The Congregation of Christian Brothers in New Zealand is part of the

Congregation of Christian Brothers The Congregation of Christian Brothers ( la, Congregatio Fratrum Christianorum; abbreviated CFC) is a worldwide religious community within the Catholic Church, founded by Blessed Edmund Ignatius Rice, Edmund Rice. Their first school was opened i ...

, a

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

religious institute, and has been established in New Zealand since 1876. Its particular

charism A spiritual gift or charism (plural: charisms or charismata; in Greek singular: χάρισμα ''charisma'', plural: χαρίσματα ''charismata'') is an extraordinary power given by the Holy Spirit."Spiritual gifts". ''A Dictionary of the ...

is the education of boys and in New Zealand it has been responsible for eight schools and has launched other educational initiatives.J. C. O'Neill, ''The History of the Work of the Christian Brothers in New Zealand'', unpublished Dip. Ed. thesis, University of Auckland, 1968; Graeme Donaldson, ''To All Parts of the Kingdom: Christian Brothers In New Zealand 1876–2001'', Christian Brothers New Zealand Province, Christchurch, 2001.

Background

The Christian Brothers were founded in

Waterford "Waterford remains the untaken city" , mapsize = 220px , pushpin_map = Ireland#Europe , pushpin_map_caption = Location within Ireland##Location within Europe , pushpin_relief = 1 , coordinates ...

, Ireland in 1802 by Edmund Ignatius Rice who was beatified in Rome in 1996. He was a wealthy committed Catholic businessman noted for his charity towards the poor. The death of his wife shortly after the birth of a handicapped daughter was a catalyst in his life. It deepened his spirituality which made him more aware of the needs of the marginalised especially young boys who lacked education in faith, literacy, numeracy and often lacked the basic necessities of life. He established schools for these boys despite the fact he had no teacher training and was in his early forties. Gradually other men, often businessmen like himself, joined him inspired by his charity and compassion. Other schools spread rapidly throughout Ireland. By the time of his death in 1844 his considerable fortune had been spent in establishing schools. In his own lifetime schools had been set up in England, and by the turn of the century schools were founded in America, India, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand.

History

The Christian Brothers arrived in New Zealand in 1876 with the opening of a secondary school in Dunedin, the Christian Brothers School. From the arrival of the Christian Brothers, New Zealand was administered as part of the Australasian province incorporating Australia, New Zealand and, from 1950, Papua New Guinea. In 1959, New Zealand became St Joseph's Vice-Province. This resulted in New Zealand Brothers returning to work in their home country and many Australian brothers went in the opposite direction. In 1966 New Zealand became a full Province of the institute.Graeme Donaldson, pp. 29–31. In recent years, especially following the integration of their schools into the New Zealand state education system and with aging membership and a lack of recruits, the New Zealand Christian Brothers have generally moved away from teaching in and managing schools and have refocused on those at the margins of society. There is still, however, strong support for the New Zealand schools and a focus on establishing and supporting schools in Oceania, Africa and the Philippines. In 2007, the Christian Brothers provinces in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific (including St Joseph's Province, New Zealand) were abolished and replaced by one new Oceania Province which was itself sub-divided into twelve "clusters". Each cluster leader is responsible for the pastoral care of the Brothers in the cluster as well as encouraging close links with the Edmund Rice Ministries and Edmund Rice Network in that cluster area. The New Zealand Cluster included in 2007: the Christian Brother Communities at Young Street

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; mi, Ōtepoti) is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from , the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. Th ...

, 24A Wharenui Road

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...

, 24B Wharenui Road Christchurch, Rarotonga,

Murupara Murupara is a town located in the Whakatāne District and Bay of Plenty Region of New Zealand's North Island. The town is situated in an isolated part of the region between the Kaingaroa Forest and Te Urewera protected area, on the banks of th ...

