Religious Teachers Filippini
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The Pontifical Institute of the Religious Teachers Filippini (abbreviated as M.P.F. from the ), known also as the Sisters of St. Lucy Filippini, or simply the Filippini Sisters, is a
Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
religious institute In the Catholic Church, a religious institute is "a society in which members, according to proper law, pronounce public religious vows, vows, either perpetual or temporary which are to be renewed, however, when the period of time has elapsed, a ...
devoted to education. They were founded in Italy in 1692 by Saint
Lucy Filippini Lucy Filippini (; 13 January 1672 – 25 March 1732) is venerated as a Catholic saint. With the assistance of Giovanni Francesco Barbarigo, Cardinal Giovanni Francesco Barbarigo, Rose Venerini founded schools for young women, especially the poor ...
and
Cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal most commonly refers to * Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of three species in the family Cardinalidae ***Northern cardinal, ''Cardinalis cardinalis'', the common cardinal of ...
Marcantonio Barbarigo. The Religious Teachers Filippini operate schools, hospitals, orphanages, and engage in other ministries in Albania, Brazil, Eritrea, Ethiopia, India, Italy, Ireland, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States.


History

Cardinal Barbarigo was the Bishop of Montefiascone and worked in the spirit of the reforms of the
Council of Trent The Council of Trent (), held between 1545 and 1563 in Trent (or Trento), now in northern Italy, was the 19th ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. Prompted by the Protestant Reformation at the time, it has been described as the "most ...
to provide a moral and human reform to society. He was aware of the deep ignorance among the poor and was seeking to find a way of influencing a healthy family life. Barbarigo came to hear of the success of a free school opened by Rose Venerini in the nearby city of Viterbo, the first in Italy. He invited Venerini to come to his
diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, prov ...
to establish similar schools. She accepted the invitation and arrived in
Montefiascone Montefiascone is a town and ''comune'' of the province of Viterbo, in Lazio, central Italy. It stands on a hill on the southeast side of Lake Bolsena, about north of Rome. History The name of the city derives from that of the Falisci (''Mons Fa ...
in 1692, where she spent the next two years establishing schools throughout the diocese. Having established 10 schools, she was called back to her own diocese, and left the school building project to
Lucy Filippini Lucy Filippini (; 13 January 1672 – 25 March 1732) is venerated as a Catholic saint. With the assistance of Giovanni Francesco Barbarigo, Cardinal Giovanni Francesco Barbarigo, Rose Venerini founded schools for young women, especially the poor ...
. The young ladies of
Montefiascone Montefiascone is a town and ''comune'' of the province of Viterbo, in Lazio, central Italy. It stands on a hill on the southeast side of Lake Bolsena, about north of Rome. History The name of the city derives from that of the Falisci (''Mons Fa ...
were taught domestic arts, weaving, embroidering, reading, and Christian doctrine. Twelve years later the Cardinal devised a set of rules to guide Lucy and her followers in the religious life. Fifty-two schools were established during Lucy's lifetime. The "Institute of the Maestre Pie" founded and maintained girls’ schools in that diocese and beyond. As the Community grew, it attracted the attention of Pope Clement XI who, in 1707, called Lucy to Rome to start schools. The institute, which came to be known as the Religious Teachers Filippini, is credited with the religious and social improvement of Italian women well before compulsory education. During
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, in accordance with the wishes of
Pope Pius XII Pope Pius XII (; born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli; 2 March 18769 October 1958) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death on 9 October 1958. He is the most recent p ...
, three of the institute's convents in Rome (in Via delle Botteghe Oscure, in Via Caboto and in Via delle Fornaci) concealed and sheltered 114 people for over a year. According to Sr. Domenica Mitaritonna, "The Religious Teachers Filippini taught during the day and at night they would take turns to be on guard to protect their guests."Mattei, Giampaolo. "Religious Teachers Filippini Show Courage", ''L'Osservatore Romano''
/ref> At the end of the war a group of Jewish women whom the sisters in Via delle Botteghe Oscure had sheltered, presented the sisters with a statue of Our Lady of Fatima. It was installed in the area where the refugees had lived with the sisters.


United States

In 1910, in response to a request by Msgr. Luigi Pozzi, pastor of St. Joachim's parish, in South Trenton, New Jersey for sisters to work among his Italian parishioners,
Pope Pius X Pope Pius X (; born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto; 2 June 1835 – 20 August 1914) was head of the Catholic Church from 4 August 1903 to his death in August 1914. Pius X is known for vigorously opposing Modernism in the Catholic Church, modern ...
sent five sisters to America. They disembarked in New York from the steamship ''St. Anne'' on August 17, 1910. In 1918, with a donation from James Cox Brady, Bishop Thomas J. Walsh of Trenton arranged the purchase of the Harvey Fisk estate, called "Riverside," for a motherhouse and novitiate for the sisters. In 1933 they established Villa Victoria Academy for girls. After he was named Bishop of Newark, he invited the sisters to expand their activities to his new diocese, and acquired the Gillespie estate for their use. The motherhouse of the US province is located at Villa Walsh in Morristown, New Jersey. Among other schools, the sisters staffed that of Our Lady of Sorrows in
Jersey City, New Jersey Jersey City is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, second-most populous
. The sisters have an Associates program by which laywomen may join in the spirituality and apostolates of the sisters. Filippini built the Religious Teachers Filippini into an international order. The Teachers operate schools, hospitals, orphanages, and other ministries in Albania, Brazil, Eritrea, Ethiopia, India, Italy, Ireland, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States."Religious Teachers Filippini", Council of Major Superiors of Women Religious
/ref>


Further reading

* Marchione, Margherita. ''The Religious Teachers Filippini in America: Centennial, 1910–2010. Paulist Press, 2010


References


External links


Religious Teachers Filippini, St. Lucy Province
* {{Authority control Catholic teaching orders 1692 establishments in Italy Religious organizations established in 1692 Catholic religious institutes established in the 17th century Catholic female orders and societies