On January 1st 1572, the Brothers were approved by Pope Saint Pius V as a Religious Order of Brothers. In establishing the Order, Pope Pius stated that Hospitality in the manner of Saint John of God was the “FLOWER LACKING IN THE GARDEN OF THE CHURCH”.
The two Brothers, who travelled from Granada, Spain to meet the Pope were Brothers Peter Soriano and Sebastian Aries.
These were their requests:
• To be formed into an Order, in order to protect John’s dream for the poor from ‘outside’ interference.
• To wear a simple religious habit or uniform to identify the Brothers when begging for the poor.
• To be allowed to beg in order to support the homeless, sick and poor.
• To allow the Brothers to ask one of their members to become a priest in order to provide the Sacraments for the sick and the local community of Brothers.
The two Brothers returned to the sick, volunteers, donors. The Brothers were pleased that their requests had been granted. This structure ensured that John’s dream was secure. It facilitated the rapid spread of the Order, which after a few years included the establishment of a General Hospital in Rome.
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Hospitality in the manner of Saint John of God must continue to be flexible and adaptable to respond to the needs of God’s people. On July 30th 2012, our West European Province (consisting of Ireland, United Kingdom and Malawi), received from the Vatican, approval for a new Church structure, to ensure that John’s Dream for the poor and sick are in the safe hands of lay women and lay men, especially in light of our diminishing numbers of Brothers.
“Organisation must follow life, not the other way around”, is how Cardinal Ratzinger (Later Pope Benedict XV1), said at a Seminar on New Ecclesial Movements in Rome in early 2002.
A planning group chaired by Conor McCarthy (Group CEO), have commenced work on how our Hospitaller Ministries and our Brothers can celebrate, share and build on the fruits of these 450 years.