Congregation of the Holy Ghost

The Holy Ghost Fathers are a Roman Catholic congregation of priests, the Congregation Sancti Spiritus ('Congregation of the Holy Spirit', or, in older terms, of the Holy Ghost). The congregation is known as the Spiritans on Continental Europe, and as the Holy Ghost Fathers in English-speaking countries. A Spiritan priest has the letters CSSp after his name.

The Spiritans were founded in Paris in 1703 by a wealthy young lawyer, Claude Poullart des Places, from Brittany. Having opted for the priesthood himself, he wanted to help young men who had a vocation to become priests but were too poor to do so. The community was formed in dedication to the Holy Spirit to minister to the poor and as chaplains in hospitals, prisons, and schools. The congregation soon developed a missionary side, and by 1765 the Holy See was entrusting it with direct control of African missionary territories. However, it was suppressed in 1792, following the French Revolution, but was re-established in 1802 under Napoleon. Meanwhile, Holy Ghost Fathers had become active in Ireland, particularly providing schools for Catholics deprived of education as a consequence of the Penal Laws. Later in the nineteenth century, Bismarck suppressed the congregation, and many German Spiritans went to America, where they established Pittsburgh Catholic High School, which would become Duquesne University, and also provided ministry and education to African-American parishes.

The Spiritans are active now in about forty-seven countries worldwide; they are often associated with schools and chaplaincy, and also with missionary work.