San Antonio María Claret, historical father of the Claretian Family

FC is the realization of Claret’s dream. A great movement for the evangelization of the world. The founding father, in contact with the needs and urgencies of the people of God, was giving answers through preaching and movements and associations. Everything was born and unified in the same spirit. But he felt the need to create an objective communion as a big family.

He tried twice. The first attempt in 1847-is a brotherhood composed “of subjects-priests, lay and deaconesses-desirous of the spiritual and bodily good of the close relations”. It began to work in Vic, but, shortly after, it was dissolved, perhaps by far too advanced in its time on the question of the apostolate of women.

In 1864 he tried to reorganize it again, in the form of archconfraternity with three orders: CMFs, Institute of Lay clerics living in community, and other devout worshippers of Mary. The Revolution of 1868 and the death of the Saint, in 1870, made these attempts to enter crisis. They survived in organized form the Archconfraternity, with the congregation of missionaries, and the Nuns of Mary Immaculate.

For a long time, the congregation of missionaries felt responsible for all the Claretian inheritance, including as the congregation’s own works some of the secular and religious branches.

Fr. Pedro Schweiger, General of the CMF, in the circular letter in 1952 on the papal Bull of canonization of the founding father speaks for the first time of the “Great Claretian Family”.

Between 1967-79 there were several renovation chapters, in which the charismatic dimension of San Antonio Maria Claret was rediscovered as a founder, and it was understood that the efforts should be more in communion than in the aggregation of the different expressions of the charism.

At the end of the General chapter of the Missionaries Claretians of 1979 was celebrated a “day of the Family Claretian”, in which they participated, for the first time 7 of the 8 current branches and made the decision to have a meeting of the whole family Claretian every 4 years in some place Of the world to deepen the shared charism, share the historical experience and propose “family” actions for a better evangelizing service.