Communion of St. John

The community of St. John or Johannesgemeinschaft (abbreviated CSJ; French "Communauté Saint Jean") is a religious order under diocesan law in the Catholic Church , it is subordinate to the diocesan bishop of Autun .

founding

Order founder Marie-Dominique Philippe at the age of 93

In the summer of 1975, some French students from the University of Friborg ( Switzerland ) wanted to live together in a religious community and asked the Dominican priest and university professor Marie-Dominique Philippe for spiritual guidance. He took advice from the French mystic Marthe Robin , who encouraged him not to refuse the request of these students. December 8, 1975, when six students and Marie-Dominique Philippe were consecrated to Mary on the island of Lérins near Cannes, is the founding day .

Marie-Dominique Philippe wanted to join the community in another order. The Cistercian Abbey of Lérins was ready to accept the group as oblates . This affiliation was approved on April 28, 1978. The new community was named "Congrégation Saint Jean" after the apostle John . Then the community moved to Rimont (municipality of Fley ) near Chalon-sur-Saône (France). The community had grown to around 80 brothers and in 1983 founded a novitiate in Saint Jodard near Roanne ( Loire department ). In 1986 it was recognized as a congregation of diocesan law and placed under the Bishop of Autun .

Novitiate in Saint Jodard, France

Marie-Dominique Philippe led the start-up, but did not join it herself, but remained a university professor in Freiburg until 1982.

The brothers are active as pastors in parishes, schools and universities, outside Europe also as missionaries . The only branch in the German-speaking area is in Marchegg , Lower Austria .

In the autumn of 2019 the brothers of St. John decided to “re-establish the community” and “clearly distanced themselves from its founder”, from whom repeated sexual abuse of religious women had become known. In addition, the "Community decided to decentralize its structure, which had previously been heavily geared towards the Prior General."

In Austria

In 1994 the brothers of St. John came from Vienna to Marchegg (Austria) at the request of the then archbishop . In 2001 the new monastery church was consecrated. Six brothers currently live in Marchegg. Brother Johannes-Elias CSJ ​​has been Prior since 2016.

Brothers priory in Marchegg

management

Prior General:

• 1975-2001: Fr. Marie-Dominique Philippe OP
• 2001–2010: P. Jean-Pierre-Marie Guérin-Boutard CSJ
• 2010–2019: P. Thomas Joachim CSJ
• 2019– 0000: François-Xavier CSJ

The prior general is elected for six years and his mandate can be extended for three years. The prior general is assisted by a general council in the direction of the congregation . Several members of the General Council are also vicars.

The congregation is divided into vicariates. Each vicariate has a vicar who represents the prior general.

• Vicariate General (3 offices in France )
• Vicariate Central France (8 branches)
• Vicariate Northern France (7 branches)
• Vicariate South of France (6 branches)
• Vicariate Africa (8 branches in Ethiopia , Ivory Coast , Guinea , Cameroon , Senegal and Togo )
• Vicariate America (8 offices in Brazil , Canada , Mexico and USA )
• Vicariate Asia (5 branches in India , New Zealand , Philippines , South Korea and Taiwan )
• Vicariate Europe North (8 branches in Belgium , Great Britain , Lithuania , Netherlands , Austria )
• Vicariate Europe South (6 branches in Italy , Romania , Russia and Switzerland )

statistics

On January 1, 2009 there were 546 brothers. 385 (7%) brothers have made their perpetual vows (233 of them are priests). Around 40% are still in training.

The average age is 40 years.

The brothers come from 30 nations: France: 58%, Europe (excluding France): 14%, Africa: 10%, America: 15% and Asia: 3%.

Sisters

Sisters in Troussures , France.

On December 8, 1982, a community of sisters was founded, which received its final, purely contemplative rules in September 1983 . It was recognized by the church on January 25, 1987, and in 1994 it received the status of a congregation of diocesan law .

Since some sisters wanted to lead an apostolic life, a new branch of the order of sisters was founded on September 8, 1984 in Rimont, which on October 7, 1993 received the status of a congregation of diocesan law.

The sisters of both branches wear a gray habit with a scapular . The apostolic sisters also wear a gray veil, the contemplatives a white one.

• Contemplative Sisters (32 offices in Belgium, Brazil, Ivory Coast, France, India, Canada, Cameroon, Lithuania, Mexico, Netherlands, Austria, Philippines, Romania, Senegal, Taiwan and USA)

• Apostolic Sisters (17 branches in France, Germany ( Velburg , Haus Betanien), Guinea, Cameroon, Lithuania, Mexico, the Philippines, Togo and the USA)

Brothers and sisters, along with the regulated Oblates, make up the "Family of St. John".

criticism

Pope Benedict XVI early in 2006 exhorted the fellowship of St. John to be more careful in accepting new members.

In a ZDF documentary from June 2018, allegations against the community are reported. There are said to be several priests within the Christian community who have abused children and have not been prosecuted, but only transferred.

An "investigation found [besides Marie-Dominique Philippe] almost 30 other brothers who had reproduced the abuse system [...] Philippe for their own actions."

Trivia

From 2004 to 2010 the musician Paddy Kelly lived as a novice of the community in a monastery in France and studied philosophy and theology there. In November 2010 he resigned from the religious community to devote himself to his music again.

See also

The community of St. John is not to be confused with the Johannesgemeinschaft (secular institute) , which was founded in 1944.

literature

• Community of St. John (Ed.): 30 years of fellowship with St. John . Marchegg City 2005
• St. Johannes Community Marchegg (ed.): The community of St. John . (Information brochure)
• Lettre aux Amis de la Famille Saint-Jean . (Journal, 3 issues per year) ISSN  1266-5452

Web links

• Page of the Johannesgemeinschaft
• Page of the Johannesgemeinschaft in Austria
• Founder of the community of St. John died. (pdf, 40 kB) In: kath.ch. August 28, 2006, archived from the original on September 4, 2006 .  #

Individual evidence

1. ^ Father Thomas Joachim, Sister Paul-Marie, Sister Claire de Jésus: Letter from the three prior general. Brothers of St. John, February 7, 2019, accessed March 6, 2019 . TV documentary about abuse of women religious shakes France. In: kathisch.de . March 5, 2019, accessed November 7, 2019 . Marie Pierre Raimbault, Eric Quintin: Religieuses abusées. L'autre scandal de l'Église. (German: God's abused servants .) Dream Way Productions / ARTE France 2019, German first broadcast: March 5, 2019 ( archive at WebCite, accessed March 6, 2019) 
    
   
2. ↑ ^{a b} Abuse: the religious order completely renounces the founder. In: kathisch.de . November 6, 2019, accessed November 7, 2019 . 
3. ↑ The Brothers: Brother John Elias. In: johannesgemeinschaft.at. Retrieved November 7, 2019 . 
4. ↑ press release. St. John's Community - Prioriat Maria Koenigin, May 12, 2019, accessed on November 7, 2019 . 
5. ^ The priories: House of Bethany. Congregation of the Apostolic Sisters of Saint John, accessed November 7, 2019 . 
6. ↑ Founder of the community of St. John died. (pdf, 40 kB) In: kath.ch. August 28, 2006, archived from the original on September 4, 2006 ; accessed on October 12, 2018 . 
7. ↑ The Silence of the Shepherds - Abuse in the Church. May 16, 2018, accessed October 12, 2018 . Martin Boudot: The silence of the shepherds. (Video on YouTube , 43:59 minutes) In: ZDFinfo . June 11, 2018, accessed October 12, 2018 . 
    
8. ↑ Paddy Kelly has resigned from the monastery! In: Promiflash . November 22, 2010, accessed November 7, 2019 .