Our Congregation was founded in 1840 by Father Louis Rutten. This young priest felt the call to place his whole life and all his means in the service of the chris-tian education and formation of the young. His first concern was for the poor and the neglected youth in his native town Maastricht, where, at the time, the social conditions were extremely bad. In 1840 Bernardus Hoecken became the first superior of the Congregation’s first community. He himself was then still a novice; his fellowbrothers were aspirants. In 1842 he was among the first brothers who took their vows. For many years he guided the growing community, together with Father Rutten. Just like Father Rutten he felt an apostolic preference for christian education and formation. He strongly urges the brothers never to lose sight of the poor. Our Founders were committed people, filled with the Spirit of Jesus. They were seized by his person and his message. They sensed a vocation and a mission to spread his Good News. At the request of the then Bishop of Wa, Peter Porekuu Dery, the first FIC brothers arrived in Kaleo near Wa in 1965, and in that same year the first Ghanaian brothers made their profession in the Congregation. 

Provinces