PRETI DELLA MISERICORDIA. - A congregation of missionary priests, initially called the “Society of the Missions of France,” founded by Fr. G. B. Rauzan (1757–1847) at Lione in 1808, with the aim of combating the painful effects of the French Revolution and restoring religious life through missions in the various centres of France.
The work of these missionaries was soon requested by various French bishops, alarmed at the harm caused to souls by anti-religious propaganda. The Congregation having been suppressed by Napoleon, in 1814 Rauzan was able to resume his activity and, together with his confrères, to continue his apostolic work until 1830, when another revolution forced him to suspend II. He then went to Rome, where he remained for three years, drawing up the rules of his Institute, approved by Gregorio XVI on 18 February 1834. After the founder’s death, the Congregation spread,
despite persecutions, in Europe and America. At present it has an international college in Rome, houses in Canada, the United States, and France. The confrères take the vows of chastity, obedience, and stability, as well as the promise of evangelical poverty. They devote themselves not only to missions, but also to parish ministry and the education of youth.