SOCIETÀ DEL DIVIN VERBO (VERBITI). – Religious congregation composed of priests and coadjutor brothers, founded at Steyl (Holland) on 8 September 1875 by Arnaldo Janssen.
It received the approval of the Holy See on 2 May 1901 and the privilege of exemption on 6 August 1943. The Society has 4,813 religious, of whom 2,305 are priests, and is divided into 16 provinces (7 in Europe, 8 in America, 1 in the Philippine Islands), 16 vice-provinces (4 in Europe, 10 in Asia, 1 in Australia), and 109 communities.
The general curia is located in Rome, where the international college is also situated. The superior general is elected for twelve years by the General Chapter, which holds legislative authority. The superior general, in turn, appoints the provincial and local superiors and assigns each religious his field of work without regard to his province of origin. The special purpose of the Society is the evangelization of non-believers. All its other activities are directed toward this purpose, such as preaching, spiritual exercises, and popular missions among Catholics; pastoral care in countries with a great shortage of priests (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Philippine Islands); the formation of the clergy; the education and instruction of young people in secondary and higher schools (the Catholic Universities of Pechino in China, S. Carlos in Cebù in the Philippines, and Nagoya in Japan); the publication of missionary journals and good Catholic literature; and the propagation of devotion to the Most Holy Trinity, especially to the Holy Spirit and the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
At present the Society has in China 4 archdioceses, 5 dioceses, and 3 apostolic prefectures. Subsequently, other missions were entrusted to the Society in Africa, in New Guinea, in
SOCIETÀ DEL DIVIN SALVATORE (S. D. S.). — Religious congregation of simple vows, founded in Rome by Fr. Jordan (v.) on 8 December 1881.
(by courtesy of the Superior General of the S. del D. F.)
(by courtesy of the Superior General of the S. del D. F.)