Holy Family, Sons of the
HOLY FAMILY, SONS OF THE
A congregation of priests and brothers whose official title is Congregatio Filiorum Sacrae Familiae (SF, Official Catholic Directory #0640). It was founded in 1864 by Father José Manyanet (d. 1901) in Tremp, Lerida, Spain, and was granted final approval by the Holy See in 1901. The purpose of the congregation is to promote devotion to the Holy Family and to foster Christian family life. This apostolate is accomplished through the education of youth and the organization of a family movement consisting of instruction in the faith and in the management of the ideal Catholic home. The early development of the congregation was slow and uncertain; political upheavals and persecutions, especially during the Spanish Civil War, brought the society close to extinction. Not until the reconstruction in Spain in the 1940s did the Sons of the Holy Family begin to prosper. Since then they have spread outside Spain and have founded new schools and institutions. By the 1960s they were well established as a teaching society in Spain, Italy, and Argentina.
The Sons of the Holy Family came as missionaries to the United States in 1920 and worked in the Diocese of Santa Fe, New Mexico, among the Spanish-speaking people of the Southwest. The generalate is located in Barcelona, Spain. The United States headquarters is located in Silver Spring, Maryland.
[l. hoffman/eds.]