Society of the Priests of Saint Sulpice facts for kids
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Compagnie des Prêtres de Saint-Sulpice (French)
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| Abbreviation | Post-nominal letters: P.S.S. |
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| Nickname | Sulpicians |
| Formation | 1642 |
| Founder | Fr. Jean-Jacques Olier, PSS |
| Founded at | Paris, France |
| Type | Society of apostolic life of Pontifical Right for men |
| Headquarters | General Motherhouse 6, rue du Regard, 75006 Paris, France |
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Membership
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243 members (243 priests) as of 2020 |
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Motto
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Latin: Auspice Maria English: Under the guidance of Mary |
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Superior General
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Fr. Shayne Craig, PSS |
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Ministry
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Education of seminarians and priests |
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Countries served
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France, Canada, and the United States. |
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Parent organization
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Roman Catholic Church |
| Website | www.generalsaintsulpice.org/en/ |
The Society of Priests of Saint-Sulpice (often called the Sulpicians) is a group of Catholic priests. They are named after the Church of Saint-Sulpice, Paris, where they started. You can tell someone is a Sulpician because they add PSS after their name.
Sulpicians are part of a "society of apostolic life." This means they are priests who live together and work for the Church, but they don't take special vows like monks or nuns. Their main job is to train other priests. They focus on helping future priests grow spiritually and learn a lot. Priests usually join the Sulpicians after they have been ordained and worked in parishes for a few years.
The Sulpicians work in different parts of the world. They have groups in France, Canada, and the United States. As of 2020, there were 243 Sulpician priests.
Contents
The Sulpicians in France
The Society of Priests of Saint-Sulpice began in France in 1641. It was founded by Father Jean-Jacques Olier (1608–1657). He was a follower of a special way of thinking about faith called the "French School of Spirituality."
Back then, many priests in France were struggling. Father Olier wanted to find a new way to prepare them. So, in 1641, he gathered some priests and students who wanted to become priests. They started in a suburb of Paris called Vaugirard. Soon after, they moved to the parish of Saint-Sulpice in Paris. This is how the Society got its name.
Father Olier built the first Sulpician seminary (a school for priests) next to the Saint-Sulpice church. Here, students focused on their spiritual growth. They took most of their theology classes at the Sorbonne, a famous university. Many Church leaders liked this new way of training priests. Soon, Sulpicians were asked to run other seminaries across France.
Sulpician priests helped their local church communities during the day. But at night, they returned to their schools. They were very strict, especially about women visiting the seminary. The Sulpicians became known for making parish life better and improving how priests were trained. They also helped people grow in their faith.
In the 1700s, many sons of noble families joined the Sulpicians, along with people from regular families. Many Sulpicians became bishops in France. During the French Revolution, the seminary in Paris had to close. Teachers and students had to hide to avoid danger. When things settled down, the Sulpicians reopened their schools. They became known for their strong teaching and high moral standards. The Society then spread from France to Canada, the United States, and other countries like Vietnam and parts of Africa.
The Sulpicians in Canada
The Sulpicians played a big part in starting the city of Montreal in Canada. They worked as missionaries, trained priests, and built the Saint-Sulpice Seminary.
A group called the Société Notre-Dame de Montréal, which Father Olier helped create, was given land in Montreal. Their goal was to teach Christianity to the local people and provide schools and hospitals. In 1657, Father Olier sent four Sulpician priests from Paris to start the first church in Montreal.
In 1663, the French king took direct control of New France (Canada). The Société Notre-Dame de Montréal then gave its land to the Sulpicians in Montreal. Like in Paris, the Montreal Sulpicians had important jobs in the community. They were even in charge of the island of Montreal as "seigneurs" (lords).
The Sulpicians were busy! They were missionaries, judges, explorers, teachers, and social workers. They helped build canals and plan the city. Even with all these jobs, they returned to the Saint-Sulpice Seminary every night. The Montreal seminary was run much like the one in Paris.
