of the church of St. Julian, and applied for admission into the community. After profession and ordination, their chief desire was to transplant the congregation to northern countries. They received permission from the general to establish a house in Vienna or in any other Austrian city. But the Government was unfriendly, and Father Hofbauer offered his services to the Congregation of the Propaganda at Rome. He was sent to labour for a time in Courland Russia. In 1786, with his former companion, Father Hübl, he arrived at Warsaw, where the papal nuncio Saluzzo gave them charge of St. Benno's church, whence they were known in Poland as "Bennonites". Their apostolic zeal and untiring efforts procured the salvation of many souls, and effected the conversion of many heretics and Jews, while their church presented the spectacle of an uninterrupted mission.

Expansion in Europe

In 1793 Father Blasucci, the rector major, then residing at Nocera, appointed Father Hofbauer his vicar-general with all necessary authority. His first thoughts turned to Germany, though the time seemed inopportune, since Febronianism, Josephinism, Freemasonry, and infidelity held sway all over Europe. He succeeded, however, in establishing three foundations in Southern Germany, at Jestetten, Triberg, and Babenhausen, which he confided to the care of his favourite disciple, Father Passerat. These foundations were eventually suppressed, and the members banished. Father Passerat then betook himself to Switzerland, where in 1818 he organized a community at Valsainte in a dilapidated Carthusian monastery. In the meantime, owing to opposition, the house at Warsaw was suppressed. In 1808 the Fathers were expelled from St. Benno's and deported to the fortress of Küstrin Prussia, where they were disbanded. Father Hofbauer, after directing his companions to work for God's glory whenever and wherever they could, proceeded alone to Vienna, where he became an assistant chaplain and confessor of nuns. His influence was soon felt on all sides, even in the Congress of Vienna (1815), where the destinies of the Church in Germany were then being shaped. He was styled by Pius VII the "Apostle of Vienna". In the meantime he kept up a constant correspondence with his former companions, did all in his power to find for them suitable fields of labour, and predicted that after his death a brighter future was in store for the congregation, a prophecy that was soon fulfilled. He died 15 March, 1820. In accordance with the request of the Emperor Francis I, the first house of the Redemptorists was canonically established in Vienna on Christmas Day, 1820. In May several prominent young men, former disciples of Father Hofbauer, had already received the religious habit.

Father Passerat succeeded Hofbauer as vicar-general; the onerous and trying duties of his office were rendered more difficult by the prevalent spirit of Josephinism. The years intervening between 1815 and 1821 found some of the Fathers labouring in Bulgaria, but, owing to the hostility of the schismatics, they were compelled to abandon this field. A number of flourishing foundations were established between 1820 and 1848. In 1826, at the request of the Austrian Government, a foundation was started at Lisbon, Portugal, for the benefit of German Catholics, but it did not last long. In 1820 the Redemptorists acquired the convent of Bischenberg, Alsace. The new community was sent from Valsainte. In 1828 the Fathers exchanged their poorly furnished home at Valsainte for the commodious Convent of Fribourg, which proved to be a fruitful nursery for the congregation until the Revolution of 1848. Prior to 1848 six houses had been established in Austria: Frohnleiten in 1826; Mautern in 1827, the present house of studies; Innsbruck in 1828; Marburg and Eggenburg in 1833; and Leoben in 1834. During Passerat's administration the congregation was introduced into Belgium by Father de Held, and in the course of the next ten years four houses were established: Tournai in 1831, St-Trond in 1833, Liège in 1833, and Brussels in 1849. A foundation was also opened at Wittem, Holland, where, in 1836, an old Capuchin monastery became the house of studies. During the same period another important mission was begun in North America. In 1828 Mgr Résé, Vicar-General of Cincinnati, visited Europe to solicit pecuniary aid and to obtain evangelical labourers. While at Vienna he applied to Passerat, from whom he secured three priests and three lay brothers; they arrived in New York 20 June, 1832. Two other Fathers followed in 1835. For seven years they laboured heroically among the whites and the Indians of northern Michigan and northern Ohio. Though they took charge of many stations in both states, they did not secure a permanent footing in any of these places, with the exception of Detroit. In 1839 the Fathers were called to Pittsburg to assume charge of the German congregation, which was then without a priest, and torn with party strife. In a short time they made it a model congregation. Scattered throughout the surrounding country were many Catholic settlers, to whom they preached the Word of God and administered the sacraments. This species of mission inaugurated by them wherever they were established was the beginning of many a well-organized parish of to-day. From this time the care of German congregations, often in a deplorable condition on account of factions, became a prominent element of the apostolate of the Redemptorists in North America. Their first concern, however, was to establish, wherever feasible, parochial schools, which are in a flourishing condition to this day. When the success of the Fathers at Pittsburg became known, applications were made to them for other foundations. They were called to Baltimore in 1840; to New York in 1842; to Philadelphia in 1843; to Buffalo in 1845; to Detroit and New Orleans in 1847; and to Cumberland in 1849. In 1837 a German congregation had been organized at Rochester by Father Prost, but the Fathers did not take permanent charge until 1841.

