Congregation of the Servants of Charity | |
Native Name: | Congregatio Servorum a Charitate [1] |
Abbreviation: | Post-nominal letters: S.C.[2] |
Nickname: | Guanellian[3] |
Formation: | [4] |
Founder: | Saint Fr. Luigi Guanella [5] |
Founding Location: | Como, Lombardy, Italy |
Type: | Clerical Religious Congregation of Pontifical Right (for Men)[6] |
Headquarters: | General Motherhouse Vicolo Clemente 41, 00148 Rome, Italy[7] |
Region Served: | Europe and the Americas |
Num Members: | 558 members (366 priests) as of 2018[8] |
Leader Title: | Motto |
Leader Name: | Latin: In Omnibus Charitas English: In all things Love |
Leader Title2: | Superior General |
Leader Name2: | Fr. Umberto Brugnoni, S.C.[9] |
Leader Title3: | Patron saints |
Leader Title4: | Apostolate |
Leader Name4: | Education of the poor |
Affiliation: | Roman Catholic Church |
Website: | http://www.servantsofcharity.org/ |
The Servants of Charity (la|Congregatio Servorum a Charitate) is a Catholic clerical religious congregation of Pontifical Right for men. Members of this clerical congregation are popularly known as 'Guanelliani' (or Guanellians, in English). They add the nominal letters SC after their names to indicate their membership in the Congregation.
The institute was founded in Como on March 24, 1908 by Italian priest Luigi Guanella, (1842 - 1915), a friend of David Albertario and Giuseppe Toniolo. He was sensitive to issues of social outcasts and the handicapped. This gave birth to a religious community to provide the needs of the poor. Their motto reads "In Omnibus Charitas" (In all things Love).
The congregation obtained the recognition of ecclesiastical institution of pontifical right with decree of praise, 1912 and was again approved in 1928.
There is also the female branch of Daughters of Saint Mary of Providence.
These religious operate day and evening schools for workers, institutes for the education of youth and speakers. They also run facilities worldwide for the care of persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
As of December 31, 2018, the congregation had 103 houses and 558 religious, 366 of them priests.[10]