Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer

CONGREGATION OF THE MOST HOLY REDEEMER. - It was founded at Scala near Amalfi by St. Alphonsus Mary de' Liguori (v.), on 9 November 1732, for the preaching of missions to the people. It was called the Priests of the Most Holy Saviour, who were at first under the direction of Msgr. Tommaso Falcoia, bishop of Castellammare. In 1743 they chose St. Alphonsus as major rector for life, and for the first time they took the three religious vows, together with those of perseverance in the C., of renunciation of ecclesiastical dignities, and of preaching among the infidels. On 25 February 1749 four houses already existed when Benedict XIV approved the Rule and the institute under the name of C. of the Most Holy Redeemer.

The expansion of the C. was hindered by the regalism of Naples, which prohibited every new foundation, tolerated no possession of goods in common, and recognized the missionaries only as secular priests under the authority of the local Ordinary (royal dispatch of 9 November 1752). As a precaution against this abuse of authority, some houses were opened between 1755 and '77 in the Papal States; nevertheless, the anticurial political sectarianism of Naples provoked a very grave crisis. In 1780 Ferdinand IV permitted its legal existence, refused for forty years, provided that a regulation approved by the government be accepted. St. Alphonsus consented, thinking it was a simple formality, in order to adapt to the laws of the country. This regulation invalidated the essential parts of the Rule approved by Benedict XIV, and Rome was informed of it. On 23 September 1780 a decree of the Holy See excluded from the institute the houses of the Kingdom of Naples, while those of the pontifical territory were placed under the authority of a superior general, who from 1783 resided in Rome. St. Alphonsus died in 1787 before this division was removed. In 1790 the fathers of the Neapolitan area obtained authorization to resume the Rule of Benedict XIV. Pius VI permitted the convocation of a general Chapter to establish the union, and in 1793 the whole C. was placed under the authority of the superior general residing at Pagani. St. Clement Mary Hofbauer, propagator of the institute outside Italy, reached Warsaw in 1787, and, in the capacity of vicar general, in fifteen years made a series of foundations in Courland, Poland, Germany and Switzerland, but they did not have stability. In 1820 he opened a house in Vienna. Under the general vicariate of Fr. Passerat, who succeeded Hofbauer in 1820, the C. spread to France (1820), to Poland (1825), to Portugal (1826), to Belgium and the United States (1832), to Bulgaria and the Duchy of Modena (1835), to Holland (1836), to Bavaria (1841). In 1848 it had beyond the Alps 21 houses with 350 religious. On 2 June 1841 Gregory XVI divided it into 6 provinces, and in 1853 Pius IX established in Rome the residence of the superior general, opened in 1853; from this moment the transalpine general vicariate ceased. Because of the opposition of the government of Naples, the houses existing there were erected into an autonomous C.; but in 1869 they returned under the authority of the superior general of Rome. From then on the diffusion was rapid. From 644 in 1867, the number of religious rose to 2147 in 1884, to 4317 in 1916, to 7425 in 1948 with 24 provinces, 21 vice-provinces and 453 houses.

In its internal life the C. is inspired by the imitation of the virtues and examples of Christ. The exercises of piety are numerous: three meditations a day, the divine office in common when circumstances permit, half an hour of thanksgiving after Mass, spiritual reading, two examinations, the visit to the Most Holy Sacrament and to the Blessed Virgin, the Rosary, obligatory even on the most tiring days of the missions. Marian devotion is one of the characteristics of this interior life. Besides the founder and Sts. Clement Hofbauer and Gerard Majella, the Redemptorists count not a few confreres whose causes of beatification are in progress.

The specific apostolate of the C. is the mission, a series of preachings of 10 or 15 consecutive days that aim especially at disposing the faithful to the sacrament of Confession. When circumstances permit, the missionaries after some months return for a few days to the localities they have evangelized to ascertain the fruits of their apostolate. These returns are an apostolic innovation that greatly contributed, in 1749, to the pontifical approval of the institute. The archconfraternity of the Holy Family, erected in every church of the C., has 65 years of life, 1400 associations and 500,000 members. The cult of Our Lady of Perpetual

Help, venerated in the church of St. Alphonsus on via Merulana in Rome, is spread everywhere, especially in the United States, and draws an immense concourse of the faithful.

The apostolate of the Foreign Missions, begun in 1858 in the Danish Antilles, was successively extended, after 1870, to 54 countries. In 1948 the C. had 24 missions dependent on the Congregation of Propaganda Fide: 7 in Asia, 4 in Africa, 10 in America, 2 in Oceania, 1 in Europe. It also engages in apostolate among Catholics of the Eastern rite.

The literary activity of the Redemptorists developed considerably after the general established himself in Rome. The authors, from the origins to 1939, amount to 1323, and the majority of their publications are works of ascetical popularization, as the purpose of the C. requires. There are also numerous publications of a scientific character, especially works of theology, exegesis, apologetics. To the C. belonged Card. Dechamps, archbishop of Malines (1867-83) and Card. Van Rossum, prefect of Propaganda Fide (1918-32). The C. is governed by a superior general, or major rector, residing in Rome, elected for life by the general Chapter, which also elects the six general consultors and the general procurator. To the provinces are ordinarily united one or more vice-provinces that gather the religious of the missions. The superiors of the provinces and vice-provinces, the superiors of the communities and their consultors are elected for a three-year term by the superior general.

Maurizio de Meulemeester