History

History of New York District by Br. Luke Salm (PDF)

A Period of Crisis and Decline: The Latin Question 1899 -1923

This is not the place to record in detail the story of “the Latin Question,” as it came to be called, which is thoroughly documented elsewhere, most notably in the history of the Institute in the 19th Century by Brother Clair Battersby. Suffice it to say that the oral permission given to Brother Patrick in 1854, the support of the most distinguished American prelates, and the forceful presentations to the Chapter of 1897 by the American delegates, especially that of Brother Justin, counted for nothing in a Chapter dominated by French superiors. It was decided to enforce in the American colleges and academies the primitive rule of the Institute banning the teaching of Latin, which at the time was considered an essential part of the curriculum in any institution of higher learning. To pour salt into the wound, the most distinguished American Visitors and presidents of colleges, Brother Justin, his Auxiliary Brother Quintinian, and Brother Paulian among them, were deprived of office and exiled to Europe. Morale in the District was at an all time low and departures from the Institute at an all time high. To their credit the exiled leaders for the most part remained faithful and were eventually returned either to retire or to serve in secondary capacities. The reputation as well as the enrolment of the colleges and the academies suffered and many of the colleges became secondary schools. Manhattan College managed to survive by offering programs in the sciences and engineering while bolstering the offerings in philosophy, psychology and English literature.

The man chosen to be the new Visitor of New York at this moment of crisis was Brother Donatian Joseph (Kenny), a native of Cleveland. After teaching at the College and in Buffalo, he was sent to help out at London and Nantes, returning to New York as Inspector of Schools and Director at Second Street. Although forced to demand prompt submission to the decrees of the General Chapter concerning Latin, he won the Brothers over by his kindness and humility joined to a firmness of will and zeal for religious observance. He had the support of Brother Imier of Jesus, who had been Visitor at Nantes and was appointed as Provincial Visitor for the American Districts, in effect undermining the authority of the mild-mannered American Assistant, Brother Clementian (Muth). Fortunately, Brother Imier, who would one day become Superior General, was fluent in English and sympathetic to the American situation. Little by little the trend toward disaster was reversed. Enough vocations were forthcoming to supply the schools that were opened in the parishes of Carmelite, Epiphany, Holy Cross, Holy Name, Holy Trinity, Our Lady of Good Counsel, St. Augustine, St. Raymond, St. Veronica in New York City together with St. Cecilia’s and St. Augustine’s in Brooklyn. In 1905 a school was opened for English speaking students in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

The departures from the Institute were somewhat offset by an influx of Brothers exiled from France as a result of the secularization laws. Many of these Brothers became mainstays in the District, among them Brothers Didace Pierre and Oliver Joseph in Barrytown and Brothers Honeste Celestine, Francois Jolivet, Defendant Felix, and Charles Bruno at Manhattan College. The crowning achievement of Brother D. Joseph’s administration was the building of a new formation center at Pocantico Hills to replace the property at Amawalk that had been condemned to make way for a New York City reservoir. Brother Joseph died in 1909 at the age of fifty-one.

Brother Eliphus Victor (McConnell), the Inspector of Schools under Brother Joseph, filled in as Visitor for one year until Brother Gerardus Camillus (Dwyer), a native of Syracuse and Director of the novitiate in Glencoe, Missouri, was appointed Visitor of New York. His appointment followed close on the election of the austere Brother Benezet Thomas as the American Assistant. It signaled a new trend in the appointment of the New York Visitor, the superiors opting for Brothers formed (or reformed) in the French-oriented Second Novitiate, followed by careers in the houses of formation where they gained a reputation for piety, strict adherence to the Rule and to the traditions of the Institute.

In his term from 1910 to 1915, Brother Gerardus was able to continue the revival begun under Brother Joseph with new schools opened in New York City in the parishes of Ascension, St. Charles Borromeo, and St. Thomas the Apostle as well as Queen of All Saints in Brooklyn. In 1913 Brother Gerardus introduced the Archconfraternity of the Divine Child into the schools in New York. In that same year the scholasticate was reopened at Pocantico under the direction of Brother Henry August (Kuntz) with Brother Cornelius Malachy (Hession) and Brother Azades Gabriel (Maher) on the staff..

In 1915 Brother Henry August, who had been a classmate of Brother Gerardus when they were students at Syracuse, after twenty-five years as Director in the novitiate and scholasticate was appointed Visitor of New York. His six year term was marked by the opening of two schools, St. Bernard’s in New York and St. Peter’s on Staten Island. During the same period eight parish schools were closed and many requests for Brothers to take over new schools had to be refused. World War I was underway and the higher superiors had to battle to have the Brothers exempt from the military draft. The influenza epidemic of 1918 also claimed many Brothers among its victims. The shortage of personnel was once again alleviated in some measure by the importation of young Brothers from Ireland. Brother Henry, with a reputation more for his piety than his effectiveness as an administrator, still managed somehow to keep the District afloat in spite of the difficulties.

In1921, after nine years as Visitor of Baltimore, Brother Abban Philip (Gagnon) returned to New York as Visitor. His most important achievement during his short term was to organize the professional preparation of the Brothers. He persuaded Brother C. Thomas (Fitzsimmons), the President of Manhattan College, to organize an extension division that would provide the Brothers with part-time courses leading the BA and MA degrees. The program was put into the capable hands of Brother Calixtus (Curran) who directed it for many years thereafter. Brother Philip also made provision for qualified Brothers to follow university programs leading to the doctorate as preparation for assignment to Manhattan College. When Brother Philip went to the General Chapter in 1923 he left the District in charge of Brother Calixtus. It was he who received the news, first that Brother Philip had been elected Assistant and, secondly, that by order of the Vatican the ban on teaching Latin was lifted. This brought to an end a long and difficult struggle to gain some measure of self-determination for the American Brothers as to how best to interpret the vision of De La Salle in the American situation.

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