from January 2013 the two Provinces of Germany merged into one province called
German Province

The earliest extant Constitutions of the Carmelite Order, those of 1281, already show a German Province, eighth in precedence of ten Provinces. By 1294 it had been divided into the Lower and Upper German Provinces. During the first half of the 14th century the two Provinces were several times reunited and divided, probably because of the differences between Louis of Bavaria and the papacy, but in 1348 the division became definitive. The Province of Lower Germany extended over the Rhineland, Belgium, and the Netherlands.

The Province with its principal convent in Cologne suffered less from the Reformation than its sister Province, and in Eberhard Billick, its Provincial, it provided the Church with an outstanding champion of the Catholic faith. The Thirty Years War delayed the revival of the Province, but at the cessation of hostilities it became possible to introduce the Stricter Observance, especially through the efforts of Antonin de la Charité, of the province of Touraine. By 1660 the Province had become completely reformed.

The sixteen convents of this flourishing province vanished without a trace in the Napoleonic suppression of 1803 and subsequently. Only in 1924, when the Province of The Netherlands repossessed our ancient church in Mainz, did a Carmelite presence return to these regions. Other foundations followed, and in 1969 the Lower Germany Province again became a reality. It has a mission in Camerun.

This Province, situated on the island of Malta (mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles 28, 1), was erected on May 7, 1892. Previously, the Maltese foundations formed part of the Sicilian Province of St. Angelus, and when the English took over the island they became an independent vicariate.

The Carmelites arrived in Malta in 1418, when the noblewoman, Margaret d'Aragon, deeded the chapel and surrounding land of Lunzjata (Rabat) to any religious Order that would undertake the incumbent religious duties. The Carmelites accepted the offer. Subsequently, they opened priories in Valletta (1570), Vittoriosa (1582-1652), Mdina (1659), Balluta - Sliema (1892), Santa Venera (2 houses: 1913 and 1980), Fgura (1945) and Fleur-de-lys (1947). In 1944 a secondary school, later named Saint Elias College, was inaugurated. To it the Province owes many vocations and men of learning and virtue. In 1949, the Province, answering the Prior General's call, opted to send missionaries to work in Africa, but at the Prior General's insistence, instead sent men to Peru in 1949 and to Bolivia in 1956. In 1987 the Province assumed the care of the church and convent of Milazzo in Sicily (Italy). In 1990 the Carmelites restored Lunzjata (Rabat), establishing there a House of Prayer and Retreat Centre

Among its members the Province numbered two bishops: Mgr. Francis Raiti, bishop of Trapani, Sicily, and Mgr. Redemptus Gauci, bishop of Chuquibamba, Peru.

At present the Province of Malta has about 60 religious working in Malta, Bolivia, Italy, United Staes and Peru.

For further information: Province of Malta

website: http://www.karmelitani.org

Provincial Office:

Kunvent tal-Karmnu
Triq it-Torri
SLIEMA, SLM 1600
Tel. 21330198 / 21337573
Uffiċċju tal-Provincjal
Tel. 21315834
Uffiċċju Assistent-Segretarju Prov
Tel. 21315832

The Province of Naples is not to be confused with the convent of Naples, the Carmine Maggiore, which for most of its long history has been an independent house under the Prior General.

In 1472, in the drastic redistribution of the Italian Provinces by the Vicar General, Christopher Martignoni, the houses in the Kingdom of Naples were separated from the Province of Rome. After 1598, the Neapolitan Province was also called the Province of Terra di Lavoro. Its houses were numerous, even after it gave rise to the Vicariate of Abruzzo (1573) and the Province of Calabria (1575) and contributed two houses to the reform of Santa Maria della Vita (1662). In 1725, the Province of Terra di Lavoro handed over five houses to a new Province of Naples formed from the ten granges of the Carmine Maggiore of Naples and the former convent of the Province of Monte Santo in the same city. This latter convent became the principal house of the Province. After all that, Terra di Lavoro still counted nineteen houses. A great deal of confusion arises due to the fact that the two names, Terra di Lavoro and Naples, are used indiscriminately in the records.

