Marist Brothers

Encyclopedia : M : MA : MAR : Marist Brothers

Logo of the Marist Brothers.

The Marist Brothers is a Catholic religious order of brothers and affiliated lay people. The order was founded in France, at La Valla near Lyon in 1817 by Saint Marcellin Champagnat, a young French priest of the Society of Mary (Marist Fathers).

In 1863 the Marist Brothers institute received the approbation of the Holy See.

The Marist Brothers are not clerics, but are devoted to educational work throughout the world and now conduct primary and secondary schools, academies, industrial schools, orphanages and retreat houses in 77 countries on five continents: Europe, Africa, America, Asia, and Oceania.

Marist Brothers arrived in Sydney, Australia in 1872 where they opened their first school at St Patrick's Church Hill. There are now over 300 Brothers working with young people in schools as teachers and administrators, in retreat houses and camps for young people and in other areas of ministry. Australian Marist Brothers also serve in welfare ministries working with young adults in outreach programs in Indigenous Australian communities and also in missions in nearby Papua New Guinea, Bougainville, Solomon Islands, and East Timor. Marists from Australia also serve communities in Cambodia and India.

Countries in Asia where the Marist Brothers are also present include Singapore, Malaysia and China/Hong Kong, Philippines and Sri Lanka where they run many Marist Schools, including the Maris Stella High School in Singapore, the Catholic High School in KL, the Marist Marikina School in Manila, and St Francis Xavier's College in Hong Kong (alma mater of Bruce Lee, Micheal Hui, Sam Hui, Henry Fan, Tsang Chi Wai, Dickie Cheung, Anthony Neoh, Chong Chan Yau, David Lan Hung Chun, & other celebrities)

Celtic Football Club was formed at a meeting in St. Mary's church hall in Glasgow, by Marist Brother Walfrid on November 6, 1887, with the purpose stated in the official club records as "being to alleviate poverty in Glasgow's East End parishes". The charity established by Brother Walfrid was named 'The Poor Children's Dinner Table'.

In Latin America, "Maristas" are also very active in the following countries: Chile, Puerto Rico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Mexico, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Paraguay, Venezuela and other countries as well. Brother Seán Sammon is the current Superior General in Rome. The largest number of brothers currently are natives from Spain and France.

During the early 1990s members of the order were shown to have been involved in serious child abuse at the Marist Brothers school in Dumfries Scotland. Two of the brothers involved (Brothers Damien and Fergus) died while under investigation by the British police; two other brothers were successfully prosecuted and subsequently jailed for child sexual abuse.

On October 31 1996, four Brothers were killed by refugees and martyred in a mission in Nyamirangwe, Zaire. These brothers were all Spanish: H. Fernando de la Fuente de la Fuente, H. Miguel Ángel Isla Lucio, H. Servando Mayor García, and H. Julio Rodríguez Jorge.

External links

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.

Marist Brothers

See also

External links