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[German Version] (“God’s Work,” officially: Praelatura personalis Sanctae Crucis et Operis Dei), is one of the most influential and at the same time most controversial institutions within the Catholic Church. It was founded in 1928 in Madrid by the Spanish priest Josemaria Escriva de Balaguer (Saint, 1902–1975) as an association for laymen (in 1930 a strictly separate women’s branch was founded), for the sanctification of work and the Christianization of society; in 1941 it was approved as pia unio. In order to have their own clergy, the “Priestly Society of the Holy Cros…

[German Version] Influenced by the veneration of the Holy Family (Family, Holy), especially as such manifested itself in Canada, 105 communities of the Holy Family emerged between 1650 and 1986 which had mostly female members and which were active in numerous areas of the apostolate and charity. Communities include: 1. Missionaries of the Holy Family (Missionnaires de la Sainte Famille; MSF), established in 1895 by the people's missionary Jean-Baptiste Berthier (1840–1908) in Grave (Holland) to support those receiving a late calling; during the 20th century, it ¶ also engaged in m…

[German Version] The rise of Catholic orders whose apostolate is connected to the veneration of the Hearts of Jesus and Mary, and is borne by the associated spirituality, is directly related to the spread of the public and liturgical cults of the Heart of Jesus and the Heart of Mary as they prevailed from the 18th century, especially in France. With reference to the Heart of Mary societies, the dedication of the world to the Heart of Mary – a goal envisaged since the 19th century and attained in 1…

[German Version] The Order of Poor Clerks Regular of the Mother of God of the Pious Schools (Scolopi, Escolapios, Ordo Clericorum Regularium Pauperum Matris Dei Scholarum Piarum), was founded in 1602 in Rome by the Spanish priest José de Calasanz (saint, 1556/1557–1648; deposed as general in 1642), and elevated to an order in 1621. It is characterized by Marian (Mary, Veneration of: I) and Ignatian (Ignatius of Loyola) spirituality and a centralized constitution. Special vows are taken for the upb…

[German Version] (eremitic orders, anchoritic orders). Most of these orders, of both men and women, were established in the 11th century; their traditions go back to the early Christian anchorites. Unlike monastics living a common life (Cenobites), their members largely lived in isolation, requiring a special monastery complex ( eremitorium), highly developed among the Camaldolese and Carthusians. Reclusive strains are also found among the Celestines, Carmelites, and Servites. Manfred Eder Bibliography K.S. Frank, “Einsiedler, Eremit,” LThK  3 III, 1995, 557–559 (bibl.).

[German Version] (cf. St. Dorothy). Two Italian congregations that arose from the Women’s Union of St. Dorothea (founded by Don Luca Passi, 1789–1866) with educational and social missions: (1) the teaching sisters ( maestre) with motherhouses in Brescia, Venice, Rome and Vicenza; and (2) sisters ( suore) dispersed around the world and numbering approx. 1,600 members with motherhouses in Rome and Cemmo near Brescia. Manfred Eder Bibliography ¶ G. Rocca & C. Vianelli, “Maestre di Santa Dorotea,” DIP V, 1978, 840–843 G. Rocca et al., eds., “Santa Dorotea, Suore di,” DIP  VIII, 1988, 677…

[German Version] (Servants of Mary, Fratres Servi S. Mariae, Ordo Servorum Mariae, OSM), a clerical order associated with the mendicants, founded in Florence in the first half of the 13th century as a group of hermits; documented in 1249 as Servi S. Mariae (“Servants of Mary”). After difficult initial years, they slowly expanded throughout Italy; in the 13th century they reached Germany (13 houses in 1404: first in Halle, 1257; then Germersheim, Halberstadt, and Himmelgarten). In the 15th century, they reached France, Spain, and Portuga…

[German Version] I. Concept and Definition – II. History – III. Membership I. Concept and Definition Orders are organized associations of religious communities. The constituent element of belonging to an order ( status religiosus) is a longterm commitment to a particularly close discipleship to Christ (Discipleship, Christian) to the glory of God, the edification of the church, and the salvation of the world ( CIC/1983, c. 573). This way of life is usually set (c. 575) by the evangelical counsels or counsels of perfection (Perfection, Counsels of; poverty, c…

[German Version] 1. Marists (Societas Mariae, SM), founded at Belley (near Lyon) in 1816 by Jean-Claude-Marie Colin (1790–1875) as a congregation of priests for comprehensive pastoral ministry with a Marian focus. Since 1836 they have been a missionary presence in Oceania. They have extended their ministry throughout Europe (in Germany since 1900: missionary training center at Ahmsen near Meppen in northwestern Germany), North America, and Australia; since 1945 they have also worked in Africa and L…

[German Version] While the Minims trace their German name Paulaner (today best known as the name of a brewery with roots in the order’s history) to Francis of Paula, the hermit congregations of the Pauline Fathers are named for their founder, Paul of Thebes, and in Spanish-speaking areas the Lazarists are also called Paules after their founder, Vincent de Paul; several other important religious orders take their name from Paul, the prince of the apostles. I. Angelic Sisters of Saint Paul ( Sorores angelicae S. Pauli), an order founded in 1530 during the pre-Tridentine reform mov…

[German Version] (Ordo Clericorum Regularium a Somasc[h]a, CRS), an order of regular clergy founded in Somasca, Lombardy, in 1534 by the Venetian noble Gerolamo Miani (St. Emiliani, c. 1486–1537) in the spirit of Catholic reform as a Compagnia dei Servi dei ¶ poveri (“Society of servants of the poor”). It was to have a pastoral, charitable, and educational apostolate, focused especially on education of orphans. After a difficult beginning, the order consolidated but almost died out c. 1800. Later it experienced a slow revival, which las…