Meanwhile the congregation gained a permanent footing in new countries of Europe. In 1841 King Louis I of Bavaria invited the Fathers to the celebrated shrine of Our Lady at Altötting. During this period four houses were founded in France: Landser in Alsace, in 1842; St-Nicolas-du-Port, in 1845; Teterchen in Lorraine and Contamine in Savoy, in 1847. The congregation suffered great losses through the revolution that swept over Europe in 1848. In 1847 the Fathers were expelled from Switzerland and in 1848 from Austria, to which, however, they returned. Important developments were now taking place within the congregation itself. Although the Transalpine portion of the congregation was subject to the rector major at Nocera in Italy, this superior left its government almost exclusively in the hands of a vicar-general resident at Vienna. As the congregation had spread far beyond its original boundaries, it was deemed necessary to create the office of provincial between the rector major and the local superiors. Father Passerat, weighed down by age and infirmities, resigned his office in 1848. After a series of deliberations conducted by the Holy See with the superior general and the Fathers of the Transalpine provinces, Father Rudolph Smetana was appointed vicar-general in 1850. Pius IX was now persuaded that it would be advantageous to have the superior general resident in Rome. Fearing the opposition of the King of Naples, he did all in his power to convince him of the benefits arising from this step, but in vain; thereupon he decided. that the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, to the exclusion of the Neapolitan and the Sicilian houses, should be placed under a general superior, who was henceforth to reside at Rome. At the same time he made special regulations for the Redemptorists in the Kingdom of Naples. On the disappearance of the latter, the Neapolitan houses were united to the body of the congregation in 1869.

International organization

In pursuance of orders from the Holy See, Father Smetana convoked a general chapter. It was opened 26 April, 1855. The result of this chapter was the election of Father Nicholas Mauron, a native of Switzerland, as superior general. He was the first rector major to take up his abode at Rome. During Smetana's administration, and particularly during that of Mauron, the congregation made rapid progress. The number of provinces in 1852 - not including Naples and Sicily - was four; in 1890 they had increased to twelve. The French-Swiss province, presided over by Father Desurmont for twenty-two years (1865-87), gained admission into Spain and South America. During the presidency of Garcia Moreno two houses were established in the Republic of Ecuador. A few years later the congregation gained a foothold in Peru, Chile, and Colombia. The original Belgian province, having grown very rapidly, was divided into the provinces of Belgium and Holland. The Lower German province found a new field of labour in the eastern part of South America. The province of Holland received charge of the mission at Surinam; South America, a settlement colonized partly by lepers.

North America

The American province of the congregation, erected in 1850, has had a striking development. Its first provincial was the Rev. Bernard Hafkenscheid, a fellow-student of Leo XIII. One of his first cares was the establishment of a seminary and the selection of a suitable place for a novitiate. He chose Cumberland, Maryland, for the future house of studies. From this nursery of study and piety many able and zealous missionaries went forth. In 1853 the novitiate, which had been located since 1849 at Baltimore, was removed to Annapolis, Maryland. Here the heirs of Charles Carroll of Carrollton had donated their entire estate to the Redemptorist Fathers. This house remained the novitiate until 1907, with the exception of the years 1862-66, when it was at Cumberland, and the students at Annapolis. In 1858-59 the present church and convent were built at Annapolis. In 1868 the students were transferred to the new house of studies at Ilchester, Maryland, which remained the Alma Mater of the Redemptorists until 1907. In that year the faculty and the students, forty-eight in number, took up their abode at Esopus, on the Hudson, where a more spacious scholasticate had been erected. From the first house of St. Alphonsus in Baltimore sprang other communities: St. Michael's in 1859, St. James's in 1867, and the Sacred Heart in 1878. In 1882, owing to difficulties in the Bohemian parish, the Fathers, at the earnest request of Cardinal, then Archbishop, Gibbons, assumed charge of the Bohemians. In this diocese five other parishes, one in the city of Washington, were originally founded by the Redemptorists. In 1861 the congregation was called to Chicago, Illinois, to take charge of St. Michael's parish. It was not long before a large church and a commodious school and convent were built. The great fire of 1871 destroyed all these structures, but, thanks to the faith and generosity of the people, they were rebuilt.

