Congregation of Christian Brothers
The Congregation of Christian Brothers (officially, in Latin: Congregatio Fratrum Christianorum) is a world-wide community of religious brothers of the Roman Catholic church, founded by Blessed Edmund Rice. The Christian Brothers, as they are commonly known, chiefly work for the evangelization and education of youth, but work in many ministries, especially ministries 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.
They should not be 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 are sometimes called the Irish Christian Brothers.
In Canada, Australia, the UK, and Ireland, the order has received sustained criticism in recent years after many claims of the abuse of children in its institutions. Apologies were issued on behalf of the order in several parts of the world towards the end of the 20th Century.
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. Hussey, Catholic Bishop of the Diocese of Waterford and Lismore, he decided to found a religious order.
This first school, on Waterford's New Street, was a converted stable, and opened in 1802. In 1803, the citizens of Waterford built a monastery for the young men who had been drawn to assist Rice. The reputation of the school spread and many young men sought to become “brothers”.
In 1808, seven of the staff including Edmund Rice, took religious vows under Bishop 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. 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 many of Ireland's principal towns.
The Holy See formally established the order in 1820. The Christian Brothers was the first Irish order of men approved by a charter from Rome.
Some Brothers in Cork chose to remain under the original Presentation rule and continued to be known as Presentation Brothers, a separate order also recognizing 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 Gibraltar. Communities were established in
The Brothers' schools continue to be of many types, including primary, secondary and technical schools, orphanages and schools for the deaf.
British Parliamentary Committee on Child Migration
Margaret Humphrey's research began in 1986 when, as a social worker, she received a letter from a woman in Australia 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 who 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 Nottingham City Council, and later by the British and Australian governments. The aim of the trust is to reunite child migrants with their parents.
In 1998, a British Parliamentary Committee on Child Migration began an inquiry into the policy, and published a report in August that year, which criticized the policy in general, and particularly certain Roman Catholic institutions in Western Australia and Queensland where child migrants were housed, and where they were abused. The Western Australian Legislative Assembly passed a motion on 13 August 1998 apologizing to former child migrants.
Sexual molestation charges
Canada
Allegations of sexual abuse at Mount Cashel Boys Home orphanage in Newfoundland led to a royal commission (The Hughes Inquiry). 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, and recommended that the victims be compensated. There was insufficient evidence to charge church and government officials with obstructing justice. Nine Christian Brothers were eventually convicted and sentenced to between one and 13 years in prison. These include Edward English and Edward French amongst others.
The orphanage was closed in 1990, and on April 5, 1992, the Christian Brothers formally apologized to the victims of abuse at Mount Cashel.
The fight to compensate the victims of Mount Cashel lasted for many years. In 1996 the Newfoundland government paid $11.5 million in compensation. The courts ordered the assets of the Christian Brothers sold to compensate the victims, who were to receive between $20,000 and $600,000 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.[1]
Australia
In the 1970’s Ballarat was considered one of the pillars of the Australian Catholic Church and St Patrick’s College was the spiritual heart of Ballarat. However paedophiles operated with impunity across the Senior and Junior schools of the College. The abuse was widespread and well known within the church hierarchy.[2]
As early as 1971 the now retired Bishop Mulkearns took the half-hearted step of dealing with the problem referring probably the worst St Patrick’s College paedophile, Fr Gerald Ridsdale for counselling. Predictably this strategy did not stop the abuse. Fr Ridsdale went on offending with his most horrific years of inflicting paedophilia abuse ahead of him.
Fr Ridsdale was later convicted of 46 counts of sexual abuse against 21 victims over two decades. His victims claim that he would select children from the class and rape them with impunity either in the presbytery or a public toilet. In one instance he raped a young girl who came to him for comfort on the day of her father’s death. In 1994, Bishop Mulkearns claimed that while he was aware of the abuse, he was not aware of the extent.
The convictions are probably only the tip of the iceberg. Ridsdale has admitted that his victims can be counted in the 100s and further charges are currently being considered by Victoria’s Director of Public Prosecutions.
One of the St Patrick’s College junior campuses, East Ballarat's St Alipius Primary School (now closed) had a particularly active paedophile ring. In the four classrooms there was Brother Robert Best, Brother Edward Dowlan, Brother Fitzgerald, (now dead) and Brother Stephen Francis Farrell. All, except Fitzgerald, were later convicted of sex crimes. During Dowlan's County Court trial in 1996, the prosecution alleged that three St Alipius boys were each sexually abused by Dowlan, Best and Ridsdale.
Dowlan and Best were later transferred to the senior school where they joined other College pedophiles and continued to offend. Only very reluctantly has the Church come to accept its complicity in these crimes and the culture of abuse continues to divide this otherwise peaceful country town. These two convicted felons continue to work in the Christian Brother's various ministries.[3]
Corporal punishment was widespread throughout the earlier 20th century and into the 1980's at the Christian Brothers' schools. A favorite method was administering the "ghat", a leather strap about 1cm thick and 3cm wide brought down across the students hands. This was administered to children as young as 10. Typical offences included being in the classrooms before the bell (to get out of the freezing Ballarat cold). In the senior campus, one lay teacher, who was considered one of the less violent teachers, administered the ghat to those boys who were the slowest to put down their pens after he clicked his fingers.
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 Provincial Leadership Team. In turn, the entire Congregation operates under the leadership of a Congregational Leadership Team that is based in Rome (and led by a superior general). These Provincial and Congregational teams are elected on a 6-year basis at congregational chapters.
At this point in time, restructuring is taking place in Oceania and Europe to account for the changing needs of the Congregation, in particular the declining number of Brothers in the developed world. The five provinces covering Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea are combining into one Oceania province across 2007-08,[4] while the provinces that cover Ireland, England and the Congregational Leadership Team in Rome are combining into a single European province on May 5, 2007.[5]
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.[6]
Notable Christian Brothers
- Blessed Edmund Ignatius Rice (founder of the Christian Brothers and the Presentation Brothers)
- Br. Patrick Ambrose Treacy (leader of the first Australian community of Christian Brothers)
- Br. Paul Francis Keaney
- Br. Paul Nunan
- Congregation of Christian Brothers in New Zealand
See also
References
- Davies, K. (1994) When Innocence Trembles: The Christian Brothers Orphanage Tragedy. (Angus & Robertson: Sydney) ISBN 0207184194
- ^ http://www.religioustolerance.org/clergy_sex3.htm
- ^ Article in the Age Newspaper
- ^ http://brokenrites.alphalink.com.au/nletter/page122-dowlan.html
- ^ http://www.cfcoceania.org.au/docs/138_1.pdf
- ^ http://www.edmundrice.org.au/Christian_Brothers/Restructuring/New_Leadership_Team_in_Ireland_and_England/
- ^ http://www.edmundrice.org.au/media/Jointletter07.pdf
External links
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