Case Statement - The Piarist Fathers

Piarist Fathers
Province of the United States and Puerto Rico
CASE STATEMENT
I. MISSION STATEMENT
Rooted in the Gospel and inspired by Saint Joseph Calasanz, the mission of the Piarist
Fathers in the United States and Puerto Rico is to follow Christ and to serve the Church
in the multicultural reality, by promoting our unique Piarist way of life and by
ministering effectively to the educational needs of children and youth, especially the
poor, so as to empower them to bring about a Christian transformation of our world.
(Revised 6/13/11)
II. GOAL
To provide financial assistance for the formation and education of seminarians, for the
health and well-being of senior members and for the ongoing work of the active
members.
III. OBJECTIVE
To create an integrated development program by initiating new program components and
strengthening existing development efforts in order to raise $350,000 over the next four
years (August 2012 through July 2016).
IV. GOVERNING BOARD
The Piarist Fathers, U.S.A. Province, Inc. is a non-profit corporation with offices in the
District of Columbia.
The purposes for which the corporation is organized are:
To engage in, promote and maintain educational, religious and charitable
activities of all kinds consistent with the objectives of the Piarist Fathers, a
Roman Catholic religious community;
To establish, operate and maintain educational institutions in all fields of
learning;
To minister to the spiritual needs of the laity and to perform all corporal
and spiritual works of mercy.
The members of the Board of Directors are any Piarist priest, professed seminarian or
novice, who is assigned to any one of the officially established communities of the
Province of the United States and Puerto Rico.
The officers of the Board of Directors are the Chairman, President, Vice-President,
Secretary and Treasurer. The members of the corporation elect the officers for a term of
one year during the annual meeting of the Board.

The Chairman presides at any meetings of the officers and during the annual meeting of
the Board.
The President is the chief executive officer of the Corporation, has the responsibility for
the general management of the affairs of the Corporation, and carries out the resolutions
of the Board of Directors.
During the absence or disability of the President of the Corporation, the Vice-President
has all the powers and functions of the President. The Vice-President performs such
duties as may be described by the Board of Directors from time to time.
The Secretary keeps the minutes of the Officers and the minutes of the Board of
Directors. He has custody of the seal of the Corporation, and affixes and attests the same
documents duly authorized by the Board of Directors. He serves all notices for the
Corporation, which have been authorized by the Board of Directors, and has charge of all
books and records of the Corporation.
The Treasurer has the care and custody of all the funds and securities of the Corporation,
and deposits said funds in the name of the Corporation in such bank accounts as the
Board of Directors may from time to time determine. The Treasurer, when duly
authorized by the Board of Directors, signs and executes all contracts in the name of the
Corporation when counter-signed by the President; he also signs checks, drafts, notes,
and orders for the payment of money, which have been duly authorized by the Board of
Directors and counter-signed by the President.
The Chairman and the Treasurer are authorized to transact any and all business matters
for the Corporation. All financial dealings must adhere to the Statutes of the Economy of
the Province, Canon Law, the Constitutions and Rules of the Piarist Fathers, the
“Directory of Economic and Financial Management of the Pious Schools” and civil law.
The Financial Secretariat is a committee of three or more members. They assist the
Chairman and the Treasurer with their work. One of their primary responsibilities is to
advise the Treasurer in the preparation of the annual budget, which must later be
approved by the Chairman, President and Vice-President.
Each officially established community of the Province of the United States and Puerto
Rico has its own Rector and Treasurer. They cooperate during the year with the
Treasurer of the Corporation in his work.
Every other month, the Treasurer must present to the officers a report of the corporate
finances. On this occasion, the officers ask any pertinent questions and propose
suggestions.
During the annual meeting of the Board of Directors, the Treasurer must present to the
members a report of the corporate finances. The members are encouraged to discuss the
report and make suggestions.
2

