DOTTRINARI. - A congregation founded in 1592 by the Venerable César De Bus (v. BADII, CESARE); it resulted from the union of three Congregations of Christian Doctrine: the Roman or Agatist, the Neapolitan, and the Avignonese.
The Roman Congregation originated from the Company of Christian Doctrine, established in Rome in 1560 through the efforts of Fr. Enrico Pietra, a disciple of St. Philip Neri, and the Milanese nobleman Marco Cusan. In 1571, together with other priests, they began to live in community near S. Giovanni della Malva. In 1575, Gregory XIII assigned them the church of S. Agata in Trastevere. In 1598, the Company divided: the priests living in community formed a congregation, while the seculars formed a confraternity.
The Neapolitan Congregation, founded between 1610 and 1620 in Laurito, diocese of Capaccio, by the priests Filippo Romanelli, Andrea Brancaccio, and Pompeo Montfort, enjoyed a period of prosperity with houses and colleges in many towns of the Neapolitan region, but soon declined.
The French Congregation, founded in 1592 in Avignon by the Venerable César De Bus, spread rapidly, eventually having over 60 houses and colleges, especially in the south and west of France. The superior general resided in Paris. It had been conceived as a pious society of secular priests without vows, who, after several years following the founder’s death (1607), united with the Somascans while retaining their own activities and acknowledging De Bus as their founder and master. This union lasted until 1647. In 1659, it obtained permission to take simple vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, along with a vow or oath of perseverance. In 1683, the Avignon province founded its first house in Sospello in Savoy; in 1686, another in Ivrea; and in 1700, it entered central Italy with various houses and colleges, including one in Rome at the church of S. Nicola degli Incoronati.
In 1725, Benedict XIII detached the Italian houses of the Avignon province and united them with the Neapolitan Congregation of Christian Doctrine, thereby creating the Roman province of the Avignon Congregation, with the provincial superior’s seat in Rome at the church of S. Maria in Monticelli.
In 1747, Benedict XIV united the Roman province of the Congregation with that of France. Thus, the Neapolitan and Roman Congregations disappeared, leaving only the Avignonese one. All the Italian D. accepted the constitutions of the French Congregation and acknowledged the Venerable César De Bus “as their sole master and founder.” The Italian provinces, while “under the obedience of the superior general” residing in Paris, had a nearly autonomous structure, so that the French Revolution, which destroyed the Congregation in France, did not harm the Italian houses. These, in 1842, obtained permission to have a superior general residing in Rome. After the suppression of 1870, the Congregation regained strength and in 1947 was able to begin new foundations even in South America. Today it has 8 houses with 65 religious.