In 1809, religious Orders were suppressed by the French under Joachim Murat, King of Naples. The six Carmelite Provinces in the kingdom, comprising eighty-three convents, thus disappeared. In 1847, after the restoration of the Bourbons, the Province of Naples was re-constituted from seven houses formerly of the Provinces of Puglia, Rome, and Abruzzo. These houses again fell victim to the general suppression in Italy of 1866, but the Carmelites were able to continue as pastors in the churches that remained open to the public.

Thus, the Province was able to be represented at the General Chapters of 1889 and 1902. With the exception of Mesagne, the other houses in the present Province were founded in 20th century.

At present the Province of Naples has about 30 religious working in Italy.

Website: http://www.vitacarmelitana.org

Provincial Office:

Parrocchia S. Maria delle Vittorie
Corso Benedetto Croce, 180
70125 BARI
Tel. 080-5424484/5425149
Fax 080-5562741

The Spanish crown entrusted the evangelisation of its American colonies only to certain religious Orders, which did not include the Carmelites. Portugal imposed no such limitations and Brazil became the mission field of the Order in the New World. The first Carmelite foundation was made in 1580 in Olinda, Pernambuco. Other foundations were made throughout Brazil and a century later, in 1685, the vast vicariate of Brazil was divided into the vicariates of Rio de Janeiro and Bahia-Pernambuco. These in turn became provinces in 1720. Some of the houses of the Bahia-Pernambuco Province embraced the Stricter Observance and these in 1744 were constituted a Province with the title "Pernambuco".

In the nineteenth century Latin America adopted the policy of suppression of religious Orders pursued in Europe and by the end of the century in all of Brazil only a few ageing friars remained in a handful of houses. In 1886 the Vicar Provincial of Pernambuco reported to the Prior General that the surviving members of the Province were all in one convent, Recife; the other four houses were in the hands of secular priests. In 1894, the newly restored Province of Spain undertook the renewal of the Order in Brazil. When this task proved to be beyond its resources, the Province of The Netherlands took over the Rio de Janeiro Province; Betica assumed the care of Bahia and Arago-Valentina that of Pernambuco. Eventually the remnant of the Bahia Province was absorbed into that of Rio de Janeiro, but by 1949 Pernambuco had sufficiently revived to be given once more the status of a Province.

At present the Province of Pernambuco has about 70 religious working in Brazil and Mozambique.

 
For further information: Province of Pernambuco

website: www.fradescarmelitas.org.br

Provincial Office:

Convento N. Sra. da Piedade
Cx. Postal 525
Av. Beira Mar, s/n
54410-010 JABOATAO DOS
GUARARAPES, PE
Tel. 081-3468.2177 / 3361.2011

The long history of the Polish Province is affected by the complicated political situation of the country. The most ancient Carmelite foundation in Poland is that of Gdansk (c.1380), followed by those of Cracow (1397), Bydgoszcz (1398) and Poznan (1399). At first, these foundations as well as later ones, formed part of other Provinces: Upper Germany (1411), Bohemia (1441), Bohemia and Poland (1462). In 1598, Poland was separated from Bohemia and became an independent Province. Its geographical area was very extensive, so much so that it gave birth to the Russian Province (1687) and the reformed Polish Province of the Most Holy Sacraments (1728). In 1756, the Lithuanian Province of St. George was separated from Russia and in 1766 from the Lithuanian Province of All Saints. The extensive expansion of the Order in Eastern Europe merited an Assistant General (1750).

This splendid growth of the Carmelite Order in the Polish territory, unfortunately underwent radical changes after the partition of Poland among the Austrian, Prussian and Russian regimes. As a consequence of this dismemberment and of the decrees of suppression, hundreds of Carmelites were deported to Siberia. Nevertheless, the Polish Province did not die and in 1919 still had eight houses, substantially those which make up the Province of today. The Dutch and Spanish Carmelites helped in the restoration of the Province.

