Somascan Fathers

The “Company of the Servants of the Poor” began in 1535 when St. Jerome Emiliani (Venice, 1486 – Somasca, 1537) called together his helpers and companions for a general assembly. Pope St. Pius V constituted the community as a Religious Order in 1568 with the name, “Order of the Regular Clerics from Somasca” (CRS) or, Somascan Fathers. St. Jerome Emiliani was proclaimed the “Universal Patron of Orphans and Abandoned Youth” by Pope Pius XI in 1928. The Somascan Fathers now number about 500 worldwide, in 20 countries in all continents, serving orphans and needy youth, offering education and parish ministry. In the U.S.A. we have a Residential Treatment Center for Emotionally Handicapped Boys in New Hampshire, whereas in Houston we staff Assumption and Christ the King Parishes, as well as House for Initial Formation.