CHRISTIAN BROTHERS

Holy Spirit Province (W.A. & S.A.)

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About The Christian Brothers

Edmund Rice’s founding charism gave birth to two congregations, the Congregation of Christian Brothers and the Congregation of Presentation Brothers. In the early days, when Edmund first began to attract followers to his way of life, they formed themselves into a little group of pious laymen. They lived together in community, and began to follow an adaptation of the Presentation Sisters’ Rule written for the Presentation Sisters by Fr. Laurence Callanan O.F.M.. The Holy See had already approved of this Rule when Edmund and his followers began to use their adaptation of it in 1809 to guide their first faltering steps along the path of religious life.  

The granting of the Apostolic Brief in 1820, allowing the infant Congregation to become an Apostolic Institute, was a defining moment for all of the early brothers. A few  men withdrew from Edmund’s enterprise at this point, another few wished to stay with their local bishops and became the Presentation Brothers. The majority accepted the Brief and went on to become the Congregation of Christian Brothers.

Since late 2000 the four Christian Brother Provinces in Australia have been working together to address the future governance of the thirty seven schools which are currently owned and operated by the Congregation of Christian Brothers.By October, 2007 the Congregation will have established an organization called Edmund Rice Education Australia which will govern the thirty seven schools on behalf of the Congregation.

The central mission of Edmund Rice Education Australia is for it to ‘continue the charism (gift) of Edmund Rice in schools ministry as a Church mission’.

Simultaneously with the above, the Christian Brother Province of New Zealand, along with the four Australian Provinces and a Region in Papua New Guinea, have been addressing the future organisational structure of the Congregation in Oceania. To do this, a group called the Shaping Our Future Committee Oceania was established. The focus of its work is such,

‘that by December 2007 within Oceania, structures will exist that have the purpose of better enabling the brothers of Oceania to live prophetic religious lives and to further the Mission of the Congregation, so that there is a new inter-connectedness among the Brothers and their communities’.

As a result of work done so far it has been decided that on October 1, 2007 Oceania will become one Province. The appropriate sub-structures to support the Brothers and to govern and manage the ministries of the Congregation within the new Province are now being developed.

See the Media section of this website for the latest newsletters relating to these exciting developments.

For more information on Christian Brothers click here Vocations (return to top)