DOTTRINARI. — Congregation founded in 1592 by the ven. Cesare De Bus (v. BUS, CÉSAR de); it is the result of the three Congregations of Christian Doctrine: the Roman or Agathist, the Neapolitan, and the Avignonese.
The Roman Congregation originated in the Company of Christian Doctrine established in Rome in 1560 through the work of Fr. Enrico Pietra, a disciple of s. Filippo Neri, and the noble Milanese Marco Cusani, who in 1571, together with other priests, began common life 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; the laymen, on the other hand, formed a confraternity.
The Neapolitan Congregation, founded between 1610 and 1620 at Laurito, in the diocese of Capaccio, by the priests Filippo Romanelli, Andrea Brancaccio, and Pompeo Monfort, enjoyed a period of prosperity, with houses and colleges in many towns of the Neapolitan region, but soon declined.
The Congregation of France, founded in 1592 at Avignon by the ven. Cesare De Bus, spread rapidly until it had more than 60 houses and colleges, especially in southern and western France. The superior general resided in Paris. It had been conceived as a pious society of secular priests without vows, who, several years after the founder’s death (1607), joined the Somaschi while preserving their own activity and recognizing De Bus as founder and master; but this union lasted until 1647. In 1659 it obtained permission to pronounce the simple vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, together with the vow or oath of perseverance. In 1683 the province of Avignon founded its first house at Sospello in Savoy; in 1686 it opened another at Ivrea; 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 province of Avignon and united them with the Neapolitan Congregation of Christian Doctrine, thus giving rise to the Roman province of the Congregation of Avignon, with the provincial’s residence 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, and only that of Avignon remained. All the D. of Italy accepted the constitutions of the Congregation of France and recognized the ven. Cesare de Bus “as the sole master and founder.” The provinces of Italy, although living “under the obedience of the superior general,” who resided in Paris, had an almost autonomous organization; consequently, the French Revolution, which destroyed the Congregation in France, did not harm the houses in Italy, which 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, including in South America. Today it has 8 houses with 65 religious.