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The story of the Holy Ghost Fathers, the Spiritans, begins with Claude François Poullart des Places (1679-1709).
Early Years
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Claude François Poullart des Places was born into a wealthy family in Rennes, a town in the north-west province of Brittany in France. He enjoyed the privileges that life as a nobleman’s son offered. He was a good all rounder – born actor, even a ballet dancer, a hunter, a good horseman. He was outgoing, energetic, and popular. His youth was not without blemish: he almost killed his sister in anger with his father’s revolver; he was in a serious roadside brawl in Nantes, which could have had dire results for his future; and he was almost killed in a hunting accident.
Claude was home-schooled until about age 9, and had a strong Catholic upbringing. Then he attended the Jesuit College of St Thomas for his education. Scholastically he was very gifted, earning distinctions and awards along the way. In his final year, he represented his graduation class in a speech to defend a very controversial philosophical topic against counter arguments put forward by invited members of the local community. This was such a remarkable speech, especially as it was given in Latin, that it earned him wide-spread respect and admiration, and an invitation from King Louis XIV to visit the Palace of Versailles. After graduation from the College of St Thomas, he completed university studies in Law, graduating in about 1700. With wealth, status, and now, education, he had the world at his feet. He could follow his parents’ wishes into their businesses; move in the fast lane with his friends; serve in the military, a family tradition; or follow his career in Law. He was uncertain which path to take. |
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Decisions and eventualities
At 23 years of age, he took an 8-day retreat with the Jesuits to do some soul searching and to seek spiritual direction. He decided that priesthood was the path he would take. This was something he had been contemplating for a long time.
He became a student for the priesthood in the Jesuit School of Theology in Paris. While studying, he soon saw that many of his fellow seminarians were struggling to meet their own basic needs of study, food and lodgings. With his own meagre allowance, he helped pay for their tuition, and provided food for the poorer students.
Claude began to distance himself from associations with the wealthy class, and mixed with the poor. Eventually, he moved in with the poorest students outside the college, to the dismay of friends and family. He suffered their trials and tribulations. Earlier, in Paris, he had become aware of the great disparities between the rich and poor, particularly the desperate conditions for homeless boys and chimney sweeps. Now, the little community tended to the street children, and the sick in the hospitals, and through hard work, it nourished the physical, spiritual and educational aspect of their lives.
He became a student for the priesthood in the Jesuit School of Theology in Paris. While studying, he soon saw that many of his fellow seminarians were struggling to meet their own basic needs of study, food and lodgings. With his own meagre allowance, he helped pay for their tuition, and provided food for the poorer students.
Claude began to distance himself from associations with the wealthy class, and mixed with the poor. Eventually, he moved in with the poorest students outside the college, to the dismay of friends and family. He suffered their trials and tribulations. Earlier, in Paris, he had become aware of the great disparities between the rich and poor, particularly the desperate conditions for homeless boys and chimney sweeps. Now, the little community tended to the street children, and the sick in the hospitals, and through hard work, it nourished the physical, spiritual and educational aspect of their lives.
The Beginning of the Spiritans
The numbers of applications to join the little community of struggling seminarians grew. When there were 12 members, there was agreement amongst them to formalize the community. Claude was 24 years of age. On 27 May on Pentecost Sunday 1703, the group dedicated itself to the Community of the Holy Spirit through the patronage of the Mother of God, under the title of her Immaculate Conception. He was the youngest founder of a religious Order in the Church.
The establishment of the Seminary of the Holy Spirit followed, and was approved by the King. The members were mainly from the rural working class, which meant that these seminary students needed to be supported in all facets – spiritual, educational, social, and physical. Claude led by his own example.
The expectation was that after ordination, the ordained priests would return to the neglected rural communities of France to minister to the people and revitalize them in their faith. Alternatively, they would be involved in overseas missions.
Claude became very respected and much loved.
