The History of the Congregation of Holy Cross

James T. Connelly

Description

In 1837, Basile Moreau, C.S.C., founded the Congregation of Holy Cross (C.S.C.), a community of Catholic priests and brothers, to minister to and educate the people of France devastated by the French Revolution. During the centuries that followed, the Congregation expanded its mission around the globe to educate and evangelize, including the establishment in 1842 of the Congregation’s first educational institution in America—the University of Notre Dame. This sweeping book, written by the skilled historian and archivist James T. Connelly, C.S.C., offers the first complete history of the Congregation, covering nearly two centuries from 1820 to 2018.

Throughout this volume, Connelly focuses on the ministry of the Congregation rather than on its ministers, although some important individuals are discussed, including Jacques-François Dujarié; Sr. Mary of the Seven Dolors, M.S.C.; André Bessette, C.S.C.; and Edward Sorin, C.S.C. Within a few short years of founding the Congregation, Moreau sent the priests, brothers, and sisters from France to Algeria, the United States, Canada, Italy, and East Bengal. Connelly chronicles in great detail the suppression of all religious orders in France in 1903 and demonstrates how the Congregation shifted its subsequent expansion efforts to North America. Numerous educational institutions, parishes, and other ministries were founded in the United States and Canada during these decades. In 1943, Holy Cross again extended its work to South America. With the most recent establishment of a religious presence in the Philippines in 2008, Holy Cross today serves in sixteen different countries on five continents. The book describes the beatification of Basil Moreau, C.S.C, on September 15, 2007, and the canonization of André Bessette, C.S.C. on October 17, 2010. The book will interest C.S.C. members and historians of Catholic history. Anyone who wants to learn about the origins of the University of Notre Dame will want to read this definitive history of the Congregation.

Sujets

• Religion
• Christianisme
• Christian Education
• Social History
• HISTORY
• EDUCATION
• Histoire
• Catholic school
• Religious studies
• Christian Church
• Notre Dame
• André Bessette
• General officer
• University of Notre Dame
• Catholic
• General
• Basile Moreau

Informations

• Publié par: University of Notre Dame Press
• Date de parution: 15 décembre 2020
• Nombre de lectures: 1
• EAN13: 9780268108878
• Langue: English

Extrait

THE HISTORY OF THE
CONGREGATION OF HOLY CROSS
THE HISTORY OF THE
CONGREGATION
OF
HOLY CROSS
JAMES T. CONNELLY, C.S.C.
Univerity of Notre Dame Press
Notre Dame, Indiana
Copyright © 2020 by the University of Notre Dame
Published by the University of Notre Dame Press
Notre Dame, Indiana 46556
undpress.nd.edu
All Rights Reserved
Published in the United States of America
Library of Congress Control Number: 2020946989
ISBN: 978-0-268-10885-4 (Hardback)
ISBN: 978-0-268-10888-5 (WebPDF)
ISBN: 978-0-268-10887-8 (Epub)
This e-Book was converted from the original source file by a third-party vendor. Readers who notice any formatting, textual, or readability issues are encouraged to contact the publisher at [e-mail]
For
FATHER THOMAS BARROSSE, C.S.C.,
who started this project.
CONTENTS
Author’s Preface
Introduction
Glossary
Abbreviations
List of Superiors General
List of Maps
PART I. FOUNDATIONS
CHAPTER 1. In the Beginning There Were Two: France, 1820–37
CHAPTER 2. The Congregation from Sainte-Croix, 1837–57
PART II. MISSIONS
CHAPTER 3. The Indispensable Man: United States, 1841–61
CHAPTER 4. Au Canada: Canada, 1847–72
CHAPTER 5. A Matter of Survival: Bengal, 1852–1910
CHAPTER 6. What Man Has Put Asunder: The Holy Cross Sisters, 1856–89
PART III. MOVING PAST THE FOUNDING
CHAPTER 7. A Time of Trial: France, 1857–68
CHAPTER 8. Death and Resurrection: France, 1868–1926

PART IV. MATURING MISSIONS
CHAPTER 9. Civil War and the Immigrant Church: United States, 1861–1906
CHAPTER 10. Into the Twentieth Century: Canada, 1872–1917
PART V. A NEW FOUNDING
CHAPTER 11. The Legacy of Gilbert Français, 1893–1926
CHAPTER 12. An Era of Expansion and Restructuring, 1926–50
PART VI. AN ERA OF CRISIS
CHAPTER 13. The Era of Vatican II, 1950–68
CHAPTER 14. Challenges, Changes, and New Directions, 1968–98
Epilogue, 1998–2018
Notes
Index
AUTHOR’S PREFACE
Once there was a priest on his way to a wake for a man whom everyone knew had been a scoundrel. The deceased had abused his children, beaten his wife, cheated his business partners and customers, and was the scourge of his neighborhood. The priest was trying to think of something positive to say about the man but could not. When it came time for him to speak, the priest stood up and said, “There’s an old Latin adage, De mortuis nihil nisi bonum (Say only good things of the dead). We all knew old Bill here, so let’s share the good things we remember about him, only the good things.” With that, the priest sat down. There was a long, long silence. Finally, an old man in the back of the room stood up and said, “His father was worse than he was.”
I would like to be able to say of this work that previous attempts at a history of the Congregation of Holy Cross are worse than mine, but, to the best of my knowledge, there are no previous general histories of the Congregation. More than eleven biographies of Father Moreau have been published as well as biographies of Father Dujarié, Sister Marie-des-Sept-Douleurs, Brother André, Father Sorin, and various other Holy Cross personalities, not to mention the histories of various Holy Cross institutions. But to the best of my knowledge, there is no general history of the Congregation.
In 1982 Father Thomas Barrosse, the superior general at the time, commissioned me to research and write a “popular” history of Holy Cross. He thought it could be easily done by synthesizing the various publications that already existed. Once I began to examine the archival evidence, I realized that it would not be so readily accomplished. My great mistake at the beginning was not to have asked for a sabbatical of two or three years in which to do the work and a budget for travel and research. I have used whatever time I could find in the midst of my other duties to do the research and writing. I am grateful to Father Barrosse’s successors as superior general, Fathers Claude Grou, C.S.C., Hugh Cleary, C.S.C., and Richard Warner, C.S.C., for encouraging me to persevere and to Father Thomas O’Hara, C.S.C., my provincial, for granting me a two-year sabbatical to bring this work to a conclusion.