Unfortunately, after the Second World War, because of the changes in the borders of Poland, the Carmelites lost their houses in Lwow, Bolszowce, Rozdol, Sasiadowice and Trembowla. These houses were destroyed by the Soviet government which in 1945 forced the friars to abandon their own monasteries.

At present the Province of Poland has about 75 religious working in Poland, Ukraine and Italy.

For further information: Province of Poland

Website: www.karmelici.pl

Provincial Office:

Klasztor OO. Karmelitów
ul. Karmelicka, 19
31-131 KRAKÓW
Tel. 12-6326752/6321173
Fax 12-6326970

While the Spanish Carmelites were excluded from America by King Philip II in the age of exploration, the Portuguese Carmelites had no trouble undertaking their share of the evangelisation of Brazil.

In 1580 four Carmelites, including Fr. Domingos Freire, Vicar, arrived in Pernambuco with the expedition of Captain Fructuoso Barbosa and eventually made a foundation in Olinda. As new recruits arrived, houses were opened in Bahia, Santos, and Rio de Janeiro. In 1595 these became the Vice Province of Brazil.

In 1640 the Vice Province was divided into the Commissariats of Brazil (nine houses) and Maranhão (three houses). In 1685 the vast Commissariat of Brazil was divided into the Commissariats of Rio de Janeiro and Bahia-Pernambuco. These became autonomous Provinces in 1720. Some of the houses of Bahia-Pernambuco embraced the Stricter Observance and became the Province of Pernambuco (1744). Maranhão, which remained a Commissariat dependent on Portugal, is distinguished for its heroic missionary work in the remote regions of the Negro and Solimães Rivers.

In the second half of the nineteenth century Latin America adopted the policy of suppression of religious Orders pursued in Europe. By the end of the century only a few ageing friars remained in a handful of houses. In 1894 the newly restored Province of Spain undertook the renewal of the Order in Brazil. When this task proved to be beyond its resources, the Province of the Netherlands took over the Rio de Janeiro Province; while the Spaniards continued the care of Bahia and Pernambuco.

World War II cut off the flow of manpower from beyond the seas, but by that time the Province of Rio de Janeiro was able to stand on its own feet. In 1951, after its restoration (1936), the Province of Bahia was united to the Province of Rio de Janeiro.

At present the Province of Rio de Janeiro has about 55 religious working in Brazil, France and Italy.

For further information: Province of Rio de Janeiro

Website: http://www.carmelitas.org.br

Provincial Office:

Convento do Carmo
Rua Martiniano de Carvalho, 114
Bela Vista
01321-000 SÃO PAULO, SP
Tel. 11-31464500
Fax 11-32856079 (provincialato)
Fax 11-3251.1170 (admin.)

The Irish Carmelite, Fr. Michael Moore, while on a visit to New York City in 1887, received from Fr. James McMahon the promise of an endowed foundation at a specified location in that city. Archbishop Michael Corrigan considered the area designated to have enough churches for its population. When efforts to change the Archbishop's mind failed, the Irish Provincial, Fr. John Bartley, came to see Mgr. Corrigan. Refusing to change his position on the endowment, Archbishop Corrigan offered Bartley a new parish to be separated from St. Stephen's and to include the care of Bellevue Hospital. Fr. Bartley returned to New York City in March, 1889 with three other Carmelites to begin the parish of Our Lady of the Scapular on East 28th Street.

Foundations followed in Tarrytown, NY (1896), Middletown, NY parish (1912), which included missions in surrounding communities, St. Albert's Priory, Middletown, NY, and the Bronx, NY (1920). These houses pertaining to the Irish Province were erected into a Commissariat in 1922 and became a Province in 1931. The Tarrytown community has provided professors to Marymount College, notable among them the former Prior General, Fr. Kilian Lynch. The Province has also lent assistance to the Irish mission in Zimbabwe and was closely associated with the beginnings of the Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirm. Members of this Province also founded the Carmelite Hermitage in Bolivar, PA, United States.

