historyamericas

The first known Spiritan to land on the shores of North America was Francois Frison de la Mothe who arrived in 1732 to take up a teaching position at the seminary in Quebec. Like many of the missionaries sent to the French colonies during the 18th century, he was sent under the auspices of the Foreign Missions Society and in fact was not ordained until 1734, after his arrival in Canada! He was followed by people like Fr. Pierre Maillard and Fr. Jean-Louis Le Loutre, both of whom worked tirelessly with the Micmacs and the Acadians on the east coast of Canada. Haiti was the next area in the North American region to benefit from the presence of Spiritans, who in 1779 arrived on the island to minister to the plantation slaves. The turmoil of the French Revolution disrupted that Spiritan presence until the mid 19th century. Ironically however, the first Spiritans to arrive in what is now the United States were refugees from the revolutionary politics of French Guiana. None of these first missionary endeavours lasted. In general, it can be said that during the 18th century, the Spiritan attempts to establish a permanent presence in North America and the Caribbean were thwarted by that century's ongoing English and French conflicts and by the fallout from the French Revolution.

One could say that the modern era of the Spiritan presence in North America began with Eugene Tisserant's arrival in Haiti in 1843. Although at the time Tisserant was a member of Francis Libermann's Holy Heart of Mary Society which had not yet merged with the Spiritans, this missionary outreach to Haiti can still be considered as a Spiritan return to the North American / Caribbean region. In Trinidad twenty years later, at the request of Archbishop English, the Spiritans arrived to open up St. Mary's College for boys. Less than a decade later, political troubles for the Spiritans in Germany lead them to the United States where they eventually established a presence in Pittsburgh. It was in that gritty, industrial, immigrant city that the Spiritans, under Fr. Joseph Strub, set up a small Catholic college that evolved into Duquesne University, one of the best in the United States today! The beginning of the 20th century saw the return of the Spiritans to Canada. In 1905 Fr. Amet Limbour opened a modest agricultural school in the Gatineau hills in French Canada. This venture grew into St. Alexandre College, a bilingual secondary institute affiliated with Laval University, which continues to serve the people of Quebec.

At the General Chapter of 1950 it was decided to open a new foundation in English Canada. The Irish Spiritans were given the task as a compromise between the French-Canadian and the American Provinces. Past efforts to establish a Spiritan base in English-speaking Canada (at Sandwich in 1862 and Kingston in 1870) had not been successful. So finally in 1954, a small group of Irish Spiritans, under the leadership of Fr. Leo Brolly, opened a parish (St Rita's) at Woodstock in the diocese of London, Ontario. After four years of mission and retreat animation throughout Ontario in order to make themselves known, the Spiritans made their first venture into education in English-speaking Canada, with the opening of Neil McNeil High School in Toronto.

In each of these humble beginnings, a small group of Spiritans, often starting with educational endeavours, has branched out to other pastoral ministries and extended the growth of the Congregation in North America. It was not long before the Spiritans were attracting new homegrown members and sending out to the mission fields in Africa, in South America and elsewhere. It was from the United States that the Spiritan foundation in Puerto Rico began in 1931 and it was the U.S.A. West Province that was the founder of today's thriving Mexican mission. Spiritans from North America and the Caribbean can be found in dozens of countries around the world from Paraguay to Australia, from Tanzania to Brazil.

At present, there are over two hundred and fifty professed Spiritans ministering in the North American / Caribbean region along with a growing number of Lay Spiritans and Spiritan Associates. The seeds of the Lay branch of the Spiritan tree were planted in the post Vatican II atmosphere of the 1970s and it has grown since. Similarly, Volunteer International Christian Service (V.I.C.S.), a lay missionary group founded by the TransCanada Spiritans in 1971, continues to flourish. Since its inception, V.I.C.S. has sent over five hundred skilled and dedicated lay volunteers to dozens of countries.

At the beginning of the 21st century, the Spiritans in this region are faced with the challenges of aging, reduced numbers and painful restructuring and yet the Spiritan history in North America and the Caribbean reminds us that past triumphs were not without trials, tribulations and even some catastrophic failures. From the challenges of these new times, there are innovative ministries and ways of being mission that are beginning to emerge in Religious life and among the laity. These are the beacons of hope for the future.

Fr. Paul McAuley, CSSp