**CONGREGATION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT**
The Congregation of the Holy Spirit was founded in Paris on May 20, 1703, by Claude François Poullart des Places. At the time still a layman, he came to the aid of poor students, gathering them around him with the help of some companions. This was the first community of the seminary of the Holy Spirit. The young men were to be trained for humble positions, for which suitable subjects were not easily found. This praiseworthy initiative received the sanction of the Holy See in 1824. Until the French Revolution, the students of the seminary of the Holy Spirit, though sought after in many dioceses of France, preferred the colonies and mission territories. They therefore went to Canada and the Far East, where they collaborated with the Society of Foreign Missions of Paris. They were also entrusted with the Apostolic Prefecture of Guyana in South America. In France, they were sought after for the direction of some major diocesan seminaries. Suppressed by the Revolution, the Congregation was reconstituted in 1816, but it struggled to provide sufficient and well-formed members for the French colonies, where they had been invited by the government and the Congregation of Propaganda Fide.
In 1841, near Amiens, the novitiate of a small society of missionaries destined for ministry among the Negroes was opened. Its founder was Fr. Francis Libermann. Born in Saverne in Alsace, the son of a rabbi and destined for the same office alongside his father, in 1826, at the age of 24, he converted to Catholicism. While preparing for the priesthood at the seminary of Saint-Sulpice, a illness prevented him from continuing his studies for twelve years. Nevertheless, he wished to respond to the desire of two fellow clergymen from the colonies who wanted to go to the aid of the Negroes and slaves in their countries. With this intention, Libermann went to Rome, and in 1840 the Congregation of Propaganda Fide granted him permission to begin this work of apostolate, which he named the Congregation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. From 1841 to 1847, the young Congregation succeeded in recruiting numerous members and sending missionaries to Africa, where they encountered the priests of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit. Due to differing methods (the latter did not live in community nor observe poverty), tensions arose not only in the missions but also in France itself. The two Congregations had everything to gain from a possible union. Indeed, by decree of the Congregation of Propaganda Fide on September 10, 1848, the Congregation of the Holy Spirit was incorporated into that of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Later, the question of vows and the title was regulated as: “Congregation of the Holy Spirit under the patronage of the Immaculate Heart of Mary,” of which Fr. Libermann became superior general until his death in 1852. From then on, the Congregation grew in numbers and activity. Regular provinces were successively established in France, Ireland, Germany, Portugal, the United States, Belgium, Holland, England, Canada, Poland, and Switzerland, thanks especially to the appeals of mission countries in need of apostolic workers. The missionaries of the Holy Spirit thus played a key role in the revival of African apostolate in the 19th century and had free rein in West Africa around 1853, when no missionary congregations yet existed. They founded the first Apostolic Vicariates in East Africa (Zanzibar and Zanguebar) and advanced into Central Africa (Congo and Angola). These territories were later divided with the arrival of numerous missionary societies.
Today, the Congregation of the Holy Spirit is a congregation of pontifical right with simple vows, composed of religious priests and lay brothers. The provinces are closely tied to the central authority of the superior general, elected for twelve years, who in turn appoints the provincial superiors and other superiors of the communities. Currently, it has more than 4,216 professed religious, including 33 bishops, and is divided into 11 provinces, 34 mission districts, and more than 360 communities or residences. Its spirit and purpose are primarily apostolic. Everything is directed toward Foreign Missions, without neglecting other works that Providence entrusts to it in Christian countries. For this reason, it has accepted and maintains the direction of the French seminary in Rome, built at its own expense in 1853.
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G. B. Pitra, *Vie du r. p. F.-M. Libermann*, 2nd ed., Paris 1872;
H. Le Floch, *Claude-François Poullart des Places*, 1906;
*La Congregation du St.-Esprit depuis sa fondation*, 1909;
*La Congregation du St.-Esprit*, 1912;
A. Eschbach, *La vie et l’oeuvre de C.-F. Poullart des Places*, Rome 1926;
G. Goyau, *La Congregation du St.-Esprit*, Paris 1937;
*Notes et documents du St.-Esprit*, 1937.
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**CONGREGATION OF THE MOST HOLY REDEEMER**
The Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer was founded at Scala near Amalfi by St. Alphonsus Mary de’ LIGURIA (v.) on November 9, 1732, for the preaching of popular missions. It was initially called the Congregation of Priests of the Most Holy Savior, and its members were placed under the direction of Msgr. Tommaso Falcoia, Bishop of Castellammare. In 1743, they chose St. Alphonsus as their major superior for life and for the first time took the three religious vows, along with those of perseverance in the Congregation, renunciation of ecclesiastical dignities, and preaching among the infidels. By February 25, 1749, there were already four houses when Benedict XIV approved the Rule and the institute under the name of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer.