The many successful missions which the Redemptorists had given in the Diocese of St. Louis induced Archbishop Kenrick to ask for a foundation of the congregation in his episcopal city, and in 1866 a mission house was opened at St. Louis. In the same year (1866) another mission house was established in New York, near the little church of St. Alphonsus, which had been erected in 1845 for the convenience of the Germans in that section of the city; it had been served by Fathers of the Third Street community. Though now a mission church, St. Alphonsus's continued to be a parish church for the Germans. Subsequently, two more foundations were made in New York, one for Bohemian Catholics, and the other for the German Catholics in the northern part of the city. In 1871 an important mission house was opened at Roxbury, Boston. It was dedicated to Our Lady of Perpetual Help. Its first rector, the Rev. William H. Gross, was succeeded by the Rev. Leopold Petsch, when the former became Bishop of Savannah in 1873. In 1883, when a new parish was formed in that district, the Fathers of the mission church took charge of it. As early as 1874 the Redemptorists of the American province were called to St. Patrick's Church, Quebec, Canada, the only parish church in that city for English-speaking Catholics. Four years later the American Fathers became the custodians of the miraculous shrine of Ste-Anne de Beaupré, near Quebec; it was eventually transferred to the Fathers of the Belgian province. The same Fathers assumed charge of St. Anne's, Montreal, a large parish in a very poor district of the city. The Baltimore province in the meantime established two other foundations in Canada: St. Patrick's, Toronto, in 1881, and St. Peter's, St. John, N. B., in 1884. In 1876 the congregation was invited to take a second church in Philadelphia, that of St. Boniface. Besides these houses the province of Baltimore founded in 1881 a separate house for its juvenate, or junior house of studies, at Northeast, Pennsylvania. Another house, to be used as a primary juvenate, was purchased in 1886 at Saratoga, New York; this is at present a mission house. In 1893 a new house was opened at Brooklyn, New York.

In 1875 the original American province was divided, the eastern under the name of the province of Baltimore, and the western as the province of St. Louis. This latter province embraced the houses of St. Louis, New Orleans, Chicago, and Chatawa. This last-named place was selected for the novitiate and house of studies for the province of St. Louis, but was subsequently abandoned. Since 1875 several new foundations have been established. In 1878 Kansas City, Missouri, was selected for an educational institution. The old house of St. Mary's at Detroit was abandoned in 1872, but in 1880 another house was established in the suburbs of the same city; this is now a flourishing mission and parish church. Two years later the Redemptorists began a second foundation at Chicago. In 1887 a juvenate was erected at Kirkwood, near St. Louis, and in 1888 the Fathers settled at Grand Rapids, Michigan. In 1891 a foundation was made at Seattle, Washington, in 1897 a new house of studies was erected at De Soto, Missouri. In 1894 the Fathers went to Denver, Colorado, and took charge of St. Joseph's Church; in 1906 to Portland, Oregon; in 1908 to Davenport, Iowa, and to Fresno, California. In 1910 a new house was founded at Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, which will be the future house of studies of the province of St. Louis.

