PII OPERAI CATECHISTI RURALI. — Congregation whose purpose is religious assistance in the countryside and the establishment of agricultural schools for the children of farmers. It consists of the Congregation of the P. O., to which that of the Rural Catechists was united by decree of the S. Congregation of Religious (28 June 1943).
In 1600 the ven. Carlo Carafa, together with several companions, began the P. O. in Naples, in the church of S. Maria di tutti i beni: a company of secular priests living in community who devoted themselves to explaining Christian doctrine, missions to the people, and ecclesiastical ministry in general. Forced to leave their first residence, in 1605 Carafa and his companions established a house at S. Maria dei Monti, outside Naples, where they set up the novitiate. During the founder’s lifetime three houses were opened, at S. Maria di Monterotondo (Caserta), at S. Giorgio, and at S. Nicola in Naples, which became the mother house. Gregory XV, by the brief Ex quo divina Maiestas (21 Apr. 1621), approved the Institute and the Constitutions drawn up by Carafa. In 1689 the P. O. opened a house in Rome, at S. Balbina, which was ceded to them by the Vatican Chapter. In 1704 they moved to S. Lorenzo ai Monti near Macel de' Corvi, and under Clement XI to S. Maria dei Monti, where they were entrusted with the direction of the College for catechumens and neophytes; in 1730 they also founded an Academy of Liturgy. They likewise established another house in Trastevere, and had the church of S. Giuseppe alla Lungara built there to the design of Giuseppe Ruscari Sassi (1730). The P. O. took no vows, observed great poverty, and practiced frequent fasts. They were governed by a superior general and four consultors elected by the General Chapter.
They distinguished themselves in Naples during the plague of 1653, in which almost all the members perished while caring for those stricken by the disease. They achieved a certain prominence in the Quietist controversy, since a circle had formed among them in which the superior general, Fr. A. de Torres, was the most eminent figure, and Fr. P. Gisoli a fluent writer, “a typical example of composite Baroque religiosity.” In the last century the community in Rome carried out a modest publishing activity, issuing, among other works, the acts of Pius IX.
The Congregation of the P. O., which had always remained limited to the aforementioned houses in Naples and Rome, in recent times was reduced to the mother house of S. Nicola; but, owing to a lack of members, this too was on the point of closing when, in 1928, at Montaldo Uffugo (Cosenza), Msgr. Gaetano Mauro began a new institute devoted to the care of the most neglected souls in the countryside and rural towns, through works suited to the new times. In 1930 the Institute became one of diocesan right, with the approval of the bishop, and in 1943, by decree of the Holy See, the old and the new Institutes merged into a single one, since their purpose was identical. The new times have brought new ideas and new means of apostolate, and today the Institute seeks to restore to the farmer the serene joy of rural life, to halt the scourge of urbanization, and to educate country children to appreciate the full nobility of agricultural labor. For this purpose it conducts missions among farmers who live far from the parish, opens agricultural colonies and educational institutions. It currently has 6 houses and about thirty religious.