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Congregation of Christian Brothers
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The Congregation of Christian Brothers (officially, in Latin: Congregatio Fratrum Christianorum) is a world-wide community of religious brothers within the Roman Catholic Church, founded by Blessed Edmund Rice. The Christian Brothers, as they are commonly known, chiefly work for the evangelisation and education of youth, but are involved in many ministries, especially with the poor. Their first school was opened in Waterford, Ireland, in 1802.
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The Congregation of Christian Brothers (officially, in Latin: Congregatio Fratrum Christianorum) is a world-wide community of religious brothers within the Roman Catholic Church, founded by Blessed Edmund Rice. The Christian Brothers, as they are commonly known, chiefly work for the evangelisation and education of youth, but are involved in many ministries, especially with the poor. Their first school was opened in Waterford, Ireland, in 1802. Br Philip Pinto is the current superior general of the Congregation, and head of its Congregational Leadership Team that is based in Rome. At the time of its foundation the British Governments Penal Laws which discriminated against Catholics and excluded Catholics from education were still in force, and the Hedge school system was still the main source of Catholic education throughout Ireland.
They are sometimes confused with the Brothers of the Christian Schools, or "De LaSalle Christian Brothers," founded by Saint Jean-Baptiste de la Salle, a completely separate though similar order. For the sake of clarity, Rice's congregation is sometimes called the Irish Christian Brothers.
The congregation has received sustained criticism in recent years after repeated revelations of child sexual abuse in its institutions in Canada, Australia, the UK, and Ireland. Apologies were issued on behalf of the order in several parts of the world towards the end of the 20th Century.
In Ireland, during the latter part of the 20th century, Christian brothers schools were noted for allegations of brutal and frequent use of corporal punishment.
Formation
At the turn of the nineteenth century, Waterford merchant Edmund Rice considered travelling to Rome to join a religious order, possibly the Augustinians. Instead, with the support of Dr. Thomas Hussey, Catholic Bishop of the Diocese of Waterford and Lismore, he decided to found a religious community dedicated to teaching disadvantaged youth.
The first school, on Waterford's New Street, was a converted stable and opened in 1802, with a second school opening in Stephen Street soon after to cater for increasing enrolments. Two men from his hometown of Callan, Thomas Grosvenor and Patrick Finn, soon arrived to aid Rice in his makeshift schools, with the intention of living the life of lay brothers. In the same year, Rice used proceeds from the sale of his victualling business to begin building a community house and school on land provided by the diocese. Bishop Hussey opened the new complex, christened “Mount Sion” on June 7 1803, and pupils were transferred to the new school building the following year. The reputation of the school spread and across the next few years several men sought to become “brothers”.
On August 15 1808, seven men, including Edmund Rice, took religious promises under Bishop John Power of Waterford. Following the example of Nano Nagle's Presentation Sisters, they were called "Presentation Brothers". This was the first congregation of men to be founded in Ireland and one of the few ever founded in a Church by a layman.
Houses were soon opened in Carrick-on-Suir, Dungarvan, and in 1811, in Cork. In 1812 the Archbishop of Dublin established a community in Dublin and by 1907 there were ten communities in Dublin with in excess of 6,000 pupils. The schools included primary, secondary and technical schools, along with orphanages and a school for the deaf. A community was founded in Limerick in 1816, followed by establishments in several of Ireland's principal towns.
The Holy See formally established the congregation in 1820. The Christian Brothers was the first Irish order of men approved by a charter by the Rome.
Some brothers in Cork chose to remain under the original Presentation rule and continued to be known as Presentation Brothers, a separate congregation but also recognising Edmund Rice as its Founder.
Expansion
The order spread to Liverpool and other parts of England. Brother Ambrose Treacy established a very successful presence in Melbourne, Australia in 1868. In 1875 a school was opened in St. John’s, Newfoundland. In 1878 the Brothers were introduced to the British colony of Gibraltar. Communities were established in New Zealand and, in 1886 the Pope made it clear that he wanted the Brothers in India. A province of the order was established there. In 1900 the order was invited to establish houses in Rome. In 1906 the order established schools in New York City.
These new ventures were not always successful. Two brothers had been sent to Gibraltar to establish a school in 1835. However, despite initial successes they left in August 1837 on account of disagreements with the group of local Catholic leaders. Similarly, a mission to Sydney, Australia in 1842 failed within a couple of years.
In 1955 Stella Maris College (Montevideo) in Uruguay was established, famous for being one of the top schools in Uruguay, also known for the accidental fame for the Andes Flight Disaster involving its alumni rugby team.
The Brothers' schools continue to be of many types, including primary, secondary and technical schools, orphanages and for the deaf. A number of these technical schools taught poor children trades such as carpentry and building skills for which they could progress to gain apprenticeships and employment. As the National School system and vocational schools developed in the Irish Republic Christian Brothers became more concentrated on secondary education. A vast number of significant figures in Irish public life were educated by the Christian Brothers system.