, Otorohanga, the Edmund Rice Community Westport, the Edmund Rice Community Auckland and the Mission Sisters/Christian Brothers community in Opotiki. The other clusters in the Oceania Province were: Papua-New Guinea Cluster; NSW Cluster A; NSW Cluster B; NSW Cluster C; Victoria & Tasmania cluster A; Victoria & Tasmania cluster B; Victoria & Tasmania cluster C; Queensland cluster A; Queensland cluster B; South Australia Cluster; and Western Australia Cluster.

New Zealand Province leaders

The provincials of the province were: * Br Christopher Claver Marlow (1959–1965) * Br Patrick Celestine Ryan (1966–1972) * Br Patrick Aiden McManus (1972–1984) * Br Michael Benignis Scanlan (1984–1996) * Br Brian Joseph Lauren (1996–2007)

New Zealand Cluster leaders 2007–

* Br John O'Shea (2007– ?Amy Kiley, ''The New Zealand Catholic'', 8 April 2007

Christian Brothers initiatives

Schools A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compulsor ...

and other initiatives associated with the New Zealand Christian Brothers include: *

Edmund Rice College Edmund Rice College is a Roman Catholic school located in Glengormley, County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It is named after Edmund Ignatius Rice, founder of the Congregation of Christian Brothers. History The college traces its origin to 1903 w ...

, Rotorua * Edmund Rice Community,

Bay of Plenty The Bay of Plenty ( mi, Te Moana-a-Toi) is a region of New Zealand, situated around a bight of the same name in the northern coast of the North Island. The bight stretches 260 km from the Coromandel Peninsula in the west to Cape Runaw ...

* Edmund Rice Sinon Secondary School,

Arusha Arusha City is a Tanzanian city and the regional capital of the Arusha Region, with a population of 416,442 plus 323,198 in the surrounding Arusha District Council (2012 census). Located below Mount Meru on the eastern edge of the eastern bran ...

, Tanzania. * John Paul College, Rotorua *

Kavanagh College , motto_translation = With Her As Our Guide , type = State-integrated secondary , established = 1989; years ago (antecedent secondary schools: 1871, 1876, 1878, 1897 and 1976) , streetaddress ...

Liston College Liston College is a school in Henderson, Auckland, New Zealand, for year seven to 13 boys and offers a Catholic education to its students. It was the second school opened by the Christian Brothers in Auckland. It was named after Archbishop Li ...

Henderson Henderson may refer to: People *Henderson (surname), description of the surname, and a list of people with the surname *Clan Henderson, a Scottish clan Places Argentina *Henderson, Buenos Aires Australia *Henderson, Western Australia Canada * H ...

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

Nukutere College Nukutere College is a Roman Catholic secondary List of Christian Brothers schools, school located in Avarua, Roman Catholic Diocese of Rarotonga, Rarotonga, Cook Islands. It is the country’s only Catholic secondary school and has an important e ...

, Avarua, Rarotonga,

Cook Islands ) , image_map = Cook Islands on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , capital = Avarua , coordinates = , largest_city = Avarua , official_languages = , lan ...

* St Edmund's School,

South Dunedin South Dunedin is a major inner city suburb of the New Zealand city of Dunedin. It is located, as its name suggests, to the south of the city centre, on part of a large plain known locally simply as "The Flat". The suburb is a mix of industrial ...

* St Kevin's College,

Oamaru Oamaru (; mi, Te Oha-a-Maru) is the largest town in North Otago, in the South Island of New Zealand, it is the main town in the Waitaki District. It is south of Timaru and north of Dunedin on the Pacific coast; State Highway 1 and the rai ...

* St Patrick's Primary School,

* St Peter's College, Epsom, Auckland * St Thomas of Canterbury College,

References

External links

Edmund Rice Network

Edmund Rice Justice, Aotearoa NZ

St Peter's College website

Catholic Diocese of Auckland

Catholic Church in New Zealand
{{Congregation of Christian Brothers, state=collapsed Christian Brothers Christian Brothers St Peter's College, Auckland Catholic educational institutions Catholic teaching orders St Peter's College, Auckland faculty