V. STAFFING
The Development Office has three staff members. The Director of Development is a paid
full-time employee. He is responsible for coordinating the efforts of the Development
Team. In cooperation with the officers of the Board and the other members of the
Corporation, he prepares and executes the Development Plan. He reports on the activities
of the Development Office to the officers every other month and to the members
annually.
VI. FACILITIES
The Piarists of the Province of the United States and Puerto Rico currently work in nine
locations. They are:
Coto Laurel, PR – Colegio Ponceno, a college preparatory school for boys and
girls from Pre-K through the twelfth grade. It is also the residence for the priests
teaching in the school and for two retired priests.
Devon, PA – Devon Preparatory School, a college preparatory school for boys
from the sixth through twelfth grades. It is also a residence for the priests who
teach in the school and for two retired priests.
Fort Lauderdale, FL – Cardinal Gibbons High School, an archdiocesan school for
boys and girls from the ninth through twelfth grades. It is also a residence for the
priests who teach in the school and for one retired priest.
Martin, KY – The Piarist School, a tuition-free college preparatory school for
boys and girls from the ninth through twelfth grades. It is also a residence for the
priests who teach in the school.
Miami, FL – Southeast Pastoral Institute, an organization of the Catholic Bishops,
which helps to train leaders for Hispanic ministry in the nine southern states. It is
also the residence for the priests working at SEPI, the priests working in
formation at Casa Calasanz and most of the younger seminarians of the Province.
New York City, NY – Annunciation Parish, Annunciation School (Kindergarten
through the 8 th grade) and Calasanz Retreat House. It is also the residence for the
priests who work in the parish and the school and for the theology students of the
Province.
Playa de Ponce, PR – Our Lady of Mount Carmel Parish and School (Pre-K
through the 8 th grade). It is also the residence for the priests who work in the
parish and the school and for the philosophy students of the Province.
San Juan, PR – Parish of the Divine Savior and Colegio Calasanz (Pre-K through
the twelfth grade). It is also the residence for the priests who work in the parish
and the school.
Washington, DC – residence for the Provincial Superior and another priest
working at the Catholic University of America.
In addition to these nine locations, one retired priest lives in nursing homes and some
seminarians live in Piarist communities closer to their institutes of learning.
3

VII. FINANCES
The Corporation is responsible for providing the funds for the formation and education of
Piarist seminarians, for the health and well-being of senior members and for the ongoing
work of active members.
The Treasurer of the local communities sends a monthly contribution to the corporate
Treasury based upon the number of full-time and part-time priests assigned to the
community.
Until 2001, the funds from these monthly contributions were adequate enough to pay for
the previously mentioned expenses of the Corporation. Since then, the Province has been
blessed with an increasing number of seminarians. At the same time, the ratio of active
priests to retired priests has decreased. As a result, the Corporation has experienced a
deficit for the past few years.
In June 2005, based upon the advice of the Treasurer General of the Piarist Fathers, the
officers of the Corporation decided to ask for a special contribution from each local
community in order to erase the deficit. Therefore, the local communities began to
provide the Corporation with the funds to erase the annual deficit.
During the annual meeting of the Corporation in June 2005, the officers explained to the
members that such a measure could only be temporary. The local communities could
only provide funds to erase the annual deficit for so long. Therefore, the officers strongly
urged the Board of Directors to consider establishing a Development Office. The Board
accepted the motion.
In 2005, the Board began searching for a Development Director. During the search, Mr.
Mario Arango, a Cuban Piarist alumnus, volunteered his services as a part-time Assistant
Development Director. Together with his wife, Teresita, who volunteers her services as
his executive secretary, they solicited contributions from the Cuban Piarist alumni and
friends.
In May 2007, the officers hired Mr. Kevin Owens to serve as a paid, full-time Director of
Development. He is a member of the Development Team, together with the officers of
the Corporation and all of its members. It is the hope of the Corporation that the
combined work of the Development Team will be able to provide the funds and resources
necessary for the Piarists of the Province to continue their ministry long into the future.
The office raised $55,505 in its first year of operation from August 2007 through July
2008 and raised $97,126 in the most recent fiscal year from August 2010 through July
2011.
4