Irish Nationalism
The Irish Christian Brothers were always regarded as supporting Irish nationalism, the Irish Language and Irish sports. In most of their schools in Ireland Gaelic football and Hurling were encouraged as opposed to other sports.
Conor Cruise O'Brien called them "the most indefatigable and explicit carriers" of the Catholic nation idea.
In the absence of state devised texts, or expensive text books, the Christian brothers composed and published a number of text books which were used by their schools. Many of these were in the Irish language but also in Mathematics and other subjects.
Scandals
In the late 20th century the brothers were tarnished by a number of scandals.
British Parliamentary Committee on Child Migration
In 1986 Margaret Humphreys, a social worker based in Nottingham, UK, received a letter from a woman who said that, at the age of four, she had been sent on a boat from the UK to a children's home in Australia, and was looking for help in tracing her parents in Britain.
Humphrey's research led to the exposure of the child migration scheme and to the establishment of the Child Migrants Trust, initially financed by Nottinghamshire County Council, and later by the British and Australian governments. The aim of the trust is to reunite child migrants with their biological parents.
In 1998, a British Parliamentary Committee on Child Migration began an inquiry into the child migration policy, and published a report in August that year. The report criticised the policy in general as well as certain Roman Catholic institutions in Western Australia and Queensland where child migrants were housed. The Western Australian Legislative Assembly passed a motion on 13 August 1998 apologising to former child migrants.
Sexual and physical abuse controversy
Canada
Allegations of sexual abuse at Mount Cashel Boys Home orphanage in Newfoundland led to a royal commission (The Hughes Inquiry) and further investigations followed into allegations at other institutions across Canada. The Hughes Inquiry concluded that officials had transferred offenders and covered up the sexual abuse at Mount Cashel; it recommended that victims be compensated. There was insufficient evidence to charge church and government officials with obstructing justice. Eleven Christian Brothers were eventually convicted and sentenced to between 4 months and 11 years in prison.
The orphanage was closed in 1990, and on April 5, 1992, the Brothers formally apologised to the victims of abuse at Mount Cashel.
The fight to compensate the victims of Mount Cashel lasted for many years and in 1996 the Newfoundland government paid $11.5 million in compensation. The courts ordered the assets of the Brothers sold to compensate the victims, who were to receive between $20,000 and $600,000 each in compensation. In 2002 St. Thomas More Collegiate in Burnaby and Vancouver College in Shaughnessy paid victims $19 million in an out-of-court settlement.
In Ontario, over two hundred and thirty former students of a training facility run by Christian Brothers were awarded compensation for abuse taking place in the 1950s to the 1970s.
Australia
There were allegations that during the 1970s sexual abuses took place at the junior campus of St Patricks College and St Aliphius Primary School (now closed) in Ballarat, Victoria. After investigation, Brothers Robert Best, Edward Dowlan and Stephen Francis Farrell were all convicted of sex crimes. Dowlan and Best were later transferred to the senior campus, and continued to offend.
In 1971, Bishop Mulkearns (retired) referred a priest, Fr Gerald Risdale for counselling. Fr Ridsdale was later convicted of 46 counts of sexual abuse against 21 victims over two decades. His victims claim that he selected children from the class and abused them. Ridsdale admitted that his victims number in the hundreds. In 1994, Bishop Mulkearns claimed that while he was aware of the abuse, he was not aware of the extent.
Organisational structure of the Christian Brothers
Geographically, the Christian Brothers are divided into several provinces that encompass every continent. The brothers within each province work under the direction of a Province Leadership Team. In turn, the entire Congregation operates under the leadership of a Congregation Leadership Team that is based in Rome (and led by a Congregation Leader). These provincial and congregational teams are elected on a 6-year basis at Congregation chapters.
At this point in time, restructuring is taking place in Oceania and Europe to account for the changing needs, in particular the declining number of brothers in the developed world. The three provinces of North America (Canada, Eastern American, and Western American Province) restructured into the Edmund Rice Christian Brothers North America province on July 1, 2005. The five provinces covering Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea combined into one Oceania province on October 1 2007, while the provinces that cover Ireland, England and the Congregational Leadership Team in Rome combined into a single European province on May 5, 2007.
A special community within this new European province will be based in Geneva, Switzerland, working to establish an NGO known as Edmund Rice International. The purpose of such an organisation is to gain what is known as a "general consultative status" with the United Nations. "This position allows groups the opportunity to challenge systemic injustice and to engage in advocacy work with policy makers on behalf of people who are made poor." As well as including Christian Brothers from provinces all over the world, members of the Presentation Brothers will also have a presence within this community.
Notable Christian Brothers
See also
Further reading
- Davies, K. (1994) When Innocence Trembles: The Christian Brothers Orphanage Tragedy. (Angus & Robertson: Sydney) ISBN 0207184194
- M.C. Normoyle, A Tree is Planted: The Life and Times of Edmund Rice (Congregation of Christian Brothers: n.l., 1976)
External links
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