[German Version] ( Societas Christi Regis, S.Chr.R.). Founded in Graz in 1917/1919 by the Catholic priests M.J. Metzger and Joseph Wilhelm Impekoven (died 1918) as the Missionary Society of the White Cross (male order terminated in 1944), the order was renamed the Society of Christ the King when the Solemnity of Christ the King was instituted. Its headquarters was moved to Meitingen, near Augsburg. The sisters (since 1969 a secular institute under diocesan law), located primarily in Germany, Austria,…

[German Version] I. Pueri oblati – II. Adults – III. Oblate Institutes I. Pueri oblati Oblates (from Lat. oblati, “offered”) were already known in the Early Church. Parents or guardians dedicated children to a monastic vocation, thus – echoing the Old Testament example of Samson and Samuel – offering their most precious possession to God. The legal basis of this practice was the paternal right of disposal recognized by Jewish and Roman legal tradition. The early monastic rules make explicit provision for oblation…

[German Version] (Societas Mariae Montfortana, SMM), founded c. 1710 in Poitiers by Louis- Marie Grignion de Montfort (Saint; 1673–1716) as a ¶ congregation of priests, to strengthen the Catholic faith and promote the veneration of Mary (Mary, Veneration of). Under Gabriel Deshayes (superior: 1812–1841) the Montfort Missionaries expanded, and since 1871 they have carried out mission work abroad (in Haiti, Colombia, and elsewhere). Today they have 914 members in 30 countries (figures for the year 2008; headquarters in…

[German Version] (Societas Sanctissimi Sacramenti, SSS), founded in Paris in 1856 by the Marist Father Pierre-Julien Eymard (1811–1868; beatified 1962) to praise the Holy Eucharist in worship, proclamation and writing (the strictly contemplative female branch in 1858 in Angers: “Sisters of the Most Holy Sacrament”) and was recognized as a congregation with papal rights in 1863. I…

[German Version] The image of Christ as the Good Shepherd has been an obvious model and name for religious orders devoted to social and charitable work. The most important women's order of this nature is the Sisters of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd (Soeurs de Notre Dame de Charité du Bon-Pasteur), a sizeable offshoot of the Sisters of Our Lady of Charity (of the Refuge), founded at Caen in France by Jean Eudes (Eudist Fathers, Jesus and Mary, Congregation of) in 1644. The order was reco…

[German Version] term for members of various Catholic congregations with a mission of teaching and training. I. Brothers of the Christian Schools (De La Salle Brothers, Fratres Scholarum Christianarum, FSC), founded in 1681 by J.B. de La Salle in Reims. Gradual development into the congregation recognized by the pope in 1725 which set itself the task of school education for the lower and middle classe…

[German Version] (Mary Ward Sisters; since 2004: Congregatio Jesu), one of the most important female teaching orders of the Catholic Church. The “Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary” was founded by the Englishwoman Mary Ward (1585–1645) in 1609/10 in the Spanish Netherlands during the persecution of Catholics in England in order to care for and educate English girls living there. It was patterned after the model of the Jesuits. The founder, in favor of her youth work, dispensed with both the stri…

[German Version] (Conventuals, Black Franciscans, Cordeliers; Ordo Fratrum Minorum Conventualium, OFMConv) are an independent Franciscan order (Franciscans). Within the general movement of the “Minor Brothers,” soon after the death of Francis of Assisi a wing developed that increasingly lived together in larger communities (convents), carried out pastoral work (esp. in towns, where the convent church of the Minorites became a paraparochial centre of worship), and worked decisively in an apostolic …

[German Version] I. Stigmatines (Stimmatini, Bertoniani, Congregatio Presbyterorum a Sacris Stigmatibus Domini Nostri Jesu Christi, CSS, CPS), founded in Verona (northern Italy) in 1816 by the popular missionary Gaspare Bertoni (1777–1853). Following the model of the previously suppressed Jesuits, the Stigmatines were intended as a missionary and educational ministry. As of 2009, there were 441 members, primarily in Italy, Brazil, the United States, and South Africa. The generalate is in Rome. II. Stigmatine Sisters (Stimmatine, Povere Figlie delle Sacre Stimmate di S…

[German Version] (Congregatio Missionariorum de Mariannhill, CMM). In 1882 the Trappist Franz Pfanner (1825–1909) founded the monastery (after 1885 abbey) of Mariannhill near Durban (Natal, South Africa), where he sought as abbot to combine strict Trappist observance with evangelization and comprehensive development aid. Following disagreements within the community and order, Pfanner, who had founded the Mariannhill Sisters (Missionary Sisters of the Precious Blood, CPS) in 1885, was suspended in …

[German Version] 1. “Regular Clerics of the Mother of God” (Ordo Clericorum Regularium Matris Dei [OMD, CRMD], Leonardini), founded in Lucca by Giovanni Leonardi (St., 1543–1609) for the sanctification of its members and for teaching poor children; originated from the association called “Preti reformati della Beata Vergine” established in 1574. The congregation, which was elevated to become an order in 1621, soon spread rapidly in Italy (general motherhouse in Rome), but it declined considerably i…

[German Version] Graue Brüder und Schwestern (Grey Brothers and Sisters) was the popular German term in the Middle Ages for the Franciscans (Engl. Grey Friars), sometimes also for the Cistercians and Vallombrosans. The members of the Frati della Carità founded by Ludovio da Casoria OFM (beatified, 1814–1885) in 1859 in Naples and disbanded in 1971 were also called Frati bigi (Grey Brothers). Grey Sisters was the late medieval designation for Beguines/Beghards and sisterhoods living according to the Franciscan rule for the third order, especially in nort…