Finally, in 1707, four years after establishing the Holy Spirit seminary, Claude himself was ordained a priest. He continued to minister to the rapidly growing community.
By 1709, there were 90 seminarians, and Claude was now working with a support team. For example, the Jesuits provided his community with free tuition and food, outside benefactors provided bursaries, loans and bequests. His home town priest friends helped with daily Mass and the running of the seminary. The community thrived.
The establishment of the Seminary of the Holy Spirit followed, and was approved by the King. The members were mainly from the rural working class, which meant that these seminary students needed to be supported in all facets – spiritual, educational, social, and physical. Claude led by his own example.
The expectation was that after ordination, the ordained priests would return to the neglected rural communities of France to minister to the people and revitalize them in their faith. Alternatively, they would be involved in overseas missions.
Claude became very respected and much loved.
Finally, in 1707, four years after establishing the Holy Spirit seminary, Claude himself was ordained a priest. He continued to minister to the rapidly growing community.
By 1709, there were 90 seminarians, and Claude was now working with a support team. For example, the Jesuits provided his community with free tuition and food, outside benefactors provided bursaries, loans and bequests. His home town priest friends helped with daily Mass and the running of the seminary. The community thrived.
Claude's Death and Legacy
However, in 1709, a number of problems also began to arise. Claude’s priests were frequently recalled to their own dioceses. The harvest of 1708 were below average. The severe winter in Paris in 1709 led to famine, high food prices, and epidemic. There was a flow-on effect to the seminary, which depended on outside help and local charity. The community then started to struggle.
In these privations, Claude fell ill with pleurisy, and died at the age of only 30. He was buried at the cemetery of the Church of St Etienne in the paupers section. It was his request to remain with the poorest of the poor, whom he had pledged his life to serve.
Claude François Poullart des Places, and the order of Priests that he established lived by the words, “The Spirit has consecrated me to bring the good news to the poor, liberate the oppressed” (Luke 4 18 – 19) – words spoken by Jesus in the Synagogue.
The legacy of Claude François Poullart des Places lives on in the Spiritan Order today through service to those in need.
In these privations, Claude fell ill with pleurisy, and died at the age of only 30. He was buried at the cemetery of the Church of St Etienne in the paupers section. It was his request to remain with the poorest of the poor, whom he had pledged his life to serve.
Claude François Poullart des Places, and the order of Priests that he established lived by the words, “The Spirit has consecrated me to bring the good news to the poor, liberate the oppressed” (Luke 4 18 – 19) – words spoken by Jesus in the Synagogue.
The legacy of Claude François Poullart des Places lives on in the Spiritan Order today through service to those in need.
History of the Spiritans, Part II:
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Decisions and Eventualities
The answers to Jacob’s prayers came with the conversion of an old friend and fellow student, Rabbi David Drach, from the Jewish faith to Catholicism. Jacob too felt drawn to the Catholic faith. On Christmas Eve 1826, Jacob Libermann, the Rabbi’s son, was baptized into the Catholic Church, taking the name François Marie Paul Libermann. His father was horrified to hear of his son’s action, and when word of his baptism reached the ghetto in Saverne, they closed ranks against him. Francis suffered greatly when he thought about his father who had by now watched five of his sons turn away from the synagogue and become Catholics. Francis received a letter from his father calling him a traitor and a liar and threatening to force him to return home. Soon afterwards, his father died. That same year, in a Paris seminary, Frances began studies for the priesthood. He mourned his father greatly.
In 1828 Francis received minor orders to the priesthood. On the eve of his ordination, he was stuck down by a grave illness, epilepsy, which deemed him unable to become a priest. He was 27 years old. With Francis’ great faith, he believed that God would not abandon him.
