The Structures
of the
Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer


The Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer began in the Kingdom of Naples, in southern Italy. Our founder, St. Alphonsus Liguori, gathered a group of men – priests and brothers – to live the common life and evangelical vows and to work together as missionaries. Therefore the first and fundamental structure of the Congregation is the apostolic community: a group of Redemptorist missionaries who live together, combining their prayers and deliberations, labors and sufferings, successes and failures, and their material goods for the service of the Gospel. Every community has a local superior, a person appointed to exercise the ministry of leadership and the service of authority for the common good, together with an assistant called a vicar and advisors called a council.

Local communities are organized in larger Units called Provinces, Vice-Provinces, Regions or Missions. The Congregation, however, must not be understood as a confederation of units, but rather a single body called to a single mission, with a healthy tension between local or regional concerns, and the global mission of the Congregation.

A Province, then, is an organic unit of the Congregation consisting of several communities within a defined geographical territory, under one superior, with an ordinary and an extraordinary council. These councils have their respective competencies. The Province structure exists so that through its various ministries and gifts it can effectively attain the end of the Congregation in communion with other Units of the Institute, under the authority of the General Government. In the government of a Province the Provincial Chapter is the primary governing body. It is a collegial, moral person, composed of representatives of all the members. It is the duty of the Provincial Chapter to give continual attention to the renewal and adaptation of the apostolic life and government of the Province.

A Vice-Province is also a union of several communities, not fully sufficient in itself. Vice-Provinces exist especially where there is a new missionary situation. In so far as a Vice-Province has its origin from a Province, it looks to the Province for assistance in regard to personnel and finances. Vice-Provinces have the same structure, institutions and manner of conferring offices as a Province. The Vice-Province enjoys the freedom and authority required to adjust its own manner of life in a way suitable to the particular needs of its mission.

Provinces and Vice-Provinces, with the approval of the General Council, may constitute Regions and Missions, which are Units with a smaller number of communities and members, in specific geographical areas of missionary need, with less autonomy, greater dependence and more directly governed by the Province or Vice-Province of origin. Usually there is a superior appointed for a Region or Mission, who exercises authority in communion with the Provincial Superior and his Councils. When necessary, some Regions are specially constituted as directly under the authority of the General Council and not to any particular Province or Vice-Province.

The Congregation also has some broader organization on a hemispheric and continental level. There are six major regions in the Congregation: Europe-South, Europe-North, North America, Latin America, Asia-Oceania and Africa. Within these larger regions there are smaller sub-regions, for example: Eastern Europe, southern South America, Brazil and northern South America. This permits missionary effectiveness to be carried out with greater solidarity, with more effective use of financial resources and personnel.

The General Chapter and the General Government exist at the most universal level of the Congregation.

The ordinary General Chapter, convoked by the Superior General every six years, is the primary governing and representative body responsible for the apostolic life of the Congregation. It is the function of the General Chapter to care for the interests of the apostolic life of the entire Institute, to strengthen the links that bind its individual parts together, and to further the adaptation of the institutions and norms of life in the Congregation to the needs of the Church and humanity. The General Chapter carefully examines the mission of the Congregation in accordance with the spirit of the founder and its sound traditions.

The General Government is formed by the Superior General and the General Consultors, one of whom is the Vicar (second in charge), who are co-responsible in governing the whole Congregation. Presently there are six General Consultors, one from each of the major regions of the Congregation. Together they form the General Council, which is a permanent directive and executive body. The General Government gives inspiration and acts as a stimulus for continual renewal by being regularly present in the various Units in a way that is effective and provides leadership.

The General Council is served by the four major Officials of the General Curia: the Procurator General, the Treasurer General, the Secretary General and the Postulator General; and by other officials such as the General Archivist, the General Chronicler, the Director of Communications and the translators and secretaries.

Other services are provided by the General Archives, the Historical Institute, the Alphonsian Academy, the Center for Redemptorist Spirituality, the College of Higher Studies, the Shrine of our Mother Perpetual Help in St. Alphonsus Church, together with the various General Secretariats and Commissions, established according to the needs of particular historical moments.

The XXIII General Chapter, celebrated in 2003, recognized the theme of restructuring the Congregation as a major concern for the next sexennium (six-year period). During this time the General Government and a specially-organized Commission for Restructuring, together with the various Units of the Congregation, will be concerned with this challenging task. There are many elements involved in decisions about restructuring, but the major concern is always the mission. All structures must serve missionary mobility and dynamism. The Congregation cannot allow itself to settle down in surroundings and structures in which its work would no longer be missionary. Therefore it constantly adapts its structures and institutions and pioneers new ways so as to respond more effectively to missionary needs and to better serve the mission of the Church, always faithful to its charism and vocation to preach the Gospel to the most abandoned poor, wherever they may be.