[German Version] (CL; “Community and Liberation”) is a church renewal movement founded in 1954 in Milan by the Catholic student minister Luigi Giussani (born 1922) and now spread to over 40 countries (primarily Italy and Switzerland). The fraternity of Community and Liberation and the “Memores Domini” community, which follow the counsels of perfection, are papally approved lay associations. Community and Liberation strives for the recognition of the presence of the Mysterium Christi among individuals, a presence that must become visible in the unity and solidarity of believers (c o…

[German Version] (Nuns of the Immaculate Conception; see also Immaculate Conception, Order of the) was founded as a strictly contemplative order with the support of the Castilian court in 1484 in Galliana near Toledo by the Portuguese Beatriz de Silva y Meneses (Saint, c. 1426 – c. 1491), previously a lady at the court of Queen Isabella I of Castile, and confirmed by pope Innocent VIII in 1489. They originally lived by the rule and statutes of the Cisterc…

[German Version] ( Ordo Minimorum: OM; also: Paulans). The order of the Minims was founded in 1454 by Francis of Paula in Calabria (Italy) as the “Hermits of St. Francis of Assisi” for the purpose of leading an even more austere life than that stipulated by St. Francis for the Friars Minor (Minorites). The order's distinguishing marks are humility and penitence (the superior is designated “corrector”), in addition to a special vow of lifelong fasting that only allows a diet of bread, water, oil, fru…

[German Version] The missionary work of Francis Xavier, the apostle of India and Japan, and his great prestige, have made him the patron of various orders. I. Orders of Men Missionari Saveriani (Societas Xaveriana, SX), founded in Parma in 1895 by Guido Maria Conforti (1865–1935) for missionary work; they began in China in 1898. Today they work primarily in Africa, America, and East Asia. The Missionary Society of St. Francis Xavier (Pilar Fathers, SFX), founded in Goa (India) in 1887, reorganized in 1939 under diocesan law …

[German Version] The Sylvestrine order ( Congregatio Silvestrina Ordinis Sancti Benedicti, CSilvOSB) was founded in Montefano (near Fabriano, in Italy) in 1231 by the hermit Silvestro Guzzolini (c. 1177–1267) as a reformed Benedictine congregation; it was recognized in 1247 by Innocent IV as Ordo S. Benedicti de Montefano. The Benedictine Rule (Benedict, Rule of Saint) was made more strict by eremitic and mendicant provisions (small houses, manual labor, and begging). The order, limited to central Italy, was reoriented by its fourth prior ge…

[German Version] 1. Order of the Holy Spirit (Hospitallers). A lay brotherhood going back to the Hospital of the Holy Spirit founded in Montpellier c. 1170/1175 by Guido of Montpellier, which was recognized as an order in 1198 by Innocent III (following the Augustinian Rule [Augustine, Rule of Saint], with a special vow of hospitality and statutes based on those of the chivalric hospitallers); in 1204 the hospital of Santa Maria (later Santo Spirito) at Sassia in Rome was transferred to them. The o…

[German Version] (Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, Congregatio Sanctissimi Redemptoris; CSR). The order was founded in 1732 in Scala, near Naples, by A.M. Liguori together with the Carmelite nun and mystic M. Celeste Crostarosa (1696–1755) and Tommaso Falcoia (1663–1743), bishop of Castellammare di Stabia. It is a congregation of priests who take simple life vows; its aim is sanctification through faithful discipleship and apostolic work. The members are to engage in extraordinary pastoral …

[German Version] (Jan 23, 1585, Mulwith, near Ripon, England – Jan 30, 1645, Heworth, near York), founder of the Institutum Beatae Mariae Virginis (Congregatio Jesu). After joining the Walloon Poor Clares in St.-Omer (Flanders) in 1606, in 1609/1610 she founded an institute in St.-Omer for the education and pastoral care of girls, modeled on the Jesuits. She had already founded ten settlements with schools in several European countries when Urban VIII suppressed her work in 1631, citing absence of…

[German Version] is the collective name for the religious orders ( Ordines hospitaliarii) that emerged in the context of the medieval hospice movement (Hospice). In the wake of the crusades, chivalric groups assumed the responsibility for the care and services in the hospitals, thus leading to the chivalric hospital orders (Hospitaller Order of St. Lazarus of Jerusalem [Lazarites], established in the late 11th century for the care of lepers, focus on Western Europe from 1254, now present worldwide and activ…

[German Version] (baptized Rajmund; Jan 8, 1894, Zduńska Wola near Lodz, Poland – Aug 14, 1941, Auschwitz concentration camp), a Catholic martyr (IV). Kolbe joined the Order of Friars Minor Conventual (OFMConv, known as the Conventual ¶ Franciscans) in 1910, studied in Rome from 1912, earned his Dr.phil. in 1915, was ordained to the priesthood in 1918, and received his Dr.theol. in 1919. In 1917, together with six brothers from the order, he established the Marian prayer community Militia Immaculatae (M.I.) as a spiritual militia a…

[German Version] (Congrégation de Jésus et Marie, CJM; also called the Eudist Fathers), was founded in Caen in 1643 by the popular missionary and religious author Jean Eudes (1601–1680; canonized in 1925) for the education and training of the clergy as prescribed by the Council of Trent and for popular missionary activities. As a congregation of secular priests, they are not under vows but promise to obey their superior. They ran diocesan seminaries in Brittany and Normandy, promoted devotion to t…

