Diocesan Worker Priests

DIOCESAN WORKER PRIESTS. - They were founded by Manuel Domingo y Sol, a priest of the diocese of Tortosa, in 1881, for the direction of the "St. Joseph" colleges he had established in several cities of Spain and of the diocesan seminaries.

The D. W. P. have the spirit of a religious congregation, without losing the character of secular priests, so as to be in perfect harmony with the clergy whom they are to form. The novelty of such a juridical conception gave rise to certain difficulties, which the founder knew how to overcome with great prudence. On 2 February 1884 the "Hermandad" received the approval of the bishop of Tortosa, and on 1 August 1887 Leo XIII issued the decree of praise.

On 1 August 1927 Pius XI definitively approved the Institute and temporarily approved its constitutions, which then received definitive approval on 23 March 1933. On the proposal of the General Chapter of July 1951, the Holy See, by a decree of 8 December of that same year, enrolled the "Hermandad" among the Secular Institutes in accordance with the constitution Provida Mater. At present the D. W. P. number 142, with a house of formation in Salamanca and an aspirancy in Buenos Aires; they direct 20 seminaries in Spain, Argentina, Uruguay and Peru, and the Spanish College of Rome for the formation and instruction of clerics sent by the Spanish bishops. Entrusted to them as well are the temples of the Reparation of Tortosa and Valencia, the "Pius XII" university college of Valencia, and the Hispano-American major college of Salamanca. They publish the reviews El Congregante de S. Luis (Tortosa), Sigueme (Salamanca), La Reparación (ibid.).

Giuseppe M. Javierre