In 1838 two special friends visited Francis, Father Eugene Tisserant from Haiti in the West Indies and Father Frederick Le Vavasseur from Creole in the French Islands of Reunion. They requested help in bringing God’s joy to the destitute people of Reunion and Haiti. How could Francis help? He was in bad health, unable to be ordained, and unable to travel. His friends insisted. “Our people need you Francis. They need prayers and someone to organise everything from Paris. We wish to form a new Missionary society...”. So seeds were planted for the foundation of the Congregation of the Holy Heart of Mary. Inspired by God, Francis responded positively to the invitation to dedicate his life to the abandoned people of those places far from Paris.
His first action was to obtain from the Holy See approval/permission to proceed. Early in January 1840, he arrived in Rome to visit Pope Gregory XVI. He spent a year in Rome presenting his plans to the Holy See, awaiting a decision on his ordination and drawing up the Provisional Rule of his still unfounded Society, which he intended to dedicate to the Holy Heart of Mary. In February 1841, after ten years, Francis re-entered the seminary and, seven months later, on 18 September 1841, in Amiens, France, he was ordained a priest at 39 years of age. Nine days after his ordination a Novitiate was opened at La Neuville, near Amiens. With his two companions Fathers Tisserant and Le Vavasseur, he began the Congregation of the Holy Heart of Mary.
After only seven years of the Society’s life, with the congregation growing, the Holy See requested Father Libermann to merge his new Society with the Holy Ghost Congregation, which had existed in France since 1703. This congregation had been training priests and sending missionaries abroad for more than 100 years. The Holy Ghost Congregation was founded by Claude des Places (1679-1709) on Pentecost Sunday 1703. From the very beginnings of the foundation of Francis Libermann’s Congregation of the Holy Heart of Mary in 1841, there had been discussions about joining this Congregation with the Society of the Holy Ghost Fathers. Claude des Places’ Holy Ghost Fathers Congregation had suffered greatly from the French Revolution. The government confiscated its property, and dispersed its members. They had many mission fields but few priests.
Francis Libermann fully supported a merger as both congregations had the same purpose. He felt that two societies were not in order if one could suffice. In those early years the time was not ripe to merger. There were those in both orders who strongly opposed any ideas of a merger but Francis Libermann did not give up hope. He needed to persuade his own congregation that it was the wisest thing to do. In 1845 when the merger was under discussion Francis wrote that members of his Society may lose their name and be called Spiritans but they should hold fast to things that counted rather than to a name. Father Libermann, dedicated to the poor and deprived, using every means to improve their spiritual and material welfare. He envisaged a merger would enable a continuation of the missionary ministry and would be in line with God’s will. By 1848 the atmosphere towards a merger was more favourable. The Pope also encouraged the two Societies to unite. After much discussion, on the Feast of Pentecost, 10 June 1848, both parties gathered and unanimously accepted the merger in principle. By August 1848, a signed agreement for the merger had taken place and on the 28 September 1848, official approval of the merger occurred such that the Congregation of the Holy Heart of Mary ceased to exist and Father Libermann’s men entered the Holy Ghost Congregation under the changed title – Congregation of the Holy Ghost and the Immaculate Heart of Mary – Francis Libermann was Superior General. He is often referred to as the “Second Founder” of the Holy Ghost Fathers, or the Spiritans.
In 1828 Francis received minor orders to the priesthood. On the eve of his ordination, he was stuck down by a grave illness, epilepsy, which deemed him unable to become a priest. He was 27 years old. With Francis’ great faith, he believed that God would not abandon him.
In 1838 two special friends visited Francis, Father Eugene Tisserant from Haiti in the West Indies and Father Frederick Le Vavasseur from Creole in the French Islands of Reunion. They requested help in bringing God’s joy to the destitute people of Reunion and Haiti. How could Francis help? He was in bad health, unable to be ordained, and unable to travel. His friends insisted. “Our people need you Francis. They need prayers and someone to organise everything from Paris. We wish to form a new Missionary society...”. So seeds were planted for the foundation of the Congregation of the Holy Heart of Mary. Inspired by God, Francis responded positively to the invitation to dedicate his life to the abandoned people of those places far from Paris.
