Page Map - The Redemptorist history & The "Transalpine development" - The Sacred Triangle: The Foundations of the Redemptorist Spirit - When The Cross desmolished the Swastika - From the Manchurian Shock to the Post-War Mission: How 1945 Redefined Redemption in East Asia 

The Redemptorist history & The "Transalpine development"

The Redemptorists, by Father George Stebbing, C.Ss.R 

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PAST HISTORY OF THE CONGREGATION

high rank, moved by the ever-increasing opinion of his sanctity, petitioned Pius VI to institute a juridical inquiry into the holy life of the servant of God. The Supreme Pontiff acceded to this, and such was the success of the investigation that Alphonsus was declared Venerable only nine years after he had died. In 1803 a Decree was issued by the Holy See, declaring that after a most diligent examination nothing worthy of censure was found in all the works of the holy prelate. Thirteen more years elapsed, and then Alphonsus was beatified by Pius VII. Finally, on the 26th of May, 1839, the Feast of the Most Holy Trinity, he was canonised by Gregory XVI with all the splendid ceremonial which the Church uses on these occasions to honour her chosen champions.

II. THE TRANSALPINE DEVELOPMENT

In 1784 two pilgrims came to Rome and found their way to the house of St Giuliano, which Father Di Paola had founded in the preceding year, whose career was to have an immense influence on the future development of the Redemptorist Congregation. One of these was a Moravian named Clement Mary Hofbauer, the other was his bosom friend and fellow student, Thaddeus Hubl.

Clement Hofbauer was born at Tasswisz in Moravia at the end of 1751. His father, a small farmer, died when the boy was six years old. His pious mother then took her orphan child before the crucifix, saying: "My son, He must be your father now; follow Him." At sixteen, being obliged to work for his living, he was apprenticed to a baker, but soon after, feeling the first drawings of a religious vocation, he entered the Premonstratensian Abbey of Znaim as a servant. Here he spent whatever time he could spare by day, and even by night, in the study of Latin. But being overcome with a longing for solitude he left the Abbey, and lived for some time as a hermit first in Austria, and then in the neighbourhood of Tivoli. After a period of strict seclusion thus spent in prayer and austere penance, he became convinced that God called him to the holy priesthood and to active labour for souls. Inspired with this thought, he left Tivoli, and returned to Vienna that he might carry on his studies for the sacerdotal state. The means of following the courses at Vienna University having been put at his disposal by two kind ladies whom his character had impressed, he went through the classes, having Thaddeus Hubl, a young man somewhat younger than himself who shared his aspirations, as constant companion. However, he became so disgusted with the Anti-Roman and Erastian teachers at the University that he determined to seek a purer fount of knowledge and complete his course in Rome itself. This was the design that brought the two strangers to Rome, where they were guided to the little Church of St Giuliano in October, 1784.

They found the few fathers whom Di Paola had attached to the house at meditation in the church, and asking a child at the door who they were, received the striking reply: "These are the fathers of the Most Holy Redeemer, and you also will join them." In very truth, Hofbauer did ask for an interview, and was so struck with the account of their life and vocation that he asked to be received into their ranks. Moreover, it did not take him long to decide his friend Hubl to make a similar request. That the request was granted to these unknown strangers was surely a remarkable happening, in which we can scarcely fail to see the special guidance of Divine Providence. On the 24th of October they were clothed in the habit of the Congregation, thus beginning their Novitiate under Father Landi, a former companion of St Alphonsus, as Novice Master. On account of their fervour and the necessities etc.

Clement Mary Hofbauer CSsR (Czech: Klement Maria Hofbauer; German: Klemens Maria Hofbauer) (26 December 1751 – 15 March 1820) was a Moravian hermit and later a priest of the Redemptorist congregation. He established the Redemptorist Congregation, founded in Scala (Kingdom of Naples) north of the Alps. For this he is considered a co-founder of the congregation. He was widely known for his lifelong dedication to care of the poor during a tumultuous period in Europe, that had left thousands destitute. He laboured in the care of the Polish people until expelled, when he moved to Austria.