Early Missionary Work
In 1668, some Sulpicians went to teach Christianity to different Indigenous groups. They explored the Great Lakes region and made maps. In 1676, they opened a mission called La Montagne in Montreal. Later, this mission moved to a new location. In 1717, the Sulpicians were given a large piece of land. They moved their mission there and created two villages for the Mohawk, Algonquin, and Nipissing peoples.
After the British Took Control
After the British took control of Canada in 1760, the Montreal Sulpicians became independent from the Paris Sulpicians. This helped them survive and become loyal to the British Crown. Other religious groups that were too connected to France were not allowed to recruit new members, and their lands were taken.
In 1794, after the French Revolution, twelve Sulpicians escaped danger in France and came to Montreal. This helped the Sulpicians in Montreal continue their work.
In 1840, the British Crown officially recognized the Sulpicians' land. This allowed them to keep their property and continue their mission. The Sulpicians also had a large farm called Saint-Gabriel Farm in Montreal, which was important for the city's growth.
At the request of Bishop Ignace Bourget, the Sulpicians took over a theology school in 1840. This became the famous Grand Séminaire de Montréal. This helped the Sulpicians focus even more on their main job: training priests. They have trained many priests and bishops from Canada and the United States.
Today, Canadian Sulpicians work in seminaries in Montreal and Edmonton. They also have missions in Brazil and Colombia. Since 1933, they have also served in Fukuoka, Japan.
In 2006, the Sulpicians in Montreal created a group to protect their old books, archives, and historical items. These collections are very important. They show what people were learning and thinking about from the 1600s to the 1900s. In 2021, these collections were officially recognized as important cultural heritage in Quebec.
The Sulpicians in the United States
Sulpicians first arrived in what is now the United States as early as 1670. Fathers Dollier de Casson and Brehan de Galinee landed near what is now Detroit, Michigan. In 1684, three Sulpician priests joined an expedition to Texas, but it ended badly. Two priests returned to France, but Father Dollier de Casson stayed to teach Christianity to the native people. He didn't have much success and eventually went to Montreal to join the Sulpicians there.
In July 1791, four Sulpicians from France started the first Catholic school for training priests in the United States. It was called St. Mary's Seminary in Baltimore. They bought an old tavern and dedicated it to the Blessed Virgin Mary. In October, they started classes with five students. This was the beginning of the Sulpicians' lasting presence in the United States.
More priests arrived in 1792. Many of these early priests became missionaries in far-off areas. Fathers John Baptist Mary David and Benedict Joseph Flaget founded the Catholic Seminary of St. Thomas in Bardstown, Kentucky. This was the first seminary west of the Appalachian Mountains. Their church, built in 1816, is the oldest brick church still standing in Kentucky. Later, Louis William Valentine Dubourg became the president of Georgetown University and then the first bishop of the Louisiana Territory.
The Sulpicians also helped Elizabeth Seton, a widow who became Catholic. With their support, she and other women started the first American group of Sisters in 1809. They cared for the poor. The Sulpicians guided them until 1850. In 1829, Sulpician Father James Joubert worked with Mary Lange to create the first community of Black Sisters in the United States, called the Oblate Sisters of Providence.
The Society helped start and staff other seminaries, like St. John's Seminary in Boston and St. Joseph Seminary in New York. In 1898, they founded Saint Patrick Seminary, Menlo Park in California. From the 1920s to the 1970s, they ran St. Edward Seminary in Kenmore, Washington.
In 1917, the Sulpician Seminary began construction in Washington, D.C., next to The Catholic University of America. This seminary, which became Theological College in 1940, has trained over 1,500 priests, including many bishops and cardinals.
American Sulpicians were known for their modern ideas, especially around the time of Vatican II. They focused on helping priests grow personally and on working together as a team. Since 1989, U.S. Sulpicians have also been involved in training priests in Zambia.
The American Sulpicians have also produced famous scholars and writers in theology. One well-known example is the Bible scholar Raymond E. Brown.
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See Also
- Collège de Montréal
- Consecrated life
- Institute of consecrated life
- Joseph Onasakenrat
- Religious institute (Catholic)
- Secular institute
- Vocational discernment in the Catholic Church