 

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The Units of the
Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer
2008

Click on the name of a Unit to go to a map that
shows the location of communities in that Unit.

0

0000         General Curia
0000         General Archives
0000         Historical Institute
0000         St. Alphonsus Community
0000         Alphonsian Academy
0000         College of Higher Studies
0000         Shrine of Our Mother of Perpetual Help

0011         Region of Europe-South
0012         Region of Europe-North
0013         Region of North America
0014         Region of Latin America
                 Sub-region of Central America and the Caribbean
0015         Region of Asia-Oceania
0016         Region of Africa

0058         Region of Korea
0059         Mission to Cuba
0060         Region of Belgique-Sud

0100         Province of Roma
0101         Vice-Province of Pilar (Paraguay)
0200         Province of Napoli
0202         Region of Madagascar
0500         Province of Wien (Austria)
0502         Region of København (Denmark)
0700         Province of Baltimore (USA)
0704         Vice-Province of Richmond (USA)
0705         Vice-Province of Asunción (Paraguay)
0706         Region of the English-speaking Caribbean
0800         Province of München (Germany)
0802         Vice-Province of Kagoshima (Japan)

1

1100         Province of London (England)
1103         Region of Zimbabwe
1300         Province of Dublin (Ireland)
1304         Vice-Province of Fortaleza (Brazil)
1500         Province of Madrid (Spain)
1502         Vice-Province of Caracas (Venezuela)
1506         Vice-Province of San Salvador (Cent. America)
1507         Vice-Province of Perú-North
1509         Mission of Côte d'Ivoire
1600           Province of Praha (Czech Republic)
1603           Vice-Province of Bratislava (Slovakia)
1604           Vice-Province of Michalovce (Slovakia)
1700           Province of Warszawa (Poland)
1700-1       Missions of Warszawa (1)
1700-1       Missions of Warszawa (2)
1701         Vice-Province of Resistencia (Argentina)
1702           Vice-Province of Bahia (Brazil)
1704         Region of Sanctus Gerardus (Russia and                                                             Kazakhstan)
1800         Province
of Strasbourg (France)
1900         Province of Sainte-Anne de Beaupré (Canada)
1902         Vice-Province
of Toyko (Japan)
1904         Region of Port-au-Prince (Haiti)

2

2100          Province of Canberra (Australia)
2101          Vice-Province of Manila (Philippines)
2102          Region of Aotearoa (New Zealand)
2103          Vice-Province Ipoh (Malaysia/Singapore)
2200          Province of Buenos Aires (Argentina)
2201          Vice-Province of Perú-South
2202          Mission of Moçambique (Africa)
2300          Province of São Paulo (Brazil)
2303          Vice-Province of Recife (Brazil)
2400          Province of Quito (Ecuador)
2600          Province of Rio de Janeiro (Brazil)
2800          Province of Bogotá (Colombia)
2801          Mission of Ghana

3

3000          Province of Santiago (Chile)
3100          Province of Yorkton (Canada)
3300          Province of Lisboa (Portugal)
3301          Vice-Province of Luanda (Angola)
3400          Province of Việt Nam
3401          Vice-Province Extra Patriam (USA)
3402          Region of Vietnamiens (France)
3500          Province of Porto Alegre (Brazil)
3600          Province of México
3800          Province of Bangalore (India)
3801          Region of Colombo (Sri Lanka)
3802          Vice-Province of Alwaye (India)
3803          Region of Mumbai (India)
3804          Mission of Kenya (Africa)
3900          Province of San Juan (Puerto Rico)

4

4000          Province of South Africa
4100          Province of Campo Grande (Brazil)
4200          Province of Lviv (Ukraine)
4201          Mission of Prokopievsk (Siberia)
4300          Province of Goiás (Brasil)
4400          Province of Lyon-Paris (France)
4401          Vice-Province of Burkina-Niger
4500          Province of Denver (USA)
4501          Vice-Province of Manaus (Brasil)
4503          Vice-Province of Bangkok (Thailand)
4504          Vice-Province of Nigeria
4600          Province of Edmonton-Toronto
4700          Province of Cebu (Philippines)
4800          Province of Bolivia
4900          Province of Indonesia

5

5000         Province of Sanctus Clemens (Europe)
5001         Region of Vlaanderen (northern Belgium)
5002         Region of Nederland (Holland)
5002-1
     Mission of Suriname  
5003         Region of Köln (Germany)
5004         Region of Helvetica (Switzerland)
5005         Vice-Province of Matadi (Dem. Rep. of Congo)
5006         Mission to Beirut (Lebanon)
5007         Mission to Iraq