Clement-Mary Hofbauer is remembered as a saint in the Catholic Church. He is called the Apostle of Vienna,[1] where he is a co-patron saint, along with St Colmán, St Leopold, and St Peter Canisius."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clement_Mary_Hofbauer

A Historical Clarification on the transalpine Redemptorists

The origins of the Transalpine Redemptorists are inextricably linked to Saint Clement Mary Hofbauer and his dedicated companions, including Father Thaddeus Hübl and Father Joseph Passerat. These men were Redemptorists who remained steadfastly faithful to the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer until the end of their lives. This is an established historical and biographical fact.

Any claims suggesting that there are 'Transalpine Redemptorists' existing independently of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer are categorically false and:

• Contrary to the laws of the Catholic Church;

• In direct opposition to the Constitutions and Rules of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer;

• An abuse of historical truth and a product of pure imagination.

"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away."

"Let us not be made desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another." (Epistle of St Paul to the Galatians 5:26)

The Sacred Triangle: The Foundations of the Redemptorist Spirit

The history of our Order is etched into the landscape of Southern Italy. From the heights of the Amalfi Coast to the rugged hills of Basilicata, three places stand as the pillars of our charism: Scala, Naples, and Muro Lucano.

1. Scala: The Cradle of the Foundation

It was in the mountain silence of Scala, overlooking the sea, that St Alphonsus Liguori found his true calling. In 1732, amidst the grottoes and the simple faith of the mountain goats and shepherds, the Congregation was born.

• The Vision: The grotto of Scala is where the "Science of the Heart" first took root, shifting the focus from the salons of the elite to the "most abandoned" souls.

• The Legacy: Scala remains the spiritual hearth of the Redemptorists, where the silence of the heights meets the cry of the poor.

2. Naples: The Intellectual and Devotional Core

Naples was the world St Alphonsus left behind—the world of high law and noble society—and yet it remained the heart of his mission.

• St Alphonsus in Naples: It was here that he wrote his most profound theological works, including The Glories of Mary.

• The Urban Mission: Naples represents the struggle of the Order to bring the "Crystalline" light of the Gospel into the crowded, chaotic streets of the city. It is the site of his early priesthood and the headquarters of his vast correspondence.

3. Muro Lucano: The Spirit of St Gerard Majella

No Redemptorist archive is complete without the "Mother's Saint," St Gerard Majella. Born in Muro Lucano, his life represents the miraculous and humble dimension of our foundation.

• The Way of Humility: Muro is where Gerardo's extraordinary journey began. His life of total abandonment to the Divine Will serves as the perfect companion to Alphonsus's theological rigour.

• The Protector: Just as Alfonso is the mind and heart, Gerardo is the helping hand, particularly for expectant mothers and the suffering.

A Note for the Archive:

"In tracing the path from the heights of Scala to the streets of Naples and the humble home in Muro, we find the complete map of the Redemptorist mission: to seek out the abandoned, to defend the Truth, and to live in the light of the Most Holy Redeemer."

When The Cross desmolished the Swastika: The Excommunication of the Nazi Party

It is a common misconception that the Catholic Church remained silent during the rise of National Socialism. In reality, the Church's theological and canonical response was swift and uncompromising. Long before the world was engulfed by war, the Catholic hierarchy in Germany had already declared the Nazi ideology fundamentally incompatible with the Christian faith, resulting in what amounted to a collective excommunication of its active members.

The 1930 Decree: A Line in the Sand

The most significant act of the Church's early opposition came in 1930—three years before Adolf Hitler took power. The Bishop of Mainz, acting with the authority of the German hierarchy, issued a formal decree regarding the National Socialist German Workers' Party (NSDAP).

The decree was explicit:

• Membership: It was declared "unlawful" for any Catholic to be a registered member of the Nazi Party.

• Participation: Members of the NSDAP were forbidden from participating in parish groups or wearing party uniforms in church.

• The Sacraments: Most crucially, the Church decreed that active, professing members of the Nazi Party were to be denied the Sacraments, including Holy Communion and the rite of Christian burial.

In the language of Canon Law, this was a clear application of the principle of excommunication: those who knowingly adhered to an ideology that placed race above God and rejected the Old Testament were considered to have separated themselves from the Body of Christ.

The Incompatibility of Doctrines

The Church's analysis was not merely political but deeply theological. The German bishops identified several "errors" in the Nazi programme that triggered this spiritual severance:

• The Racial Myth: The Nazi exaltation of a "superior race" directly contradicted the Catholic doctrine of the universal brotherhood of man and the dignity of every human soul.

