The Congregation of the Sacred Stigmata was founded by St. Gaspar Bertoni

Gaspar Bertoni

Saint Gaspar Louis Bertoni is venerated as a saint by the Catholic Church. He was the founder of the Stigmatines.-External links:...

 in Verona

Verona

Verona ; German Bern, Dietrichsbern or Welschbern) is a city in the Veneto, northern Italy, with approx. 265,000 inhabitants and one of the seven chef-lieus of the region. It is the second largest city municipality in the region and the third of North-Eastern Italy. The metropolitan area of Verona...

, Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

, in 1816.

The first written Constitutions for the Congregation was based on the Constitutions of St. Ignatius Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus

Society of Jesus

The Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a...

.

The growth of the Community was slow, in 1905 Stigmatines went to the USA, and in 1910 they started activities in Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

.

For nearly two centuries, the Stigmatines worked in China, Thailand and the Philippines, various countries in Africa and Latin America.

In the year 2002, the Stigmatines settled in India.

Stigmatine Apostolates

• the instruction of the Youth
• the preaching of retreats and popular missions
• the assistance in Clergy formation