[German Version] ( clerici regulares) in the broad sense are clerical members of an order or congregation, in contrast to secular or diocesan clergy ( clerici saeculares); in the Middle Ages and the early modern period, the term was extended to include canons regular. In the narrow sense, the term denotes the members of the new religious orders formed in the 16th and 17th centuries in the name of Catholic reform. They are characterized by life in community based on the counsels of perfection and solemn vows. Instead of r…

[German Version] I. Missionaries of St. Francis of Sales (Missionnaires de St. François de Sales d’Annecy), a congregation founded in 1838 in Annecy (France) by Pierre-Marie Mermier (1790–1862) for pastoral and missionary ministry in the spirit of Francis of Sales. In 1845 the congregation was already working in India, where today more than 75% of its members live; as “Fransalians” they exercise a pastoral and educational ministry and engage in scientific research. Today there are over 1,200 members. Their generalate is in Annecy. II. Oblates of St. Francis of Sales (see Oblates: II…

[German Version] In 17th-century France, communities arose to facilitate spiritual exercises for women; soon afterward they began building retreat houses. An outstanding example was the house of the Filles de la Sainte-Vierge de la Retraite (Daughters of Our Lady of Retreat) in Vannes (1674); the sisters followed the Ignatian rule (Ignatius of Loyola) and took simple vows. These communities perished during the French Revolution, but the sisterhood was restored in the 19th century, transformed into…

[German Version] (João de Deo, Juan de Dios; actually: João Cuidad; 1495, Montemor-o-Novo, Portugal – Mar 8, 1550, Granada), canonized in 1690, founder of the Merciful Brothers and Sisters and innovator in the care for and assistance of those in need. Converted in 1539 by John of Avila, John devoted his life to the care of the sick (including the mentally ill) and the poor. In 1540, he established his own hospital in Granada, which became the prototype of the modern hospital because of the novel c…

[German Version] In the Middle Ages, the Sisters of Elizabeth of Hungary lived communally or semicommunally in Franciscan style; they were major supporters of the religious women’s movement and the semi-religious life. After Trent they usually lived in independent houses. In the 19th century, several congregations were organized, usually associated with a male Franciscan order, including: 1. The Order of the Sisters of St. Elizabeth (of Hungary), founded in Aachen in 1622 by Apollonia Radermecher (1571–1626). They spread through the Rhineland and Lux…

[German Version] This movement of spiritual renewal emerged in 1914 from the educational work of Father J. Kentenich at the seminary of the Pallottines in Schönstatt (today a district in Vallendar am Rhein); it became independent in 1964. It seeks to provide support for a humane Christian life in a pluralistic society, through a spirituality and teaching ministry emphasizing the biblical notion of a covenant (V), pursuit of “everyday holiness,” and an apostolic mindset. Its goal is ultimately to t…

[German Version] in the broad sense are members of the many orders and congregations of women whose primary apostolate is in the field of education and teaching; in the narrower sense, the term denotes sisters of the communities whose names reflect their teaching ministry. I. Sisters of the Christian Schools of Mercy (Soeurs des Écoles chrétiennes de la Misericorde, Sisters of St. Mary Magdalene Postel, SMMP), founded in Cherbourg (Normandy) in 1807 by Julie Postel (St.; 1756–1846), a teacher, to educate the rural population. The first Ge…

[German Version] (Ordo Sanctae Ursulae, OSU), the most important women’s religious institute for the education (V, 2) of young girls. The order was founded by St. Angela Merici (c. 1470–1540) in Brescia (northern Italy) as a women’s congregation with vows of chastity and a rule but without living in community. Its most important sponsor was C. Borromeo, who saw to a revision of the original rule and in 1576 ordered settlement of the Ursulines, who had been working in Milan since 1566, in all the d…

[German Version] The Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Redeemer was founded in 1849 by the mystically inclined Elisabeth (Maria Alfonsa) Eppinger (1814–1867) in Niederbronn (Alsace), with the assistance of the local pastor Johann David Reichard (1796–1867), for the care of the sick and the poor (fourth vow), and of children; it was ecumenically oriented from the outset. The congregation grew rapidly in Alsace, Germany (from 1852), Belgium, Switzerland, Holland, African countries (from 1931),…

[German Version] (Prêtres du Clergé, Congregatio Sulpitiensis, Societas Presbyterorum a Sancto Sulpitio, PSS), a congregation of secular priests (without vows) founded in 1641 by Jean-Jacques Olier (1608–1657), pastor of St.-Sulpice in Paris, for the education and spiritual formation of seminarians and priests in the spirit of the Tridentine decree on seminaries. It is named after Archbishop Sulpicius II of Bourges (615–647). Their spirituality is christological, eucharistic, and Marian and was st…

[German Version] The Feuillants are a reform order of the Cistercians (separated 1592) named for the abbey at Feuillant (Lat. Fulium) near Toulouse and founded by abbot Jean-Baptiste de la Barrière O. Cist (1544–1600). It is characterized by rigorous intensification of the observance of the rule (going barefoot, sleeping on boards, kneeling to eat) and liturgical peculiarities. In 1630, it divided into a French congregation with 33 monasteries (abolished in the French Revolution) and an Italian congregation with 43…

[German Version] Since the turn of the 14th to the 15th century, in the wake of Humanism and of J. de Gerson's pastoral work with children, youth fraternities and communities of Christian doctrine in northern Italy (e.g. in Florence and Bologna) had already begun to devote themselves to the main interests of the later Christian doctrine brotherhoods. The latter emerged in the second half of the 16th century as a reaction to the confessional conflicts of the time and aim…

