General Historical Archives
of
the
Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer
The
General Historical Archives of the Congregation
of the Most Holy Redeemer preserve, classify and
catalogue all the documents of the Congregation
that have historical value, beginning with the
writings of our Founder, Alphonsus Maria de Liguori,
and including all official documents of the General
Government and the Provinces, Vice-provinces,
Regions and members of the Congregation. It also
preserves any other documentation that refers
or pertains to the Congregation or any of its
members.
The
organization of the General Archives began already
in the time of the Founder who was careful to
insure that important documents were preserved
in the local communities’ archives.
 The
General Archives were first established and
organized in Pagani during the 19th century
and the first archivist was Fr. Giovanni Giuseppe
Sabelli who gathered and organized all the
documentation produced from 1747 to 1848.
The
General Archives were first established in Rome
in 1856 under the direction of Fr. Edward Schwindenhammer
and, after the reunification of the Congregation
in 1869, the greater part of the Pagani archives
were transferred to Rome.
Fr.
Schwindenhammer was succeeded by Fr. Michael
Ulrich in 1862, Fr. Fredrick Kuntz in 1879,
Fr. Edward Bührel in 1903, Fr. Jean Baptiste
Raus in 1924, Fr. Louis Arnold in 1943, Fr.
Philip Hoffmann in 1946, Fr. Maurice Meulemeester
in 1949, Fr. Andrea Sampers in 1951, Fr. Hernán
Arboleda Valencia in 1986 and Fr. Raúl
Campos in 2004.
In
1986 there were 590 dossiers dating from 1725
to 1954, organized in seven sections. The Alphonsian
documents are marked with the acronym SAM (Sancti
Alfonsi Manuscripta).
In
1989, using the computer program LIDOS, the
electronic or digital organization of the documentation
was begun. The archivists are presently working
with ARBOR, a database designed especially for
the General Archives by Fr. John Vargas. Fr.
Stephen Rehrauer collaborated in transferring
the data to this new program. Currently 100,000
documents, 11,292 books, 2,428 magazines, 6,283
documents of General Chapters, 2,543 articles,
16,200 photos, slides and other pictures and
1,273 architectural designs have been catalogued
in digital form. More than 24,012 items from
the file of Fr. Andrea Sampers have also been
digitized.
Nevertheless,
the work yet to be done is enormous. The amount
already organized and catalogued is quite small
compared to all that remains to be processed.
Each document is given an identification number,
then marked with the seal of the General Archives
and covered with paper before being placed
in a protective folder. All directions for
its location and use are stored in the computer
database.
Traditionally,
all units of the Congregation send Fr. General
three copies of their publications, such as
books, magazines, brochures, albums, newsletters,
etc. In these is preserved the historical memory
of our life and ministry.
The Historical General Archives are open to
researchers except during July and August and
the Christmas holidays, and on feast days and
Saturdays.
The
Archivists
 Fr.
Edward Nocuń
(archivio.gen@cssr.com)
Fr.
Nocun was born on October 11, 1950 in Radlice,
Poland. He made his profession of religious vows
on August 15, 1969 and was ordained a priest on
June 17, 1976. Fr.
Nocun worked as a formator in the novitiate from
February, 1977 to June, 1979 and for the students
from 1985-1987. He was the prefect of the postulants,
candidates for priesthood from 1987 to 1990. In
1991 he earned his doctoral degree in Church history
from the Catholic University of Lublino, Poland.
He served as novice master from August, 1992 till
February, 1996 and as provincial superior of the
Province of Warsaw from February 1996 till February
2002. From January 1, 2004 until the end of May,
2007 he was in charge of pastoral care at the
Marian Shrine Mariahilfberg, in Neumarkt OPf,
Germany. Since July 1, 2007 Fr. Nocun has served
as the General Archivist in Rome.
Fr.
Jean Beco (jbeco@cssr.com)
Fr. Beco, the Vice-Archivist, is a Belgian Redemptorist.
He was born October 10, 1938 in Charleroi, diocese
of Tournai. He professed vows on September 15,
1958 and was ordained a priest on March 19, 1964.
He has served as a professor and in various other
capacities in several communities. From 1983 to
1993 he was procurator for the foreign missions
in the Democratic Republic of Congo (Zaire), Haiti
and Brazil.
Since 1988 he has been the chronicler and provincial
archivist of the Belgian Province. In 1993 he
came to the General Archives where he has digitized
the documents of the Belgian province and has
prepared a publication of the correspondence of
Fr. Friedrick von Held, official Visitor to Belgium.
Fr.
Ivo Fernandes (ifernandes@cssr.com)
Fr.
Ivo Fernandes, a Redemptorist Missionary from
the Province of Bangalore (India), was born November
30, 1930 at Bukoba, Tanzania (British East Africa),
where his father worked for 24 years. In 1937
his family returned to India and lived in Poona.
He made his first profession in 1949, his final
profession in 1952 and was ordained a priest in
1955.
In 1956-1957 he did his licentiate in theology
at the Angelicum in Rome. He studied moral theology
at the Alphonsian Academy from 1957-1959. In 1960
he completed his doctorate in theology at the
Angelicum. He returned to India and first taught
Latin and later dogmatic theology in the Redemptorist
major seminary in Bangalore. At the same time
he taught moral theology at an Institute for the
post-novitiate training of religious women and
was a chaplain at St. John’s Medical College
in Bangalore, where he taught religion and ethics.
He has served as superior in several communities.
In 1971 he became a full-time mission preacher.
For 23 years his main apostolate, particularly
in northern India, was conducting Life Guidance
Seminars in schools and colleges, mainly for non-Christian
students and their parents. He was actively involved
in ‘Marriage Encounter’ as a team
priest for 27 years.
In September 2008, he was called to work part-time
in the General Archives, cataloguing and entering
documents into the database program. On February
5, 2009 he was appointed to work in the General
Archives for three years.
Fr.
Emilio Szopinski (eszopinski@cssr.com)
A naturalized Argentine, Fr. Szopinski was born
on April 24, 1937 in Woliczka-Rzesów, Poland.
He was professed August 31, 1953 and was ordained
a priest August 27, 1961.
He preached parish missions in Poland, Argentina,
Paraguay and Bolivia. He served in different offices
in the Vice-province of Resistencia, Argentina.
Since 2000 he has worked on the documentation
of various Units founded by the Galo-Helvetica
Province.
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