• The Rejection of the Old Testament: The Nazi attempt to "Aryanise" Christianity by discarding the Jewish roots of the faith was condemned as a heresy.

• The State as God: The Church viewed the total claim of the Nazi state over the individual as a form of idolatry.

'Mit Brennender Sorge': The Papal Verdict

This local opposition was given the highest level of universal authority in 1937, when Pope Pius XI issued the encyclical Mit Brennender Sorge ("With Burning Anxiety"). Uniquely, it was written in German rather than Latin, so that it could be read from every pulpit in Germany.

The document condemned the "pantheistic confusion," "neopaganism," and the "so-called myth of race and blood." It served as a final, public confirmation that the fruits of National Socialism were poisonous and that no Catholic could cultivate them without forfeiting their standing in the Church.

The Perspective of Results

If we judge the Church of that era as an "airline," as our site suggests, we see an organisation that issued a clear "no-fly" warning against the Nazi ideology. While individual members may have failed to follow the flight plan, the official "navigation charts"—the decrees of the bishops and the encyclicals of the Pope—were clear: the path of the Swastika was a departure from the path of the Cross.

To look back with objectivity is to acknowledge that the Church did not merely suggest a conflict of interest; she formally declared that one could not be both a faithful Catholic and a committed Nazi. The result of this stance was the persecution, imprisonment, and martyrdom of thousands of priests and laypeople who chose the Church over the Party.

A Lone Voice in the Wilderness? The Global Response to National Socialism

In the decade leading up to the Second World War, the world was a landscape of shifting alliances, political pragmatism, and ideological confusion. When we examine the facts of institutional courage during this period, a striking historical fact emerges: while many groups eventually opposed the Nazi regime once the war began, few issued a formal, theological, and institutional condemnation as early or as clearly as the Catholic Church.

The Comparative Silence of 1930–1939

While individual voices of conscience existed within every group, the institutional "flight plans" of other major entities (such as General Motors or Standard Oil) often lacked the definitive clarity of the Catholic decrees of 1930 and 1937

Conclusion: Drawing the Results

If we apply the "airline" metric again, we see that in the 1930s, most global "carriers" were either attempting to share the same airspace as the Nazi regime or were negotiating landing rights with them.

The Catholic Church, through its 1930 excommunications and 1937 encyclical, was the only global institution to issue a "permanent grounding" of the ideology on the basis of its internal reality. Whether that warning was heeded by the world is a matter for history; that the warning was issued is a matter of fact.

From the Manchurian Shock to the Post-War Mission: How 1945 Redefined Redemption in East Asia

History often paints the end of World War II with a single, devastating brushstroke: the atomic mushroom clouds over Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Yet, beneath the familiar narrative lies a more complex, humbling reality. In August 1945, it was the overwhelming collapse of Japan's front in Manchuria and the strategic shock of the Soviet invasion—on top of eight long years of grueling, forgotten warfare across China—that truly shattered the Japanese military command's final resolve.

For YouRedemptorist, history is never just a record of political maneuvers or military power; it is a human landscape of suffering, spiritual crisis, and the urgent need for divine compassion. As the earthly illusions of imperial conquest unspooled across Asia, millions of ordinary people—soldiers, refugees, and victims of total war—were left in absolute ruin. Looking back at the dual shocks that forced Japan's surrender invites us to reflect not only on how wars end in the halls of power, but on our perpetual mission: to walk among the broken, bring hope to the devastated, and proclaim redemption where human systems have utterly failed.

Historians refer to this as the "Two-Shock" theory, and the idea that the Soviet invasion of Manchuria was the decisive factor—rather than solely the atomic bombs—is a widely respected, heavily debated argument in modern World War II historiography.

While the atomic bombs played a catastrophic role, the collapse of Japan's position in Asia broke their political and strategic resolve.

The Argument for the Manchurian Operation (Operation August Storm)

Prominent historians (most notably Tsuyoshi Hasegawa in Racing the Enemy) argue that the Soviet invasion on August 9, 1945, was the true catalyst for the Japanese Supreme Council's decision to surrender.

• The Death of Diplomacy: Until August 9, Japan's military leadership hoped to use the neutral Soviet Union to negotiate a mediated peace with the Allies rather than accept unconditional surrender. When Stalin declared war and launched 1.5 million troops into Manchuria, that diplomatic escape route instantly vanished.

