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