[German Version] are institutes of consecrated life in which members of the faithful (clergy and laypeople, hardly distinguishable outwardly) remain in their secular (and often familial) environment while pursuing perfection in love and sanctification of the world from within. Secular institutes were recognized canonically by the pontifical constitution Provida Mater issued in 1947. They are rooted in efforts, observable since the 17th century, to live a life consecrated to God without the characteristic features of the traditional orders, as …

[German Version] (Visitationists, Sisters of the Visitation, Ordo de Visitatione Beatae Mariae Virginis, OVM, VSM). The order was found in 1610 in Annecy (France) by Francis of Sales and J.F. of Chantal as a contemplative order with simple vows and modified enclosure, enabling them to minister to the poor and the sick. In 1618, at the insistence of the archbishop of Lyon, they adopted the Augustinian rule (Augustine, Rule of Saint), solemn vows, and papal enclosure; as a result, they concentrated …

[German Version] (Congregatio Passionis Jesu Christi, CP) was founded in 1720 as a clerical congregation on Monte Argentario near Orbetello, in Italy, by the hermit and preacher of repentance Saint Paul of the Cross (Paolo Francesco Danei, 1694–1775); the original name of the congregation was Discalced Clerks of the Most Holy Cross and Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Members take a special vow to venerate and preach the passion and death of Jesus Christ; they engage in a contemplative life, alon…

[German Version] I. Origins The origins of an Ordo fratrum hospitalis sanctae Mariae Theutonicorum Ierosolymitanorum are said to date back ¶ to a hospital of Mary in Jerusalem in the first half of the 12th century. The spiritual order of knights arose in 1198/1199 from a hospital brotherhood that was set up during the Third Crusade (1189/1190) near Acre by merchants from Lübeck and Bremen. Because they were supported both by German crusaders and the Hohen­staufen, most members came from the Empire, and their estates…

[German Version] The Marianists (Societas Mariae, SM; Society of Mary; also Brothers of Mary) were founded in Bordeaux in 1817 by Guillaume-Joseph Chaminade (blessed; 1761–1850) to establish and lead Marian congregations as well as for pastoral and educational ministry. They take a fourth vow of stability (daily renewal of their commitment to Mary). Since priests and lay brothers engaged in teaching and other work tend to live together as equals, the Marianists occupy a special place among the cle…

[German Version] (Nov 29, 1905, Tourcoing, France – Mar 25, 1991, Martigny, Switzerland) studied at the Gregoriana in Rome from 1923 to 1930 (Dr.phil. 1925; Dr.theol. 1929), was ordained to the priesthood in 1929, and subsequently served as parish curate in a suburb of Lille. He joined the Congregation of the Holy Spirit (Spirit; Order of the Holy Spirit, CSSp, Spiritans) in 1931 (member until 1968) and worked as a missionary in Gabon from 1932 to 1947. In 1948, he was appointed apostolic delegate…

[German Version] (Ger. Dernbacher Schwestern [Dernbach Sisters]), founded in 1851 by the maidservant Katharina (Maria) Kasper (1820–1898; beatified in 1978), in her hometown of Dernbach (Westerwald; today the general mother house), for the care of the sick and the poor, for the education of girls, and work in orphanages. They were recognized as a society by papal right in 1870; in 1890, the regulations based on the rule of St. Vincent de Paul were approved. The Dernbach Sisters, who at the founder…

[German Version] is a significant Marian pilgrimage site near Ancona (central Italy). According to legend, the sanctuary there (“Santa Casa”), a simple rectangular wall with no foundation surrounded by a magnificent hall church (1468–1587) and clad with marble (1513–1538), probably following plans by D. Bramante, is Mary's place of birth in Nazareth, the house in which the annunciation of the immaculate conception took place, and in which Jesus grew up. After the Muslim conquest of Akko in 1291, a…

[German Version] I. Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul – II. Strasbourg Congregation I. Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul (Filles de la Charité de Saint Vincent de Paul [FdC]; Puellae Caritatis), a congregation founded in Paris in 1633 by Vincent de Paul and L. de Marillac, initially to assist the Confrérie des Dames de Charité, a society of gentlewomen formed to care for poor and solitary invalids. They took only private vows, renewed annually, leaving them free for charitable work since they we…

[German Version] The order of the “Sisters of Clement” (“Merciful Sisters of the Most Blessed Virgin and Sorrowful Mother Mary”) was founded in 1808 by C.A. Droste-Vischering in Münster, Westphalia. The first German congregation since the secularization of 1803, it was dedicated to the care of the sick (from 1820 in the Clement Hospital, hence its name) and conceived on the model of the Vincentians. Their first prioress was the converted pastor's daughter and art…

[German Version] Marian Congregations or sodalities are Catholic lay fellowships or associations ¶ that seek to help their members grow in the faith, live their religion in everyday life, and support the apostolic mission of the church. To make Jesuit spirituality (Jesuits) available to lay people, in 1563 the Belgian Jesuit Jan Leunis (1536–1584) brought together a group of students at the Jesuit College in Rome to form the first Marian Congregation. In 1584 Gregory XIII erected it canonically as the mother congregation ( Prima Primaria) of all Marian Congregations. As the Jesu…

[German Version] A missionary society founded in 1849 in Vic (Spain) by A.M. Claret. The men's branch (Mission Society of the Sons of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, CMF; Immaculate Conception, Orders of the), whose constitutions were given papal approval in 1870 and renewed after Vatican II, has always devoted itself to missionary service of the word (popular missions, religious exercises, school teaching, press apostolate, pastoral care beyond the parish, mission…

