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Saint Joseph Calasanz
Image: Francisco Jover y Casanova · Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Saint Joseph Calasanz

An Aragonese priest who opened Rome's first free school and founded the Piarists

Rank
Saint
Kind
Priest, Founder
Life
1557 – 1648
Era
17th century
Feast
25 August
Countries
Spain, Italy
SpainItaly

Life story

Joseph Calasanz was born in 1557 at Peralta de la Sal in Aragon, Spain. He studied law and theology at Lleida, Valencia and Alcalá and was ordained a priest in 1583. He held the important office of vicar general of the diocese of Urgell, but in 1592 he left Spain for Rome, partly to look for a new way of serving.

In Rome he saw that many poor children had no schooling. In 1597, with a few collaborators, he opened a free school for them in Trastevere, often counted among the first free public schools in Europe. Pupils multiplied quickly, and the teachers taught basic subjects such as reading, writing, arithmetic and catechism. From this group he founded the Order of the Pious Schools, the Piarists, recognised as a congregation of simple vows in 1617 and as a full religious order in 1621.

In later years the order met serious internal difficulties. One of its members, Father Mario Sozzi, caused much trouble, and in 1646 Pope Innocent X reduced the order to a congregation without its former privileges and removed Calasanz from the office of superior general. He accepted the decision and died on 25 August 1648 in Rome, at nearly ninety-one.

The order was fully restored under Pope Clement IX in 1669. Joseph was beatified in 1748 and canonised in 1767 under Pope Clement XIII. In 1948 Pope Pius XII declared him patron of all popular Christian schools.

Works and witness

  • Ordained in 1583 and served as vicar general of Urgell
  • Reached Rome in 1592 and opened a free school for the poor in 1597
  • Founded the Order of the Pious Schools (Piarists), approved as an order in 1621
  • Accepted the order's demotion in 1646 in obedience
  • Canonised in 1767

Patron of

Popular Christian schools

Saints from the same country

Saint Dominic, Saint Ignatius of Loyola, Saint Teresa of Ávila, Saint Francis Xavier

References

  • Martyrologium Romanum
  • Dicastery for the Causes of Saints – biographical profile
  • Joseph Calasanz, Constitutiones Scholarum Piarum

Written by Anawim from documented history. Some details about ancient saints rest on tradition and are marked as such.