VIII. PLANNING and EVALUATION
The Chairman, President and Vice-President meet every other month. During their
meeting, they discuss the current state of the Piarists in the Province of the United States
and Puerto Rico. Among other issues they discuss the following:
Formation and education of the seminarians
Health and well-being of the senior members
Ministry in the Piarist-related works
Cooperation with other regions of the Piarist Fathers worldwide
Finances
Development Office
The members of the Board of Directors meet annually. During the assembly, the
members participate in a retreat, examine the current state of the Province, evaluate the
past year’s programs and activities, and make plans for the future.
The Superiors of each region of the Order, of each region of the Americas and of each
region of the North American Sector meet one another at pre-determined intervals. They
discuss issues of common concern and make plans and suggestions for the future.
The Treasurer General of the Piarist Fathers occasionally meets with the Treasurer of
each region. He approves the annual budget, reviews the Annual Report of the Treasury,
and makes plans and suggestions for the future.
The Superior General or his delegate occasionally meets with the Vocation Directors and
Formation Directors of each region. They discuss common issues and make plans and
suggestions for the future.
The Superior General and an Assistant General of the Piarist Fathers visit all of the local
communities of the Province of the United States and Puerto Rico at pre-determined
intervals. They examine the state of the Province and make plans and suggestions for the
future.
IX. HISTORY
The Founder
St. Joseph Calasanctius (Calasanz) was born in Peralta de la Sal, Spain in 1557. He was
ordained as a priest for the Diocese of Urgel in 1583. Hoping to advance within the
hierarchy, he moved to Rome nine years later.
Shortly after arriving in Rome, he drastically changed the direction in his life when he
recognized the terrible plight of the poor in that city. At first, he taught religion on
weekends with the followers of St. Philip Neri. Soon, however, he realized that weekly
classes in religion were not sufficient. Therefore, he opened a school at the Church of St.
Dorothy in 1597. This school was the first tuition-free school in modern Europe, a
5

school that was open to all children. Soon, the popularity of his school became so
widespread that he felt the need to open other similar schools.
At the request of St. Joseph Calasanctius, Pope Paul V officially established the Order of
the Pious Schools (Piarist Fathers) in 1617. Members of the Order take the usual three
vows of poverty, chastity and obedience and a special fourth vow to educate youth,
especially the poor.
Pope Clement XIII canonized St. Joseph Calasanctius in 1767, and Pope Pius XII named
him as the Patron of all Christian Schools in 1948.
Today, there are 1,327 Piarists living in 213 communities in 34 countries. In the United
States, there are about 60 Piarists working in thirteen communities.
The Province of the United States and Puerto Rico
The Province of the United States (1949-2011)
Bishop John O’Hara of Buffalo sent a letter to Father Vincent Tomek, the Superior
General of the Piarist Fathers, permitting the Piarists to work in his diocese on March 29,
1949. Within a year six fathers from Hungary and four from Poland had arrived in the
eastern United States and began working in the diocese. Father Joseph Batori was
appointed as their first Superior on January 11, 1950.
The Sacred Congregation for Religious officially established the canonical house of
Buffalo on January 22, 1951. The fathers temporarily lived in Lackawanna until they
were able to purchase a property in Derby. The famous American architect, Frank Lloyd
Wright, designed the residence. Members of the community in Derby assisted local
parishes, taught in local colleges and schools, operated a boarding home for refugee boys
(Calasanctius Hall) and helped train the first American seminarians. The property was
sold, and the two remaining fathers moved to Annunciation Parish in Lackawanna in
1999. The fathers retired and moved to the community of Devon in 2006.
Father Francis Roszaly and Father Ladislaus Iranyi moved from Derby to the District of
Columbia in 1954. They established Queen of the Pious Schools College, a residence for
Piarist seminarians studying in local colleges and universities. Today, the Provincial
Superior and another Piarist, who is on the faculty of the Catholic University of America,
live in the community.
Archbishop John O’Hara of Philadelphia, who had previously been in Buffalo, invited the
Piarists to work in his archdiocese in 1954. Father Stephen Senye and five other priests
moved from Derby to Philadelphia and began working in local parishes and high schools.
The Piarist Fathers purchased a twenty-one acre property, formerly the Lea Estate, and
opened their own college preparatory school for boys, Devon Preparatory School, in
September 1956. Today, there are almost 275 boys in grades six through twelve.
6