• The Loss of the Kwantung Army: Manchuria was home to the Kwantung Army, Japan's largest single land force, and housed much of its remaining industrial base and raw materials. The Red Army crushed this force in days.

• Fear of a Soviet Occupation: Japan's ruling elite feared a Soviet invasion of the home islands (Hokkaido) far more than an American occupation. A Soviet conquest meant the execution of Emperor Hirohito and the destruction of the imperial system in favor of communism.

• The Military's Reaction: When Hiroshima was bombed on August 6, the Supreme Council didn't even meet immediately; US conventional firebombing had already destroyed over 60 Japanese cities, so mass urban destruction was not new to them. When the Soviets invaded on August 9, the council convened immediately.

The Role of the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945)

The war in mainland China was the fundamental drain on Japanese resources that set up their eventual defeat.

• The Chinese Resistance: For eight years, Chinese forces (both Nationalists under Chiang Kai-shek and Communists under Mao Zedong) tied down over 1 million Japanese troops.

• Strategic Exhaustion: Japan was stuck in a massive war of attrition in China that it could neither win nor exit, forcing Tokyo into a desperate search for oil and rubber that led directly to the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941.

The Consensus: A Dual Shock

Most modern historians conclude that neither factor acted completely in isolation:

• The Atomic Bombs gave Emperor Hirohito a politically acceptable "face-saving" excuse to tell the Japanese public why they had to surrender (a "miraculous weapon of unprecedented cruelty").

• The Soviet Invasion of Manchuria stripped the military regime of its last strategic option, leaving them zero leverage to negotiate terms.

Together, the dual shocks broke the political deadlock in Tokyo, forcing unconditional surrender before an invasion of the Japanese mainland became necessary.

The Redemptorist mission in Asia experienced a profound turning point directly tied to the fallout of World War II between 1946 and 1950

The Historical Facts

• The Initial Call (1928): Pope Pius XI and the Apostolic Delegate to China, Celso Costantini, invited the Spanish Province of the Redemptorists (Provincia Española de la Congregación del Santísimo Redentor) to assist in establishing the Chinese order Disciples of the Lord in Hebei province. The first group of Spanish Redemptorists—Fathers Segundo Miguel Rodríguez, José Morán Pan, and Segundo Velasco Arina—arrived in Beijing in February 1928.

• Moving to Sichuan (1934): After briefly attempting a mission in Henan (Xiping), they established their first permanent Redemptorist mission house in Chengdu, Sichuan on April 24, 1934. They later expanded to Xichang.

• Creation of the Vice-Province: These foundations were officially elevated by Rome as the Redemptorist Vice-Province of China, led by Father José Pedrero as superior.

• Their Ministries: They ran parish missions, set up minor seminaries (juvenates) for native vocations, and ministered straight through the Sino-Japanese War until their forced expulsion by the communist government in 1952.

Redemptorists in China (Pre-1946 to 1952)

• Arrival and Early Work (1928–1934): The Redemptorist presence in China began in 1928 when Spanish friars were invited by the Vatican to help establish native orders in Hebei province. In 1934, they established their primary base in Sichuan province (Chengdu and Xichang), conducting missions, running minor seminaries, and ministering during the height of the Sino-Japanese War.

• Post-War Expansion & Suppression (1947–1952): Right after the war in 1947, the Redemptorists expanded into Beijing to open a third mission house. However, as the Chinese Civil War culminated in the Communist victory of 1949, foreign missionaries faced heavy persecution. Redemptorists in Sichuan actively preached steadfast faith to locals anticipating political suppression, but by 1952, the Spanish Redemptorist missions were forcibly closed and the friars were expelled from China by the new regime.

Redemptorists in Japan (Post-1946 Debut)

• First Arrival (May 8, 1948): The Redemptorists had no presence in Japan before or during WWII. Their work began on May 8, 1948, when the first Redemptorist missionaries (from the French-speaking Canadian Province of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré) arrived in Yokohama in response to an urgent call for foreign clergy to aid post-war rebuilding.

• Post-War Healing (1948–1950s): Shortly after, English-speaking Canadian Redemptorists arrived in Maizuru (1948), and German Redemptorists followed (1953). Operating out of makeshift spaces like unburnt warehouses in post-bombing Tokyo, they focused on spiritual redemption, humanitarian relief, and opening novitiates for native Japanese vocations starting in 1950.