His first action was to obtain from the Holy See approval/permission to proceed. Early in January 1840, he arrived in Rome to visit Pope Gregory XVI. He spent a year in Rome presenting his plans to the Holy See, awaiting a decision on his ordination and drawing up the Provisional Rule of his still unfounded Society, which he intended to dedicate to the Holy Heart of Mary. In February 1841, after ten years, Francis re-entered the seminary and, seven months later, on 18 September 1841, in Amiens, France, he was ordained a priest at 39 years of age. Nine days after his ordination a Novitiate was opened at La Neuville, near Amiens. With his two companions Fathers Tisserant and Le Vavasseur, he began the Congregation of the Holy Heart of Mary.
After only seven years of the Society’s life, with the congregation growing, the Holy See requested Father Libermann to merge his new Society with the Holy Ghost Congregation, which had existed in France since 1703. This congregation had been training priests and sending missionaries abroad for more than 100 years. The Holy Ghost Congregation was founded by Claude des Places (1679-1709) on Pentecost Sunday 1703. From the very beginnings of the foundation of Francis Libermann’s Congregation of the Holy Heart of Mary in 1841, there had been discussions about joining this Congregation with the Society of the Holy Ghost Fathers. Claude des Places’ Holy Ghost Fathers Congregation had suffered greatly from the French Revolution. The government confiscated its property, and dispersed its members. They had many mission fields but few priests.
Francis Libermann fully supported a merger as both congregations had the same purpose. He felt that two societies were not in order if one could suffice. In those early years the time was not ripe to merger. There were those in both orders who strongly opposed any ideas of a merger but Francis Libermann did not give up hope. He needed to persuade his own congregation that it was the wisest thing to do. In 1845 when the merger was under discussion Francis wrote that members of his Society may lose their name and be called Spiritans but they should hold fast to things that counted rather than to a name. Father Libermann, dedicated to the poor and deprived, using every means to improve their spiritual and material welfare. He envisaged a merger would enable a continuation of the missionary ministry and would be in line with God’s will. By 1848 the atmosphere towards a merger was more favourable. The Pope also encouraged the two Societies to unite. After much discussion, on the Feast of Pentecost, 10 June 1848, both parties gathered and unanimously accepted the merger in principle. By August 1848, a signed agreement for the merger had taken place and on the 28 September 1848, official approval of the merger occurred such that the Congregation of the Holy Heart of Mary ceased to exist and Father Libermann’s men entered the Holy Ghost Congregation under the changed title – Congregation of the Holy Ghost and the Immaculate Heart of Mary – Francis Libermann was Superior General. He is often referred to as the “Second Founder” of the Holy Ghost Fathers, or the Spiritans.
Death and Legacy
Francis Libermann was a pioneer of strategies now recognized as a blueprint for modern missionary activity. Indigenous people were to receive the Gospel in the context of their own traditions. Although he stayed in France, he inspired great numbers of missionaries around the world. He recruited and educated missionaries, both lay and clerical, and was also a tireless worker for the poor in France.
His health had never been robust, having had epilepsy as a young man. By 1850 concerning symptoms began to arise. His stomach problems worsened, and ossification of the liver set in. He exhausted himself in the process of leading his great enterprise, and died on 2 February 1852, before his 50th birthday. His remains still lie in a simple tomb within an enclosure of the Notre Dame de Gard.
In 1876, Francis Libermann was declared Venerable by Pope Pius IX.
His health had never been robust, having had epilepsy as a young man. By 1850 concerning symptoms began to arise. His stomach problems worsened, and ossification of the liver set in. He exhausted himself in the process of leading his great enterprise, and died on 2 February 1852, before his 50th birthday. His remains still lie in a simple tomb within an enclosure of the Notre Dame de Gard.
In 1876, Francis Libermann was declared Venerable by Pope Pius IX.
