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Provinces

Province - Introduction

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The Province is the basic unit of the life and activity of the Order. It consists of the friars who belong to it, gathered in several houses and governed by a Prior Provincial with his Council, in accordance with the norms of canon law and with the Order's own laws (Carmelite Constitutions 179). At this moment the Carmelite Order has 19 Provinces in the world.

German Province

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On the 1st of January 2013, the provinces of Upper and Lower Germany, after many years of intense cooperation, especially in the field of formation, and after a processof preparation that involved numerous meetings, were united into one German Province. This decision was the result of the desire of the German Carmelites

Province of Arago-Valentina

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The origin of the Order in Spain remains shrouded in mist, though the researches of such scholars as Frs. Otger Steggink, Pablo Garrido and Balbino Velasco Bayon, have done much to clarify the problem.

Province of Australia and Timor Leste

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After the short-lived mission at Merthyr Tydvil in Wales, the Irish Carmelite Province undertook a foundation in far-off Australia, to which Ireland in the past had contributed many inhabitants in the persons of political exiles. Among the deportees to Botany Bay after the Rebellion of 1798,

Province of Betica

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The first house was opened in Andalusia in Gibraleón (1306 - 1320) by the Infantes de la Cerda. From there, the Carmelites made a foundation in (1358) under the patronage of King D. Pedro I. Later on, in the vicinity of the capital, they opened the convent of Escacena del Campo (Huelva) in 1416, and Ecija (Seville) in 1425. In 1498 these four houses were detached from the Province of Castile, to form a new Province.

Province of Castile

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This Province is honoured by the fact that it is the Province of two great saints of the Church: Teresa of Jesus and John of the Cross. It was founded in 1416, when the Province of Spain was split into the two Provinces of Aragon and Castile. It was this Province which preserved the title and location of the ancient Province of Spain up to 1469.

Province of Catalonia

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Some of the foundations of the Province of Catalonia are among the oldest in the Order. The early history of what is now the Province, involving Southern France, Northern Spain and the Balearic Islands, reflects the complicated political situation of the time. In 1336 the Vicariate of Perpignan was erected from the Province of Spain, also called Aragon.

Province of Great Britain

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England was one of the earliest sites of the Carmelites in Europe. Their coming exemplifies the classic scenario of the Carmelites fleeing from the Holy Land (Israel) under the protection of the crusaders; in fact it was the crusader, Sir Richard Grey of Codnor, who brought them back in 1242 and settled them on his lands at Aylesford in Kent.

Province of St Thomas - India

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On June 13, 1973, the Provincial Chapter of the Upper German Province decided to start a foundation of the Carmelite Order in India. The Prior Provincial, Fr. Joseph Kotschner, travelled to India looking for opportunities to establish the Order in the subcontinent. As a result of the discussions with many bishops the first group of students arrived in Bamberg, Germany, at the end of 1973. Two more groups followed in 1974 and 1976.

Province of Indonesia

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Carmelites visited Indonesia in the 17th century, when Blessed Dionysius of the Nativity and Redemptus of the Cross suffered martyrdom on Sumatra.
Having successfully contributed to the restoration of the Rio de Janeiro Province (Brazil), the Carmelites in the Netherlands turned their thoughts to undertaking the work of evangelisation in the Dutch East Indies.

Syndicate content

The Province is the basic unit of the life and activity of the Order. It consists of the friars who belong to it, gathered in several houses and governed by a Prior Provincial with his Council, in accordance with the norms of canon law and with the Order's own laws (Carmelite Constitutions 179). At this moment the Carmelite Order has 19 Provinces in the world.



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