Father Stephen Gerencser and other Piarists from Derby opened Calasanctius Preparatory
School in Buffalo in 1957. It was founded to provide an education for gifted boys. It
became co-educational in 1964. The school closed in 1991.
Archbishop Coleman Carroll of Miami opened Cardinal Gibbons High School in Fort
Lauderdale in 1961. He asked the Piarist Fathers to help administer and staff the boys’
division, and Father Henry Mirowski was appointed principal. Today, there are almost
1,200 boys and girls in grades nine through twelve.
The five communities of the Piarist Fathers in the eastern United States officially became
the USA Province on January 22, 1975. Father Ladislaus Iranyi was appointed as the
first Provincial Superior.
Father Thomas Carroll moved to work in the impoverished areas of eastern Kentucky in
1988. Two years later, he opened The Piarist School in Martin, a tuition-free college
preparatory school. Today, there are approximately 60 boys and girls in grades six
through twelve. The Piarists also operate an active outreach ministry to the poor and
needy in the area. The school plans to open classes for junior high students in August
2009.
Archbishop Edward McCarthy of Miami and other bishops invited Father Mario
Vizcaino to establish the Southeast Pastoral Institute for ministry among the Hispanic
population in 1978. At first, the offices of SEPI were located on the grounds of St. John
Vianney Seminary in Miami. As the work grew, a separate property was purchased. The
community of Miami was officially established as a canonical house in 2007. Today, the
priests working for SEPI, the priests working in formation and the younger Piarist
seminarians live there. Casa Calasanz, a residence for our seminarians, was dedicated in
October 2008.
The Vice-Province of New York and Puerto Rico (1948-2011)
Father Antonio Rivares, from the Province of Aragon, arrived in New York City at the
end of 1948. Shortly afterward, Cardinal Francis Spellman invited the Piarists to send
others to join him. Within three years, seven more fathers arrived. They did not live in a
single community, but instead lived in the rectories of the parishes to which they were
assigned. In March 1953, the archdiocese offered the Piarists the use of the rectory of
Saint Nicholas Church as a residence. The community of New York officially became a
canonical house in 1957. The Piarists purchased the rectory, and Father Francisco
Encuentra became the first Superior. They lived there until 1978, when the archdiocese
entrusted to the Piarists Annunciation Parish and School in upper Manhattan. Today, the
priests, who work in the parish and school, and the theology seminarians of our Province
live in this community.
In January 1956, after meeting with Father Encuentra, Bishop Jaime McManus of Ponce
in Puerto Rico invited the Piarists to minister at Our Lady of Montserrat Parish in Salinas
and to teach at the Catholic University of Puerto Rico in Ponce. The community of
Ponce officially became a canonical house in 1960. Shortly after, Bishop McManus
7

offered the Piarists the use of a residence on the property of the university. They ended
their ministry at the parish, and all of the Piarists on the island moved to the new
residence in 1961. The Piarists ended their ministry at the university and closed the
community in 2007.
In 1965 Archbishop Luis Aponte of San Juan offered the Piarists the Parish of Our Savior
in Rio Piedras. Father Luis Gracia became the first Pastor. In 1968 Colegio Calasanz
opened with boys and girls from kindergarten through the third grade. The school moved
to a larger campus in 1972 and soon began to accept students from Pre-K through the
twelfth grade. Today there are about five hundred students in the school.
In 1968 Bishop Fremiot Torres Oliver offered the Piarists the administration of Colegio
Ponceno in Ponce. Under the terms of the agreement, the Parents’ Association would
own the property and be responsible for the finances of the school. Since 1930 the school
had been owned and administered by the Marianist Brothers. The Piarists began working
at the school in 1969, and Father Jose Mateo was the first Principal. In 1973 the school
moved from its original location to a new and larger campus. Today there are about
1,100 students from Pre-K through the twelfth grade.
The four communities in New York City and on the island of Puerto Rico officially
became the Vice-Province of New York and Puerto Rio in June 1971. Father Leopoldo
Laredo was the first Vice-Provincial.
At the invitation of Bishop Fremiot Torres Oliver the Piarists accepted Our Lady of
Mount Carmel Parish and School in Playa de Ponce in August 1986. Today, the
philosophy students of our Province live on the property and study at the Catholic
University of Puerto Rico. The school cares for students from Pre-K through the 8 th
grade.
The Province of the United States and Puerto Rico (2011-Present)
Father Fernando Torres, the Vice-Provincial of New York and Puerto Rico, sent a letter
to the religious of the Province of the United States in April 2008. In May 2008 Father
Jesus Lecea, the Superior General of the Piarists, sent a follow-up letter to Father Mario
Vizcaino, the Provincial Superior of the United States. Thus began a three year process.
After many meetings, both large and small, the members of the Vice-Province of New
York and Puerto Rico and of the Province of the United States voted to merge the two
demarcations.
Father Pedro Aguado, the new Superior General, officially signed the canonical
document on April 30, 2011. The two former demarcations officially became one new
Province on June 12. Two days later, Father Fernando Marco was elected the first
Provincial, and the members chose the new name: Province of the United States and
Puerto Rico.
(Revised: July 3, 2012)
8