My goal has been to produce a readable, one-volume history. To do this, I had to make choices as to which events, ministries, and figures to treat. One of the first and most significant choices that I had to make was to restrict my account from 1857 onward to the Congregation of Holy Cross as it was approved by Rome: the priests and brothers as the Congregation with the Marianite Sisters of Holy Cross as a separate canonical community. As the sisters eventually divided into three autonomous congregations, to include all four communities in my account would have been all the more difficult, if not impossible.
I have chosen to end my history in 1998. There was a general chapter in that year and the election of a new superior general, Father Hugh Cleary, events that usually lead to new developments and new directions. Moreover, an account of the last twenty years might more aptly be described as journalism rather than history.
My focus has been on the ministry of the Congregation of Holy Cross rather than on its ministers, although some of these figures are mentioned in passing. Since the history of the Congregation and the institutions and ministries with which it has been affiliated are intricately linked, the rise, the fall, and the character of these associated bodies are often noted. I realize that not everyone will agree with my choices, but I have noted the sources on which I have relied in hopes that my choices as well as my interpretations will be seen as reasonable. I have made use of secondary sources when I deemed them reliable.
I like to think of my attempt at a short history as comparable to the Gospel according to Mark. It was the first of the canonical gospels to be written, and it served as an outline of the life and ministry of Jesus. However, it said little or nothing about many aspects of the story and the later evangelists filled in missing parts, for example, the infancy narratives or the details of the crucifixion and the resurrection appearances, all without seriously contradicting Mark’s basic structure. I have attempted to trace the outline of the history of the brothers and priests of Holy Cross, touching lightly on many aspects and treating no subject in the depth that it may deserve. The notes to my sources will serve the person who wants to offer a more detailed account, which I hope will not seriously contradict mine.
To confrères who might object to the production of a history rather than serious studies of the spirituality of our founder as we seek to chart our future, I offer the admonition of the eighth-century historian, St. Bede the Venerable. He believed that it was not only in scripture but in the history of his own people and in the stories of holy lives that the handwriting of God could be discerned (see, e.g., Bede’s History of the English Church and People ).
Over the years I have been aided in my research by more people than I can ever hope to acknowledge and thank, but gratitude obliges me to mention some who have been especially helpful. Father Jacques Grisé, C.S.C., former general archivist for the Congregation of Holy Cross, pointed me to files and sources that enlightened me beyond my expectations. I owe a debt to the archivists of the Congregation, especially Jacqueline Dougherty, Brother Andrew Corsini Fowler, Fathers William Blum, C.S.C., William Simmons, C.S.C., and Christopher Kuhn, C.S.C. of the United States Province of Priests and Brothers; Brothers John Kuhn, C.S.C., and Lawrence Stewart, C.S.C., of the Midwest Province; Father Roger Bessette, C.S.C., Marie Josée Vadnais, and Hélène Fortier of the Canadian Priests’ Archives; Brother Marcel Lafortune, C.S.C., of the Canadian Brothers’ Archives; Father Jean Proust, C.S.C., of the Congregation’s archives in France. W. Kevin Cawley of the University of Notre Dame Archives has always served me well whenever I had occasion to call on him as have the librarians at the University of Notre Dame and the University of Portland. In the archives of the Holy Cross sisters’ communities, Sisters Campion Kuhn, C.S.C., Kathryn Callahan, C.S.C., and Bernice Hollenhorst, C.S.C., in Indiana; Sisters Madeleine Sophie Hebert, M.S.C., and Barbara Dupuis, M.S.C., in Louisiana; Thelma Reynolds, M.S.C., in France; and Sister Graziella Lalande, C.S.C., in Canada have rendered invaluable service and advice over the years. The University of Portland provided a Butine travel grant in 1994 that made a sojourn in Montreal possible, and Father Bernard Lafrenière, C.S.C., gave me a tour of Holy Cross sites in Montreal and environs and tutored me in the history of the Congregation in Quebec, which helped me to understand the accomplishments of Holy Cross in Canada. The University of Portland also granted me a sabbatical from teaching from 2003 to 2004 that enabled me to make a great leap forward in my research and writing.
More recently, I have had the assistance of a group of readers for the various chapters whose critiques, corrections, and advice have been most helpful in determining the final shape of my project: Dr. Lauretta Frederking, Fathers Daniel Deveau, C.S.C., Richard Gribble, C.S.C., Kevin Grove, C.S.C., Francis Quinlivan, C.S.C., and Brother George Klawitter, C.S.C. While many of their suggestions have been incorporated, final responsibility for the text and notes is mine. All translations are mine unless otherwise noted. Jane Pitz created the maps compiled for this volume. At the University of Notre Dame Press, Mary Katherine Lehman, my copyeditor, corrected my many mistakes, clarified my narrative, and generally improved the book, and Wendy McMillin designed the cover. As always, I am indebted to my mentors in the research and writing of religious history: Thomas T. McAvoy, C.S.C., Philip Gleason, and Martin Marty