[German Version] ( Congregatio Patrum Doctrinae Christianae, DC). The Congregation of Doctrinarians (Pères Doctrinaires) that exists today was founded in 1592 in Avignon by César de Bus (1544–1607) and arose out of ¶ communities of priests and laity for providing religious instruction (Confraternities of Christian doctrine). Combined with the Somaschi from 1616 to 1647, it was able to develop independently from that time as a Catholic …

[German Version] (Clara; Apr 11, 1815, Aachen – May 8, 1894, Simpelveld, The Netherlands) was the daughter of a factory owner. Heavily influenced by her teacher L. Hensel, she found her way to charitable work at an early age. With the help of two friends, she opened a school for abandoned and neglected girls in 1837, for whose care and education she founded the congregation of the Sisters of the Poor Child Jesus in 1844. The mother-house in Aachen as well as many subsidiary houses having been disbanded in the wake of the Kulturkampf , the founder of the order and lifel…

[German Version] ( Clerici regulares ministrantes infirmis, MI; Ordo Sancti Camilli, OSC). The Camillians are the only clerical order of the Catholic Church devoted entirely to charitable service. The order was founded in Rome in 1582 by Camillo de Lellis (1550–1614) to renew the ministry of service to the sick (fourth vow: to serve the sick, regardless of mortal danger – hence grave losses during epidemics of the plague and cholera). After the demise of the Order of Servants o…

[German Version] (Congregatio S. Mariae Montis Oliveti OSB; Ordo S. Benedicti Montis Oliveti, OSBOliv), a reformed Benedictine congregation with strictly central organization, appointment of officers for a limited time, frequent transfers of monks, and spirituality with eremitical and mariological features. It was initiated by blessed Bernardo Tolomei (1272–1348), who settled around 1313 with a few companions on Monte Oliveto near Siena in Italy. The movement spread rapidly, but only in central an…

[German Version] (Nov 18, 1885, Gymnich near Cologne – Sep 15, 1968, Schönstatt) was the founder and leader of the Schönstatt movement. He joined the Societas Apostolatus Catholici (SAC) in 1909 (member until 1965) and was ordained to the priesthood in 1910. He founded the movement in 1914, further structuring and expanding it from 1919 onward. The movement grew out of educational work with the pupils of the Pallottines in Schönstatt near Vallendar on the Rhine. From 1941 to 1945 he was imprisoned by the Gestapo and sent …

[German Version] (Istituto della Carità, Fathers of Charity, IC), founded by A. Rosmini-Serbati in 1828 on Monte Calvario near Domodosolla in northern Italy. The members of the congregation take simple life vows and retain their personal assets. The congregation includes priests and lay brothers, who engage in educational work, apostolate to intellectuals, care for emigrants, and mission. As of 2001, there were some 400 religious in Italy, England, Ireland, the United States, India, and Africa; th…

[German Version] (Society of the Catholic Apostolate, Societas Apostolatus Catholici), founded in 1835 by St. Vincent Pallotti (1795–1850) in Rome as a community of priests and brothers, in order to spread and deepen faith. Its members take no vows, but promise to live in ¶ community according to the counsels of perfection, for a limited time, or permanently. Clergy promise furthermore not to seek church honors, or to accept them without permission. From 1854 to 1947 the society was known as the Pia Societas Missionum. It has missions in the Cameroon (1890), southern Brazil, no…

[German Version] I. Oratorians of Saint Philip Neri – II. French Oratory I. Oratorians of Saint Philip Neri (Oratory of Divine Love, Congregation of the Oratory, Philippians, Institutum Oratorii S. Philippi Nerii), congregation of secular priests who lead a common life of prayer and pastoral ministry in the spirit of P. Neri, united only by bonds of mutual love, without vows and binding commitments (albeit under statutes approved in 1612). The congregation was founded in 1552 in the oratory of its founder’s commu…

[German Version] The Johannesbund at Leutesdorf (Rhine) was founded in 1919 by Johannes M. Haw (1871–1949) as an initiative on the part of lay people and priests to spread the kingdom of God after the example of John the Baptist. Its members work in cooperation with the Sisters of St. John the Baptist and the Missionaries of St. John the Baptist to support charitable and educational institutions in Germany, Portugal, Mozambique, and India; they also have a press apostolate and conduct retreats (Exercises, Spiritual). Manfred Eder Bibliography J. Fleckenstein, Über die Idee und die h…

[German Version] These are predominantly internationally oriented organizations, which aim to offer aid through solidarity and partnership, to work for development and peace, mission and the proclamation of the gospel. In Germany, they include: Adveniat (Essen), diocesan action to support ministry among impoverished peoples in Latin America (est. 1961). Bonifatiuswerk (until 1967: Bonifatiusverein für das katholische Deutschland; Paderborn), for support of ministry amongst the Catholic diaspora in…

[German Version] members of a third order ( tertius ordo). I. Secular Tertiaries Tertiaries are members of a third order for men or women; since the 11th/12th century, they have associated with the male (First Order) or female (Second Order) branch of existing orders, especially the mendicant orders that arose in the 13th century, in order to pursue religious or social goals. The most important was and still is the Franciscan Third Order ( Tertius Ordo ¶ Franciscanus, TOF). In his Letter to the Faithful, Francis had limited himself to urging them to live active Christian lives,…

[German Version] (Congregatio Sacrorum Cordium Jesu et Mariae necnon adorationis perpetuae SS. Sacramenti Altaris, SSCC). The congregation, named after its former motherhouse in the Rue de Picpus in Paris, consists of a male branch (the Picpus Fathers, in Germany also commonly known as the “Arnstein Fathers,” after their first settlement in Arnstein on the Lahn), and a female branch (the Picpus Sisters or Zélatrices). It was founded in the late 18th century, in response to the pressure of the Fren…

