Brothers of St. Francis Xavier

The Congregation of the Brothers of St. Francis was founded on June 5, 1839 in the city of Bruges by the Belgian priest Theodore Rijken to instruct and educate the youth. Originally, the congregation of the Brothers of St. Francis Xavier worked in the diocese of Bruges . On September 4, 1841, the congregation was approved at the diocesan level by Bishop François-Rene Bussen. On October 22, 1846, the first monastic vows were taken in the congregation.

Since 1848 the Brothers of St. Francis Xavier began to work in the UK . They later became involved in missionary work in the United States and the Belgian Congo . Since 1887, members of the congregation worked in Shkoder , where they founded a higher education institution , which became one of the important centers for the study of the Albanian language and literature.

December 10, 1927 The Charter of the Congregation was approved in the Holy See and approved on January 12, 1931 by the Pope Pius XI.

Members of the congregation were engaged in educational activities, founding numerous secondary and higher educational institutions in various countries. Currently the Brothers of St. Francis Xavier work in Belgium , Bolivia , Haiti , Lithuania , Kenya and the United States . The General House of the Congregation is located in Baltimore.

As of December 31, 2005, there were 227 members of the congregation and 82 monastic communities.

• Annuario Pontificio , Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2003, Città del Vatican 2007. ISBN 978-88-209-7908-9 .
• Enciclopedia Universale Rizzoli Larousse (15 voll.), Rizzoli editore, Milano 1966-1971.
• Guerrino Pelliccia e Giancarlo Rocca (curr.), Dizionario degli Istituti di Perfezione (10 voll.), Edizioni paoline, Milano 1974—2003.
• Catholic Encyclopedia

• Official site (eng.)