DIOCESAN PRIEST-WORKERS. — They were founded by Manuel Domingo y Sol, a priest of the diocese of Tortosa, in 1881, for the direction of the “S. José” colleges established by him in several cities of Spain and of the diocesan seminaries.
The diocesan priest-workers have the spirit of a religious congregation without losing the character of secular priests, so as to be in perfect harmony with the clergy they are to form. The novelty of such a juridical conception gave rise to some difficulties, which the founder overcame with great prudence. On 2 Feb. 1884 the “Hermandad” received the approval of the bishop of Tortosa, and on 1 Aug. 1887 Leo XIII granted the decree of praise.
On 1 Aug. 1927 Pius XI definitively approved the Institute and temporarily its constitutions, which later received definitive approval on 23 March 1933. At the proposal of the General Chapter of July 1951, the Holy See, by decree of 8 Dec. of the same year, enrolled the “Hermandad” among the Secular Institutes in accordance with the constitution Provida Mater. At present the diocesan priest-workers number 142, with a house of formation at Salamanca and an aspirantate at Buenos Aires; they direct 20 seminaries in Spain, Argentina, Uruguay and Peru, and the Spanish College in Rome for the training and education of clerics sent by Spanish bishops. They are also entrusted with the churches of the Reparation in Tortosa and Valencia, the university college “Pio XII” in Valencia, and the Spanish-American major college in Salamanca. They publish the reviews El Congregante de S. Luis (Tortosa), Sígueme (Salamanca), La Reparación (ibid.).