Missionaries of the Holy Family
The Roman Catholic Congregation for Men of Missionaries of the Holy Family has around 950 members in 21 countries. It was founded in 1895 by Jean-Baptiste Berthier and received papal recognition in 1911. MSF is the abbreviation of the Latin name of the congregation: Missionarii a Sancta Familia .
The Congregation aims to participate as a religious community in the missionary mission of the Church . Priority concerns are the promotion of apostolic professions for the service of mission (Christianity) and evangelization , as well as family pastoral care .
Order history
Foundation and expansion in five continents
The order was founded in Grave near Nijmegen , Kingdom of the Netherlands , in 1895 and placed under the patronage of the Holy Family . The congregation was directed from there until 1957. The management has been in Rome since 1958 .
As early as 1911, just three years after the death of Jean-Baptiste Berthier, the congregation sent missionaries to the Amazon region of Brazil , and later to Texas , Borneo (Kalimantan) and Java . Missionaries of the Holy Family also serve in Argentina , Chile , Madagascar, and northern Norway . Recently also in Papua New Guinea , Belarus and the Ukraine .
In 1937, the Superior General Father Anton Maria Trampe founded the Female Congregation of the Missionaries and Adoration Sisters of the Holy Family .
German order history
The first German mission school was opened in 1920 in Adolfsburg Castle near Oberhundem ( Kirchhundem parish , Sauerland ). Above all, it was intended to enable later callers and young men from poor families to become missionaries.
Today the Order has two branches in Germany, as well as its own nursing station for confreres in need of care. The high schools "Maria Königin" in Lennestadt-Altenhundem and "St. Josef ”in Biesdorf (Eifel) are continued in the tradition of the Order Province by sponsoring associations. The mission house Maria Königin in Altenhundem was closed in October 2015, the mission house in Biesdorf (Eifel) in August 2017. The leadership of the German order province has been in Betzdorf an der Sieg since April 2016.
The order's own magazine “Der Sendbote”, which has been published monthly since 1904, was discontinued at the end of 2010. From the proceeds of the sale of the "Sendbote" the training of numerous young missionaries could be financed until the 1970s.
Order symbol
The star symbolizes the star of Bethlehem , that is, the (according to Christian understanding) God's incarnation in the birth of Jesus Christ . The cross stands for the completion of salvation history through the resurrection of Jesus. The circle , as a symbol of the whole world, indicates the worldwide missionary activity of the congregation in the tradition of the missionary mandate of Jesus Christ ( Mt 28 : 19-20a EU ):
- 19 Therefore go to all peoples, and make all men my disciples; baptize them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 and teach them to obey all I have commanded you.
Order structure
Order leadership and German provincial leadership
The head office of the congregation is in Rome. The general government consists of the superior general, since 2007 Edmund Michalski , and his four assistants. She is elected by representatives of all provinces for six years at the general chapter .
The German provincial government has its seat in Betzdorf. It consists of the Provincial P. Egon Färber, his deputy P. Wilhelm von Rüden, and the assistants P. Michael Baumbach and P. Josef Bartmann. The leadership of the German province is elected for three years at the provincial chapter .
Superior general
- ...
- Egon Färber 1983-1995
- Wilhelmus van der Weiden 1995 - 2007
- Edmund Michalski , since 2007
Offices in the German-speaking countries
Branches in the Order Province of Germany
- Betzdorf : Former publishing house of the Sendbote , today procuration and care station for old and sick brothers
- Biesdorf (Eifel) : Mission house, former boarding school (until 1993) and private Sankt-Josef-Gymnasium
- Bronnbach Monastery : Branch of the Polish Province of the Missionaries of the Holy Family
- Monastery of the Missionaries of the Holy Family (Düren)
Branches in the Republic of Austria
- Maria Ellend an der Donau : Mission House / Care of the pilgrimage site
Known members
- Jean-Baptiste Berthier (1840–1908), French priest and founder of an order
- Joannes Groen (1891–1953), Vicar Apostolic of Banjarmasin , Indonesia
- Johann Wember (1900–1980), Vicar Apostolic of Northern Norway
- Jacques Henri Romeijn (1906–1986), Bishop of Samarinda , Indonesia
- Franz Xavier Nierhoff (1913–1994), Bishop of Floresta , Brazil
- João Batista Przyklenk (1916–1984), Bishop of Januária , Brazil
- Wilhelmus Joannes Demarteau (1917–2012), Bishop of Banjarmasin, Indonesia
- Joseph Zimmermann (1923–1988), Bishop of Morombe , Madagascar
- Alwin Albert Hafner (1930–2016), Bishop of Morombe, Madagascar
- Joachim Piegsa (1930–2015), moral theologian at the University of Augsburg and Gustav Siewerth Academy
- Fransiskus Xaverius Rocharjanta Prajasuta (1931–2015), Bishop of Banjarmasin, Indonesia
- Anselmo Müller (1932–2011), Bishop of Januária, Brazil
- Michael Cornelis C. Coomans (1933–1992), Bishop of Samarinda, Indonesia
- Gerhard Goebel (1933–2006), Bishop of the Apostolic Prelature Tromsø
- Yulius Aloysius Husin (1937–1994), Bishop of Palangkaraya , Indonesia
- Gerhard Eberts (* 1938), father, journalist and author
- José Luis Castro Medellín (1938–2020), Bishop of Tacámbaro , Mexico
- Miguel Patiño Velázquez (1938–2019), Bishop of Apatzingan , Mexico
- Florentinus Sului Hajang Hau (1948–2013), Archbishop of Samarinda, Indonesia
- Guilherme Antônio Werlang (* 1950), Bishop of Lages , Brazil
- Justinus Harjosusanto (* 1953), Archbishop of Tanjung Selor , Indonesia
- Aloysius Maryadi Sutrisnaatmaka (* 1953), Bishop of Palangkaraya, Indonesia
- Zygmunt Robaszkiewicz (* 1958), Bishop of Morombe, Madagascar
- Dariusz Kałuża (* 1967), Bishop of Korona, Papua New Guinea
See also
Web links
- German website of the order
- Austrian website of the order
- Entry to Missionaries of the Holy Family on Orders online
Individual evidence
- ^ A b Südwest Presse Online-Dienst GmbH: Steinhofen: Fathers have been working in the parish for 25 years. October 5, 2018, accessed December 18, 2018 .
- ↑ The last “leafing through” after 106 years , accessed on September 14, 2013.
- ↑ Schwarzwälder Bote, Oberndorf Germany: Bisingen: Living the faith together - Black Forest Bote. Retrieved December 18, 2018 .