Mission work

Despite the manifold labours and the limited number of Fathers, the preaching of missions, the special work of the sons of St. Alphonsus, was never neglected. In 1850, however, it received a powerful impetus under the first provincial, Father Bernard. Shortly after his arrival in America he organized and trained what may be called the first band of regular missionaries, among whom were the eminent converts, Fathers Hecker, Hewit, and Walworth; these distinguished missionaries afterwards established the Congregation of the Paulists. Since then the work of the missions has increased rapidly from year to year; thus a double activity, parish work and mission work, has become a special feature of the congregation in North America. Some idea of the work of the Baltimore province during the ten years from 1890 to 1899 is conveyed by the following figures: missions and renewals, 1889; retreats, 1071; other exercises, 75; confessions, 2,418,758; converts, 1252. Parish work: baptisms, 54,608; communions, 6,827,000; first communions, 19,077; marriages, 8311; average number of school children, 13,000; converts, 1922.

The administration of Father Mauron was rendered memorable by several important events. In 1866 Pius IX caused the miraculous picture of Our Lady of Perpetual Help to be placed in the Redemptorist Church at Rome. The devotion to the Blessed Virgin under this attractive title has since then spread far and wide. In 1871 the pope, moved by the urgent and repeated petitions of bishops and heads of religious orders, bestowed the title of Doctor of the Universal Church upon St. Alphonsus, known the world over by his theological and devotional writings. Father Hofbauer, the Apostle of Vienna, was beatified in 1889, and Brother Gerard Majella, the thaumaturgus of the congregation, in 1893. The latter was canonized by Pius X, 11 Dec., 1904. The eventful administration of Father Mauron ended in 1893. In 1882 he was stricken with apoplexy, and, though he rallied from the shock, a slow decline set in, and he died 13 July, 1893. On 1 March, 1894, Very Rev. Mathias Raus was elected superior general. He was born 9 Aug., 1829, in the Duchy of Luxemburg; made his profession 1 Nov., 1853, and was ordained priest 8 Aug., 1858. After filling various important offices in the order, he was called to Rome by his predecessor to be one of the general consultors. Father Raus's administration is remarkable for the number of Redemptorist causes of beatification introduced, or about to be introduced, in Rome, thirteen in all. Among them are: Ven. John Nepomucene Neumann, superior of the American Province, who died as Bishop of Philadelphia, 5 Jan., 1860; Father Francis X. Seelos, of the American province, who died a victim of yellow fever at New Orleans, 4 Oct., 1867; and Father Peter Donders, the Apostle of the Lepers in Surinam, who died in the leper colony at Batavia, in Dutch Guiana, 14 Jan., 1887. To these may be added Father Alfred Pampelon, who died at Ste-Anne de Beaupré in Canada, 30 Sept., 1896. Father Raus's administration was closed by the happy issue of the cause of Blessed Clement M. Hofbauer's canonization, which took place on 20 May, 1909. In that year the venerable superior, having attained his eighty-second year, deemed it wise to resign his responsible office, and in the general chapter opened on 26 April, 1909, the Very Rev. Father Patrick Murray, superior of the Irish province, was elected superior general of the congregation. He was born 24 Nov., 1865, made his profession 23 Oct., 1889, and was ordained priest 10 Sept., 1890.

During the past twelve years the development of the congregation has been very marked. The Roman province was particularly honoured by Leo XIII, when he confided to the Fathers the magnificent new church of St. Joachim in Rome. The French province was divided into three provinces and two vice-provinces in 1900. Spain became a province, having eight houses, to which recently two more communities were added. The French province proper was divided into two provinces, Lyons and Paris. To the former now belong the Southern Pacific vice-province, embracing Chile and Peru, and to the latter the Northern vice-province of Ecuador and Colombia. Since the suppression of the religious orders in France in 1904, some of the Redemptorist communities have undertaken new foundations in Belgium, and others in South America. In 1900 the Austrian province was also divided into two provinces, Vienna and Prague, with a Polish vice-province. The latter was made a province in 1909. Since the division the Viennese opened two houses in Denmark, one in Prussian Silesia, and a fourth at Linz. In 1899 the Belgian Fathers were requested by the Government to take charge of a number of missions in the Congo State; these missions have now increased to six, Matadi, Tumba, Kionzo, Kinkanda, Kimpesse, and Sonagongo. The Fathers are deeply indebted to the paternal Government of the Congo State for the progress they have made since their arrival in 1899. Several valuable missionaries have already fallen victims to the treacherous climate.