Further foundations were made at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Middletown, NY, serving as a Carmelite Spirituality Retreat Centre; parishes in Troy, NY (1970), Brooklyn, NY (1982), and Boca Raton, FL (1994). The Province has houses of formation in Middletown, Tappan, and residences in Bloomingburg, NY, Rochester and Scarborough. The Province has the responsibility of forming new Carmelite candidates in Trinidad and Vietnam.

At present the Province of St. Elias has about 80 religious working in North America, France, Trinidad and Tobago, and Vietnam.

For further information: Province of St. Elias, North America

website: http://carmelites.com

Provincial office:

Office of the Prior Provincial
P.O. Box 3079, 68 Carmelite Drive
MIDDLETOWN, NY 10940 - 0890
Tel. 845-3442223
Fax 845-3442210

In 1996 the Province of The Netherlands celebrated its first centenary. This may seem strange, since the Order had houses in that country for centuries, but they formed part of the Lower German Province. After the northern Protestant Provinces of The Netherlands declared themselves independent of Spain (1581) the Carmelite houses there ceased to exist. In 1652 a foundation was made at Boxmeer in the Catholic enclave of the Counts van den Bergh by the noted Carmelite, Daniel of the Virgin Mary. The house thus belonged to the Flemish Province.

Boxmeer survived the suppression of the Flemish Province under Napoleon but was not allowed to accept novices. When this ban was lifted in 1840, only three old friars remained. The community not only was soon reconstituted but in 1855 founded Zenderen. The two houses with Straubing became the Germano-Holland Province in 1879. On the feast of the Immaculate Conception, 1896, the General Council of the Order established the Province of the Netherlands.

In the course of time the Province of the Netherlands became one of the largest and most flourishing in the Carmelite Order. It has distinguished itself especially in promoting the spread of the Order. From 1904 it assisted in the restoration of the Rio de Janeiro Province (Brazil). In 1923 it began a mission in present Indonesia which has since become a Province. In 1924 it repossessed the convent of Mainz and revived its mother Province of Lower Germany. Since 1958 it has been active in the Philippines, which turned to be a general commissariate.

At present the Province has about 90 religious working in of the Netherlands, Brazil and Indonesia.

For further information: Province of the Netherlands

Website: http://www.karmel.nl

Provincial office:

Karmel
Rembrandtlaan 25
7606 GH  ALMELO
Tel. 0546-536410
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from January 2013 the two Provinces of Germany merged into one province called German Province click here to know more about the German Province

In the earliest extant Constitutions of the Carmelite Order the German Province ranks eighth of ten Provinces. By 1294 it had been divided, probably only recently, into Lower and Upper Germany. In the first half of the 14th century this division was several times rescinded and renewed and became definite in 1348.

The Upper German Province extended over a vast territory comprising not only Eastern Germany but Bohemia (Czech Rep.), Austria, Hungary and Poland. This unmanageable mass was reduced in 1411 when the Province of Bohemia was constituted from the convents in Bohemia, Poland, Prussia, Hungary, Saxony and Thuringia. However, the Hussite wars disturbed this arrangement. In 1440 the houses remaining in Bohemia and those in Poland and Hungary reverted to the Province of Upper Germany. The houses in Saxony also became a separate Province. In 1462 the Province of Poland and Bohemia was reconstituted.

Of the two German Provinces Upper Germany suffered the most from the Protestant Reformation. Fourteen of its twenty-six convents were lost; the four Hungarian convents fell victim to the Turks after the battle of Mohacs (1526). The suppression of religious Orders by Napoleon in 1803 left only the house of Straubing, where the surviving religious were allowed to remain as long as they lived. Only Peter Heitzer remained when King Louis I of Bavaria in 1841 permitted the convent to be re-opened. From this single vocation the Province gradually revived and was again constituted in 1922. In 1951 the Province undertook an apostolate in Paranà, Brazil. This Province is also responsible for the Indian foundation which has seven convents founded during these last 20 years.

In XVI-XVII centuries, religious life for women developed forms which set them apart from the traditional framework of canonical reference, and undertook ventures and structures which were suited to the apostolate in accordance with local needs. At first tolerated, these forms of religious life for women gradually received canonical recognition.