The expansion of the Congregation was hindered by regalism in Naples, which prohibited any new foundation, tolerated no common ownership of goods, and recognized the missionaries only as secular priests under the authority of the local ordinary (royal dispatch of November 9, 1752). As a precaution against this abuse of authority, several houses were opened between 1753 and 1777 in the Papal States; however, the anticlerical political sectarianism of Naples caused a very serious crisis. In 1780, Ferdinand IV permitted the legal existence, which had been denied for forty years, provided that a regulation approved by the government was accepted. Alphonsus consented, thinking it was merely a formality to adapt to the laws of the country.
Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer – Church of the Most Holy Trinity and college founded and built by St. Alphonsus (1735) according to his designs. It is now the oldest house of the C. – Ciorani (municipality of S. Severino Rota, province of Salerno).
The institute was approved by Benedict XIV, and Rome was informed of this. On 22 September 1780, a decree of the Holy See excluded the houses of the Kingdom of Naples from the institute, while those in the Papal States were placed under the authority of a superior general, who from 1783 resided in Rome. St. Alphonsus died in 1787 before this division was removed. In 1790, the fathers of the Neapolitan region obtained permission to resume the Rule of Benedict XIV. Pius VI permitted the convocation of a General Chapter to establish the union, and in 1793 the entire Congregation was placed under the authority of the superior general residing in Pagani.
St. Clement Mary Hofbauer, who propagated the institute outside Italy, arrived in Warsaw in 1787, and as vicar general, in fifteen years he made a series of foundations in Courland, Poland, Germany, and Switzerland, though these did not endure. In 1820, he opened a house in Vienna. Under the general vicariate of Fr. Passerat, who succeeded Hofbauer in 1820, the Congregation spread to France (1820), Poland (1825), Portugal (1826), Belgium, and the United States (1823), Bulgaria, and the Duchy of Modena (1835), Holland (1836), and Bavaria (1841). By 1848, it had undertaken 21 houses with 350 religious.
On 2 June 1841, Gregory XVI divided the Congregation into six provinces, and in 1853 Pius IX established the residence of the superior general in Rome, which opened that same year; at this point, the transalpine general vicariate ceased to exist. Due to opposition from the government of Naples, the houses there were erected into an autonomous Congregation; however, in 1869 they returned under the authority of the superior general in Rome. From that time, expansion was rapid. The number of religious rose from 644 in 1867 to 2,147 in 1884, 4,317 in 1916, and 7,425 in 1948, with 24 provinces, 21 vice-provinces, and 453 houses.
In its internal life, the Congregation is inspired by the intention of the virtues and examples of Christ. The exercises of piety are numerous: three meditations each day, the Divine Office in common when circumstances permit, half an hour of thanksgiving after Mass, spiritual reading, two examinations of conscience, visits to the Most Holy Sacrament and to the Blessed Virgin, and the Rosary, which is obligatory even on the most arduous days of missions. Marian devotion is one of the hallmarks of this interior life. In addition to the founder and Sts. Clement Hofbauer and Gerard Majella, the Redemptorists count not a few confreres whose causes of beatification are underway.
The specific apostolate of the Congregation is the mission, a series of preaching engagements lasting ten or fifteen consecutive days, aimed especially at disposing the faithful to the sacrament of Penance. When circumstances permit, the missionaries return after several months for a few days to the places they have evangelized, to assess the fruits of their apostolate. These returns are an apostolic innovation that greatly contributed, in 1749, to the papal approval of the institute. The archconfraternity of the Holy Family, established in every church of the Congregation, has 65 years of existence, 1,400 associations, and 500,000 members. The veneration of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, enshrined in the church of St. Alphonsus on Via Merulana in Rome, is widespread everywhere, especially in the United States, and draws immense crowds of the faithful.
The apostolate of the Foreign Missions, begun in 1858 in the Danish Antilles, subsequently extended, after 1870, to 54 countries. In 1948, the Congregation had 24 missions dependent on the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith: 7 in Asia, 4 in Africa, 10 in America, 2 in Oceania, and 1 in Europe. It also engages in apostolate among Catholics of the Eastern rite.
The literary activity of the Redemptorists developed considerably after the superior general established residence in Rome. From its origins to 1939, the authors numbered 1,323, and most of their publications are works of popular ascetical writing, as befits the purpose of the Congregation. There are also numerous publications of a scholarly nature, especially in theology, exegesis, and apologetics. Among the Congregation’s members were Cardinal Dechamps, archbishop of Mechelen (1867–83), and Cardinal Van Rossum, prefect of the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith (1918–32).
The Congregation is governed by a superior general, or major rector, residing in Rome, elected for life by the General Chapter, which also elects the six general consultors and the procurator general. Provinces are ordinarily joined to one or more vice-provinces that bring together the religious of the missions. The superiors of the provinces and vice-provinces, the superiors of the communities, and their consultors are elected for a three-year term by the superior general.