Franciscan Brothers of Brooklyn

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

The

Diocese of Rockville Centre) since their founding. The Brothers of the congregation use the postnominal initials of O.S.F.[1] Numbering 80 members as of 2008,[2] they are the largest congregation of Religious Brothers founded in America. Formerly a diocesan congregation, in 1989, they became an Institute of Pontifical Right
.

History

Irish roots

Ireland had been the home of 47

Penal Laws put in place in their land under English rule.[3] The Order continued in hiding, with only lay members. Their ministry was that of instructing Catholic boys in the faith in underground "bog schools".[4]

After the ban on education by Catholics was repealed in 1782, two Brothers established themselves as the Franciscan Brothers of Ireland, a congregation of

Religious Brothers, and opened a monastery and free primary school for poor boys in Milltown, Dublin. Several foundations soon followed.[4] In 1818 they were given land in Mountbellew, County Galway, to which the monastery moved and opened a primary school, now the Mountbellew Agricultural College.[5]

New York

In 1847, the Brothers accepted the invitation of the Bishop of Pittsburgh and established a monastery there, the first community of Religious Brothers in the United States. John Loughlin, the first Bishop of Brooklyn, issued a similar invitation to the Brothers to operate schools for the boys of his diocese in 1858. Under the leadership of Brother John McMahon, O.S.F., and Brother Vincent Hayes, O.S.F., a group of six Brothers, sent from the monastery in Roundstone, County Galway, soon arrived and opened St. Francis Monastery on Butler Street and St. Francis Academy (now the site of St. Francis College), the first Catholic school in Brooklyn. The monastery served as the base of operations for the Brothers as they spread out over the City of Brooklyn in their ministry of education.

Over the subsequent decades, the Brothers staffed local parochial schools. In 1882, at the request of Archbishop John Ireland, a group of Brothers left Brooklyn and opened a new monastery in Spalding, Nebraska, whose Brothers operated a school for Native American boys.

The Brothers opened St. Anthony's High School in

spiritual retreats on the grounds, including Mount Alvernia Retreat Center.[9] In the early 1920s, the camp was the site of an anti-Catholic demonstration by the Ku Klux Klan, which conducted a cross burning on its grounds.[10]

Division

By the beginning of the 20th century, a desire had grown among the Brothers for closer ties to the wider Franciscan Third Order Regular. In addition, some of the Brothers had felt the call to become

ordination
. The bishop refused this request, as the community had been introduced into the diocese for the care of parish schools, and he feared that in the event of its members becoming priests this work would suffer.

The following year some 25 Brothers gave up their

Third Order Regular of St. Francis of Penance headquartered in Rome. This led to the establishment of that Order in the United States in 1910.[11]

Pontifical status

From the time of their founding, the Brothers had lived as a religious

Superior General. In 1989 Pope John Paul II issued a Decree of Praise, which established the Franciscan Brothers of Brooklyn as an Institute of Pontifical Right. This removed them from the direct authority of the local bishop and made them subject instead to the Holy See.[4]
They were then able to operate outside their home dioceses of Brooklyn and Rockville Centre anywhere in the world.

Ministry

The Franciscan Brothers of Brooklyn are primarily involved in educational and pastoral ministries.[12] At present the Brothers help to staff Catholic high schools in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, and Raleigh, North Carolina.[4]

References

  1. ^ (Latin: Ordo Franciscanus Saecularis
  2. ISBN 978-88-209-8355-0
    .
  3. ^ "The Franciscans in Ireland". The Franciscans T.O.R. Archived from the original on April 10, 2013. Retrieved July 30, 2014.
  4. ^ a b c d "Our History". Franciscan Brothers of Brooklyn. Retrieved July 30, 2014.
  5. ^ "About Mountbellew". Mountbellew Agricultural College. Archived from the original on February 20, 2015. Retrieved July 30, 2014.
  6. ^ "St. Anthony's History", St. Anthony's High School
  7. ISBN 0-9723703-0-7
    )
  8. ^ Bretherton, George (July 2004). "The History of the Franciscan Brothers of Brooklyn in Ireland and America (book review)". The Catholic Historical Review. 90 (3): 578.
  9. ^ "Mount Alvernia Retreat Center". Alvernia. Retrieved July 30, 2014.
  10. ^ Strachan, Laura, CSJ, Sister. "A History of Saint Anthony's High School to 1984". St. Anthony's High School. Archived from the original on December 3, 2011. Retrieved July 30, 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  11. ^ "History". Sacred Heart Province.
  12. ^ "Franciscan Brothers of Brooklyn". Archived from the original on 2019-07-29. Retrieved 2019-07-29.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Franciscan_Brothers_of_Brooklyn&oldid=1221313673"