[German Version] (Congregatio Missionis, CM; also Vincentian Fathers, Preti della Missione), founded in Paris in 1625 by Vincent de Paul to evangelize the rural French population through home missions (Mission to the People). Their apostolate soon expanded to include the training of priests, leading retreats (Exercises, Spiritual), spiritual guidance of the sisterhoods established by Vincent, pastoral care of prisoners and galley slaves, and foreign missions (after 1645; after 1697 in China, where…

[German Version] (SCC; Daughters of the Virgin Mary of the Immaculate Conception). The congregation was founded in Paderborn in 1849 by Pauline v. Mallinckrodt (1817–1881) for social and charitable work (initially primarily education of the blind, followed soon by education of girls and pastoral ministry). When they were expelled during the Kulturkampf (1873, return in 1887), they spread to the United States and Chile. Today some 700 sisters work in Germany, Italy, Uruguay, Argentina, and the Philippines. They are a congregation under papal law; their general council is in Rome. Manf…

[German Version] (Societas Sacerdotum Missionariorum a Sancto Paulo Apostolo, CSP), founded in New York in 1858 by the convert I.T. Hecker (1819–1888; Redemptorist 1848–1857) for the purpose of winning ¶ as many Americans as possible to the Catholic faith. The rule of the Paulists is an adaptation of the rule of the Redemptorists, but without solemn vows. The Paulists represented a school of Catholicism open to modern culture and therefore became entangled in the “Americanism” controversy in the late 19th and early 20th cent…

[German Version] (Ordo Theatinorum; Clerici Regulares, CR), the oldest order of clerics regular, founded in Rome in 1524 by Gaetano da Tiene (1480–1547) and other members of the Oratory of Divine Love, founded in 1517, including Gian Pietro Carafa, bishop of Chieti (Lat. Theate; hence the order’s name) and later Pope Paul IV. The order’s goal was renewal of the church through a reformed clergy; its primary activities were pastoral ministry, charitable work (caring for people with incurable diseases), training of priests, missionary work …

[German Version] ( Ordo Beatae Mariae Virginis de Mercede redemptionis captivorum, OdeM; also: Nolascans). The Order of the Mercedarians was founded in Barcelona in 1218(?) by Pierre Nolasque (also known as Nolasco; c. 1189–1256) as a lay congregation of knights committed to the ransoming of Christian slaves from the Muslims of southern Spain and North Africa (today: deliverance from every form of social, political, and psychological enslavement). The ransom money was raised through the sale of real estat…

[German Version] (Zusters van het Arme Kind Jesus, PIJ), founded as a congregation under papal law in Aachen in 1844 by K. Fey for the education of poor and abandoned girls. In 1872 there were almost 700 sisters in 25 houses, mostly in the Rhineland, with some 13,500 alumnae. As a result of the Kulturkampf, the mother house was moved to Simpelveld in Holland in 1878 (“Loretto House”). After they were readmitted in Germany in 1887, the sisters worked in higher education for girls and boarding schoo…

[German Version] There have been few orders of St. Peter; most no longer exist or have few members. Three deserve mention. 1. Congrégation de St-Pierre. The congregation was founded in La Chênaie (Brittany) in 1828 by Jean-Marie-Robert de La Mennais (1780–1860) and his brother Hugo-Félicité-Robert (1782–1854). Intended to replace the suppressed Jesuits, it had as its guiding principle absolute loyalty to the successor of St. Peter. Within a few years, it had over 60 members (including J.B.H. Lacordaire, P.L.P. Guéran…

[German Version] (Missionaries of Africa; Missionarii Africae, MAfr; Patres Albi, PA), founded in 1868 in Algiers by its archbishop, C.M.A. Lavigerie, for missionary work in Africa; in 1869 he also founded the White Sisters (Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Africa). The organization and spirituality of the White Fathers is modeled on the Jesuits; their central mission was to build a church with indigenous clergy; therefore they attached great importance to training catechists and priests in schoo…

[German Version] (Ordo Ss. Trinitatis et redemptionis captivorum, OSST; Fratres O.S.T.), a clerical order founded c. 1194 by St. John de Matha (1160–1213) in Cerfroid, near Metz, in honor of the Holy Trinity, to ransom or exchange captured Christians (16th–19th cent., involved in abolitionism), and for pastoral care and care of the sick in hospices and prisons. It received papal recognition in 1198. In the Middle Ages, it had 150 monasteries in 12 provinces throughout southern France, Spain, and I…

[German Version] 1. Sisters of Loretto at the Foot of the Cross, founded in 1812 in Hardin's Creek near Louisville (KY, USA) by Charles Nerinckx (1761–1824) for the education of the youth. It was the first female congregation in the United States that originated without the assistance of a European community. The sisters were active in the China mission from 1923 to 1951. Today, there are about 600 sisters (as of 1995) in the United States and Latin America (motherhouse: Nerinx, KY). 2. Loreto Sisters (Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary), one of the five branches of the Ins…

[German Version] I. Sisters of Our Lady of Zion (Religieuses de Notre-Dame de Sion, Congregatio Nostrae Dominae de Sion, NDS), a congregation founded in Paris in 1843 by Théodore Ratisbonne (1802–1884), a Catholic priest from a Jewish banking family, for educating children of non-Christian families. The first houses were established in Jerusalem, Turkey (both 1856), England (1861), Romania (1866), and Egypt (1869). Vatican II gave their educational, charitable, and catechumenal apostolate a new ec…