In Canada, which was made a vice-province in 1894, four more houses were opened. This vice-province, depending on the Belgian province, numbers six houses. In the West Indies, which were also made a vice-province in 1904, there are now six houses. The province of Baltimore opened in 1902 a foundation at Mayagüez in Porto Rico. Before the occupation of the island by the United States the Spanish Redemptorists had settled at San Juan, but at the close of the Cuban War returned to Spain. The American Fathers are now there as missionaries and pastors. A parish comprising some 30,000 souls is confided to their care. Despite all their labours for the benefit of the natives their progress is very slow. On 26 July, 1911, the Belgian houses of Canada were erected into a new province.

The Upper German or Bavarian province, which was under the ban of the Kulturkampf, has recovered some of its lost ground. Since its readmittance, it has added another very important foundation. But the historic convent of Altötting has passed into other hands. In 1894 this province opened in Brazil a mission of two houses forming a vice-province. The province of Holland has added to its mission in Surinam a mission in Brazil, forming another vice-province, having under its jurisdiction three houses.

English and Irish provinces

A more detailed account of the English and Irish provinces claims our attention.

The English province, begun from Belgium in 1843, owes its great progress to the Rev. Robert A. Coffin, one of the band of converts associated with Newman, Manning, and Faber in the Oxford Movement. After his ordination to the priesthood he joined the Redemptorists, and gave missions throughout England and Ireland, until he was appointed first provincial of the English province in 1865. During his administration of seventeen years new houses were founded in various parts of the United Kingdom, the house at Perth being the first convent opened in Scotland since the Reformation. Leo XIII appointed the Rev. Robert A. Coffin Bishop of Southwark. His successor as provincial, the Rev. Hugh McDonald, died Bishop of Aberdeen, Scotland. The activity of the English Fathers is evidenced by their literary labours and their success on the missions, which resulted in more than 16,000 converts. At present the province has eight houses: Clapham, Bishop-Eton, Monkwearmouth, Bishop's Stortford, Kingswood, Edmonton, and the novitiate and house of studies at Perth, Scotland, with a total membership of one hundred and twenty-three. Besides the Rev. Robert A. Coffin, a number of noted converts have joined the congregation, among them Bridgett, Livius, and Douglas.

In 1898 the houses in Ireland and Australia, hitherto subject to the English province, were constituted an Irish province, and Australia, a vice-province, as its dependency. The Rev. Andrew Boylan was appointed the first provincial, with his residence at Limerick. On 25 March, 1901, the foundation of the present new juvenate house at Limerick was laid. The province of Ireland comprises four houses: Limerick, Dundalk, Belfast, and Esker; the vice-province of Australia, three houses: Waratah in New South Wales, Ballarat in Victoria, and Perth in Western Australia. The total membership is one hundred and forty-seven. In 1906 the Rev. Andrew Boylan was commissioned to visit the Philippine Islands, and to establish there a colony of Irish Redemptorists. At present there are two Redemptorist Houses on these Islands and one in Wellington, New Zealand. The church at Limerick is celebrated for its Confraternity of the Holy Family for men and boys, founded by the Rev. Edward Bridgett, which the late Bishop of Limerick, Dr. Butler, called "the miracle wrought by the Mother of Perpetual Succour, a far greater miracle than the cure of a blind boy or the healing of a cripple". In 1903 it had the following membership: Monday, division of men, 2722; Tuesday, division of men, 2580, boys' division, 1226; total, 6528. Meetings are held every week, the average attendance being 3992, while the communions received in the confraternity during 1902 numbered: men, 39,860, boys, 8497; total 48,357.

