Regular Clerics
Regular Clerics are those religious societies of clerics which, founded from the early 16th century until the end of the 18th, did not follow any of the monastic rules and devoted themselves to the most varied forms of apostolate.
Their origin is largely due to the ideals of religious reform after the Council of Trent, the need to meet the needs of the Church, the rise of Protestantism, and the newly discovered lands in the West and East Indies. They exercise the apostolate in the most varied forms, ranging from teaching to preaching and the care of the sick. They have their own constitutions; their government is more centralized than that of the mendicant orders; they do not devote the same amount of time to the divine Office as monks do, and indeed many recite it only privately. In precedence, they come immediately after the monks and before the religious congregations of clerics (can. 491).
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Regular Clerics of the Mother of God
A religious order founded at Santa Maria della Rosa in Lucca on 3 May 1574 by St John Leonardi (q.v.). The original title, “Reformed Priests of the Most Holy Virgin,” was later changed to “Congregation of Secular Clerics of the Blessed Virgin”; the present title was established in 1614.
To secure good direction for the small community in its early days, the founder availed himself of the assistance of two Dominican religious: Fr Francesco Bernardini and Fr Benedetto Onesti of the convent of San Romano in Lucca.
In 1580 the small institution left the church of the Rosa and moved to that of Santa Maria Cortenlandini, where, on 8 March 1583, canonical erection was effected by the bishop, Msgr Alessandro Guidicioni the Elder. On 13 October 1595 came confirmation by the Holy See, and consequently exemption from the jurisdiction of the local ordinary. In 1621 the order was raised by Gregory XV to the rank of a religious order, and two years later it was admitted to share in the privileges and exemptions of the other religious orders. By a papal brief of 14 January 1614, at the desire of Cardinal Benedetto Giustiniani, protector of the Piarists, union was effected between them and Leonardi’s congregation; but the union was short-lived (until 6 March 1617), since the two institutions were incompatible in their ministries: the sons of Leonardi refused to give up parochial ministry, and the Piarists their school work.
In 1603 Cardinal Baronius was named protector of the Lucchese congregation, of which he is regarded as a second founder for having assisted and defended it in its most critical circumstances. He secured the perpetual election of Leonardi as superior general and, the following year, convened the first general chapter in Rome, at which the constitutions—already revised by himself—were approved.
In 1601 Leonardi had obtained in Rome the church of Santa Maria in Portico (later dedicated to St Gall, demolished in 1935) at the foot of the Capitol, an unhealthy and sparsely populated area then, which had been offered to him by Cardinal Bartolomeo Cesi, its titular. Adjoining this church, which was also a parish and collegiate with canons, he opened a house of his institute, where it remained until 1620, when it moved to
Their church is S. Maria in Campitelli, where the generalate of the Order still has its seat. Other houses were later founded: in Naples, on the Riviera di Chiaia (S. Maria in Portico) and in the city center (S. Brigida a Toledo); in Vasto in the Abruzzi; in Genzano di Roma in 1841; in Monaco (Principality) in 1873; in La Spezia around 1880; in Massa Marittima in 1897; in Fosciàndora (Lucca) in 1903; in Candela (Foggia) in 1937; in Gallipoli (Lecce) in 1938; in S. Ferdinando di Puglia in 1946. In recent years three houses have been opened in Chile, in missionary locations according to the spirit of LEONARDI, who in 1603, together with the Spaniard Mons. G. Batt. Vives, had laid the foundations for the institution of Propaganda Fide. Other attempts to open missionary houses had taken place at the beginning of the 18th century with Fr. Domenico Perroni, who died in Canton (China) in 1729, where he had been sent as procurator general of Propaganda Fide, and in 1924 with the establishment of a house in the diocese of Batucatù in Brazil. In Lucca the Order made an effective contribution to the Counter-Reformation movement. Among the distinguished religious, the following are to be noted: the Venerable Giovanni Battista Cioni (d. 1623) and Cesare Franciotti (d. 1627), the first companions of LEONARDI; Ippolito Marracci (d. 1675), a prolific writer on Marian matters, his brother Ludovico (d. 1700), an Arabist; Costantino Roncaglia (d. 1737), a writer on moral theology; and Giandomenico Mansi (d. 1779), the well-known compiler of the *Sacri Concili*.
The purpose of the Order is the exercise of parochial and priestly ministry in all aspects of the active life of the apostolate. The habit is the same as that worn by priests in the 16th century, namely: a black cassock without buttons, with one flap overlapping the other and fastened at the waist with a woolen sash; and a detachable collar turned down over the collar of the cassock. The emblem is represented by the image of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Order today numbers about 100 religious in 8 houses.
II. Minor Regular Clerics (Caracciolini). They originated in 1588 in Naples through the initiative of Fr. Giovanni Adorno, St. Francis Caracciolo, and Don Fabrizio Caracciolo, Prince of Marsiconovo, and were approved by Sixtus V on April 9, 1589.