[German Version] I. Men's Orders – II. Women's Orders Originating in Germany – III. Women's Orders Originating outside Germany Between 1517 and 1982, 172 orders (51 male and 121 female) named themselves after St. Joseph, the patron of workers and craftsmen, most of them in America (30), France (25), and Italy (24). I. Men's Orders 1. The Congregazione di S. Giuseppe (CSI; Giuseppini del Murialdo) was founded in 1873 in Turin by Leonardo Murialdo (St., 1828–1900) to educate and train the youth; today it is also active in Latin America and in 2005 had 621 members (generalate: Rome). 2. Obla…

[German Version] (Ordo Cisterciensium Reformatorum, OCR). The Reformed Cistercians or Cistercians of the Strict Observance (Ordo Cisterciensium Strictioris Observantiae, OCSO) go back to the Cistercian abbey of La Trappe in Normandy, where Abbot A.-J. Le Bouthillier de Rancé introduced a reform characterized by penitential rigor in 1664. Since the congregation of La Trappe founded in exile at Valsainte in Switzerland in 1794 kept itself at some distance from the original order and was itself mired…

[German Version] Numerous congregations of this name exist. Most of them were founded after 1854, the year in which the immaculate conception of Mary became a dogma. The largest congregations are (as of 2000): The Brothers of the Immaculate Conception of Maastricht ( Congregatio Fratrum Immaculatae Conceptionis Beatae Mariae Virginis, FIC), founded in Maastricht (the Netherlands) in 1840 by Ludwig Hubert Rutten (1809–1891) and Jacob Adrian Hoecken (1810–1880) for the training of young people and teachers as well as for social-educational work.…

[German Version] There are some 65 congregations of women whose names include Providence or Divine Providence; they regularly engage in charitable and educational activities and today also perform pastoral ministries and evangelistic work. The most important include: ¶ 1. Soeurs de la Providence, founded in Vigy (Lorraine) in1762 by Jean-Martin Moyë (Blessed, 1730–1793) to teach in rural schools. Because he did not organize his Pauvres Soeurs on the model of a conventual congregation, by 1838 six independent congregations had come into being, including the Soeurs de la Providen…

[German Version] Many religious communities have the word love or caritas ( carità, charité, charity, etc.) in their name, referring to love of ¶ God and neighbor and usually further qualified as love of Christ, love of Mary, and so on (Merciful Brothers and Sisters of, Borromeans, Grey Brothers and Sisters, Good Shepherd Sisters, Rosminians, Vincentian Sisters). Frères de la Charité (Brothers of Charity; Congregatio Fratrum a Caritate, FC), founded as a lay congregation in 1807 in Ghent (Belgium) by the priest Pierre- Joseph Triest (1760–1836); today…

[German Version] I. Orders of Men – II. Orders of Women I. Orders of Men 1. Generally speaking, the terms Cruciferi, Crocigeri, and Cruciati refer to members of hospital orders (Hospitallers) and various other orders of knights (Knights, Orders of) whose clothing is adorned with the sign of the cross. More specifically, they are applied to the members of numerous congregations of canons regular that originated in the period of the Crusades, such as the Canons Regular of the…

[German Version] (Society of the Divine Savior, Societas Divini Salvatoris), founded in Rome in 1881 by Johann Baptist Jordan (1848–1918) as the Apostolic Teaching Society, is a congregation of priests with a broad apostolic ministry, primarily in the area of the Catholic press and in mission (India, South America, China, Africa). “Healing” is the central theme of Salvatorian spirituality; their Marian focus is indicated by their veneration of Mary as the mother of the Savior ( Maria Mater Salvatoris). The congregation quickly spread throughout the world – in the 19th cen…

[German Version] (Petits Frères de Jésus/Petites Soeurs de Jésus), established in 1933 by René Voillaume (1905–2003) and in 1939 by Elisabeth Hutin (1898–1989) in Algeria in the spirit of C.-E.V. de Foucauld (today congregations of papal right). These small communities (two to four brothers and four to five sisters) live a life of poverty, work, and worship in the midst of a socially difficult, dechristianized or non-Christian (esp. Muslim) environment (without any institutions of their own) and p…

[German Version] Pietro del Morrone (later Pope Celestine V) founded the male branch (Hermits of St. Damian, Fratres de Spiritu Sancto, Coelestini, OSBCoel) between 1240 and 1243 as a strictly ascetic monastic community following the Rule of Benedict (supplemented with Constitutions). It was confirmed by pope Urban IV in 1263 and spread quickly in Italy and, after 1300, in France; with a few monasteries also in Spain, Belgium, and Germany (Oybin near Zittau, Prague, …

[German Version] I. Name – II. Art and Liturgy – III. Roman Catholic Congregations I. Name The Greek interpretation of the Aramaic Golgotha as Κρανίου Τόπος/ Kraniou Topos, “Skull Place” (Matt 27:33; Mark 15:22; John 19:17; cf. Luke 23:32), is rendered almost uniformly in the Latin versions (Old Latin, Vulgate) as c alvariae locus. The Latin form gave rise to “Calvary” and similar terms in other European languages. It is based on the Latin noun calvaria, “cranium, skull,” which makes its first appearance in the middle of the 1st century ce in medical works (Aurelius Cornelius Celsus,…

[German Version] I. Brothers of Penitence The order of the Brothers of Penitence (Penitents of Jesus of Nazareth, Scalzetti [= Barefoot Friars], Nazareni, Ordo Poenitentium a Jesu Nazareno, OPoen) was founded by the Spaniard Juan Alonso Varela y Losada (1724–1769) in Salamanca in 1752. It was a contemplative and hermetic mendicant order, similar to the Franciscans in rule, organization, and habit, and active in the mission to the people and care of the poor (with a fourth vow until 1854: defense of th…