Fathers of Sion

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FATHERS OF SION

Popular name for the Religious of Our Lady of Sion, a congregation of priests and brothers founded at Paris in 1852 by two brothers, Marie Théodore ratisbonne and Marie Alphonse ratisbonne, but not formally organized as a congregation until 1893. The founders sought to promote understanding between Christians and Jews.

The history of the congregation represents the slow but true and progressive evolution of Judeo-Christian relationship in the Church. The earlier activities of the Fathers of Sion included an instruction center for converts in Paris and an orphanage for Jewish children, founded in Jerusalem in 1870. Their work at that time was directed principally toward conversion of religion. But the difficulties arising from such proselytical intent caused the fathers to attempt a new approach in a more ecumenical way by means of studies on Judaism, and collaboration and dialogue with the Jews. Centers of study and dialogue were organized, the best known of which was the Institute Saint Pierre de Sion in Jerusalem. In the ensuing years after the Second Vatican Council, the institute, popularly known as the Ratisbonne Institute, became an important ecumenical center for Jewish-Christian relations. In 1985, the congregation transferred the institute to the Holy See, which elevated it to the status of a "Pontifical Institute" in 1998.

[m. r. nÔtre/eds.]