BROTHERS OF THE CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS OF IRELAND (CHRISTIAN BROTHERS)
The Brothers of the Christian Schools of Ireland (Christian Brothers) is a religious institute founded in Waterford, Ireland, by Edmund Ignatius Rice (1768–1844), a wealthy local merchant. After the death of his wife in 1802, Rice considered retiring to monastic life, but a group of abandoned boys, brought to his attention by a pious person, redirected his vocation. He then opened his first school in a poor district, forming a religious community of lay teachers dedicated to the instruction and education of youth, modeled after the work of St. John Baptist de La Salle in France.
At the time, laws in Ireland prohibited the establishment of religious congregations, yet the new institute flourished and spread rapidly. Pope Pius VII approved it on September 5, 1820. Today, the Brothers of the Christian Schools of Ireland are divided into five religious provinces: the Irish with 95 schools, the Australian with 82, the English with 14, the American with 18, and the Indian with 12, in addition to houses in South Africa and Buenos Aires that do not form separate provinces. Thousands of students attend their schools, ranging from elementary to secondary levels, where instruction is provided using teaching methods adapted to the needs of the times and places. There are currently 2,226 religious brothers.