The Constitutions differ from those of religious Orders with solemn vows in the following principal respects: a) to the three religious vows is added that of not seeking ecclesiastical dignities, and the oath not to procure prepositures even within the Order; b) the religious are obliged to a turn of one hour of prayer before the Blessed Sacrament each day; c) where the number of priests and clerics permits, there is an obligation to recite the Divine Office in common, without chant; d) likewise, each religious must, in turn, perform an extraordinary penance. They also devote themselves to preaching, the education of youth, the care of the sick, prisoners, etc.
After Adorno’s death three years later, the government of the Congregation was assumed by St. Francis Caracciolo, through whose efforts it spread especially in Italy and Spain, reaching a total of 60 houses with about 2,000 religious. It had missionaries in China, professors in universities, preachers, bishops, and highly esteemed writers. Over time, it lost its former splendor almost to the point of extinction. Now it is experiencing a promising revival with eight houses and six parishes in Italy and America.
III. Poor Regular Clerics of the Mother of God of the Pious Schools (Scolopi)
Founded by St. Joseph Calasanz (v.) in 1617 in Rome, the Congregation was preceded by the establishment of primary popular schools by the same Saint (in 1597, near the church of S. Dorotea in Trastevere), which he originally called “Pious Schools,” whence the name “Scolopi.”
Clerics Regular (Scolopi) — Boarding school in Sarrià (Barcelona).
When he conceived the purpose of establishing a religious Congregation, which, after various vicissitudes, was founded in 1617, and Gregory XV in 1622 approved its Constitutions with the brief *Sacri apostolatus*.
Despite the hostility of some and certain internal dissensions, the work gained credibility and spread. First in Lazio, then in Liguria, in the Neapolitan area, in Tuscany, in Sicily, in Sardinia, in Germany, and in Poland, houses and schools were opened while the founder was still alive. The activity of the new Congregation soon extended also to non-primary schools, by the will of Calasanzio himself, who saw no limits to teaching. Notable is the school of mathematics established in Florence in 1639, as well as the friendship cultivated there by the Scolopi with Galileo. Rivals and interested parties strove in every way to restrict the educational activity of the Scolopi to the sphere of primary or elementary schools. Against this attempted limitation, the founder stood unyielding, and this was one of the causes of further relentless opposition to the Piarist Schools.
However, it is certain that the Institute, thus rapidly expanded and at the same time poorly understood and opposed, underwent a very serious crisis, provoked internally by lay brothers aspiring to the priesthood and externally by a decisive attack from competitors and enemies. This state of affairs led Urban VIII to depose Calasanzio as Superior General, and then Innocent X, on 16 March 1646, issued a brief that reduced the Order to a mere free association of independent houses, with full freedom for each to join or leave. The founder survived this suppression for two years, dying while foretelling the resurrection of his work, which occurred partially in 1656 when Alexander VII restored to the Institute the character of a religious Congregation with simple vows; and fully in 1669 when Clement IX elevated it once more to the status of a religious Order with solemn vows.
Subsequently, the Order experienced a vigorous revival, spreading throughout Italy and beyond. This rapid expansion was accompanied by a steadily growing progress in literary and scientific activity, which had its cradle in the Chieti studentate, whence, under the patronage of Fr. Morelli—the sole glorious survivor of the so-called Galileans—it radiated throughout the Order in the closing years of the 17th century, chiefly through the efforts of Fr. Pirroni, one of the most enlightened men to govern the Order (1677–85).
In the second half of the 18th century, the Scolopi entered a period of maximum flourishing in letters and sciences, coupled with a notable increase in houses and provinces. In many places they did not limit their work to schools but also took charge of colleges and seminaries, following the example of their founder, who, at the behest of Cardinal Michelangelo Tonti, accepted the task of establishing and directing the Collegio Nazareno in Rome, opened in 1630. The Scolopi also devoted themselves to the conversion of heretics in Bohemia and Moravia and to missionary work. The 18th century was the golden age of the Piarist Schools, which in 1784 numbered 218 houses and 15 provinces across Europe. Many Scolopi, especially in Italy, taught in universities. In Florence, the Ximenian Observatory became renowned, enhancing its fame throughout the 19th century.
The regalist tendencies and revolutionary movements of the late 18th and early 19th centuries adversely affected the Scolopi, who, besides being divided into three practically separate branches, were severely weakened in some regions; and the Italian Piarist Schools suffered greatly from the suppression of religious orders in the second half of the last century. In 1904, Pope Pius X restored hierarchical unity to the entire Order, which had been broken by the creation in 1804 of the Spanish vicariate.
Illustrious religious for their holiness, Calasanzio (v.), include a. Pompilio M. Pirrotti (v.), the Venerable Landriani and Casani, whose causes of beatification are underway. Many distinguished themselves in the sciences, letters, and arts.
The Scolopi currently have 140 houses with 2,300 religious; 55,000 are the pupils educated in their colleges.