Growth and writings

The following figures will exemplify the growth of the congregation. The number of subjects in 1852 (not including those of Italy) were: priests, 343; professed students, 75; priests novice, 12; choir novices, 45; professed lay brothers, 175; lay novices, 67; total, 715; houses, 45. In 1910 (including Italy) priests, 2085; professed students, 537; choir novices, 142; professed lay brothers, 962; lay novices, 343; total, 4069; houses, 218; provinces, 19; vice-provinces, 10. The constant and rapid growth of the congregation must be attributed chiefly to the erection of the so-called juvenates. Finding it difficult in some countries and impossible in others to secure a solid future for the different provinces, the Fathers deemed it expedient to receive boys who showed a disposition for the religious and priestly life, and to prepare them while still young for the higher studies. Father Hofbauer adopted this plan, and obtained thereby a number of excellent young men for the order. In the same way Father Passerat was equally successful in drawing young men to the congregation. It was in this manner that Father Mauron, the late superior general, was attracted to the order. But it was only after 1867 or 1868 that a definite scheme of preparing boys for the novitiate was followed. The idea was taken up simultaneously in the French and American provinces. Father Desurmont was the first to organize this preparatory institution in France. For many years it was customary for the American Fathers to select from their parochial schools boys who, in their opinion, would eventually become fit subjects for the novitiate. After having tested their ability, they instructed them personally in the rudiments of Latin, or sent them to a Catholic college until they reached their sixteenth year. At this age they were admitted to the novitiate, after which they completed their humanities. For the benefit of boys who did not belong to Redemptorist parishes or who lived in other cities the provincial, Father Helmpraecht (1865-77), secured a suitable place near his residence at Baltimore. One of the Fathers was appointed director. In 1869 a new method was followed. The young men were to finish their classical course before entering the novitiate. To accommodate the increasing number of pupils, provision was made at Baltimore, then at Ilchester, until finally, in 1881, a desirable college building was purchased at Northeast, Pennsylvania. Here a six years' classical course is pursued, while at the same time the moral and physical fitness of the young men may be easily ascertained. Similar preparatory colleges, with some slight differences, have been introduced into almost every province. After a novitiate of one year, the young members pass to the higher course of studies. This embraces two years' philosophy, two years' dogmatic, and two years' moral theology, with natural philosophy, church history, Sacred Scripture, canon law, pastoral theology, and homiletics. After the completion of their studies the young priests make what is called the "second novitiate" of six months, during which time they are trained theoretically and practically in the special work of the missions.

Although the limited number of subjects and the manifold labours of the ministry do not permit the members of the congregation to make a specialty of it, still their literary work is not inconsiderable. Among Redemptorist authors the following may be mentioned: Italy: Januar. Sarnelli, Bl. Panzutti, Anton. Tannoia; France: Achilles Desurmont, Augustine Berthe, Leonard Gaudé; England: Thos. Livius, Thos. E. Bridgett, Cyril Ryder, Robert A. Coffin; Austria: Aug. Rösler, Karl Dilgskron, Gerard Diessel, Georg Freund, Franz Kayker; Bohemia: Emmanuel Kovar, Franc. Blatak, Franc. Sal. Blazek, Aloys. Polak, Theoph. Mateju, Wenc. Melichar; Germany: Michael Benger, Michael Haringer, Andreas Hugues; Belgium: Victor Cardinal Deschamps, Henri Saintrain, Ernest Dubois, Francis X. Godts; Holland: J. Aertnys, Frans Ter Haar, Willem van Rossum, Joh. L. Jansen, Aloys. Walter; Spain and South America: Tomas Ramos, Ramon Serabia; North America: Antony Konings, Joseph Putzer, Michael Müller, Ferreol Girardey, Peter Geiermann.

CURRIER, History of Religious Orders (New York, 1894); HEIMBUCHER, Die Orden und Kongregationen der katholischen Kirche (Paderborn, 1908), s. v. Redemptoristen; WUEST, Annales Provinciœ Americanœ (Ilchester, 1888); History of the Redemptorists at Annapolis, Md. (Ilchester, 1904); BECK, Die Redemptoristen in Pittsburg (Pittsburg, 1889); ANON, Kurzer Ueberblick, appendix to GISSLER'S St. Alphonsus von Liguori (Einsiedeln, 1887); various lives of Father Hofbauer; various lives of St. Alphonsus, especially those of CAPECELATRO, DILGSKRON, and BERTHS; various lives of Fr. Passerat and Fr. Mauron; Servorum Dei C.SS.R. Album (Rome, 1903); ANON., Fifty Years at Limerick (1903); MADER, Die Kongregation des Allerheiligsten Erlösers in Oesterreich (Vienna, 1887); ANON., Lebensbilder verstorbener Redemptoristen in Nieder-Deutschland (Dülmen, 1896); RATTE, Der hl. Alphonsus und der Redemptoristen-Orden (Luxemburg, 1887); ZAPF, Die Redemptoristen (Erlangen, 1894); Ascetical Works of St. Alphonsus (centenary ed.), XVII, miscellany.

Joseph Wuest.

References

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