Our History
Photo courtesy of the Archives of the Missionaries of Africa [White Fathers] at the Basilica of St Anne in Jerusalem.
1856
The Treaty of Paris signals the end of the Crimean War. France was recognised as a protectorate of the Christians of the Ottoman Empire.
1856
L’Œuvre des Écoles d’Orient was founded as an education charity by secular professors from Sorbonne University: the mathematician, Augustin Cauchy; the Hellenist, Charles Lenormant; the French politician and author, Alfred de Falloux; the historian, Charles de Montalembert; and the historian, later to be a Jesuit priest, Gustave François Xavier Delacroix de Ravignan. The charity was intended to support French-language schools in Lebanon.
1857
Father Charles Martial Lavigerie was appointed the first director of l’Œuvre des Écoles d’Orient. Later, he became Bishop of Nancy, then Archbishop of Algiers, and finally Cardinal and founder of The Society of the Missionaries of Africa (White Fathers).
1858
L’Œuvre des Écoles d’Orient was recognised as an ecclesiastical organisation by Pope Pius IX.
1860
The massacre in Lebanon of 20,000 Christians by the Druzes caused a public outcry in France. Father Lavigerie went to Lebanon immediately to set up hospitals and dispensaries and to show solidarity with the Eastern Christians. Through this act of service, he discovered his vocation as a missionary.
1883
Monsignor Félix Charmetant, a White Father, and a fervent defender of the Armenian cause, was director of l’Œuvre des Écoles d’Orient from 1883 until his death in 1921.
1931
L’Œuvre des Écoles d’Orient changed its name to l’Œuvre d’Orient (to be kept), and broadened its mission to include not only education but also the relief of poverty, healthcare and pastoral support, working in close collaboration with the Congregation for Eastern Churches.
2010
Monsignor Pascal Gollnisch was appointed the eleventh director of l’Œuvre d’Orient on the recommendation of the Archbishop of Paris.
2014
Monsignor Pascal Gollnisch was appointed vicar-general of the Ordinariate for Eastern (Rite) Catholics in France by Cardinal Vingt-Trois.
2016
The 160th anniversary of l’Œuvre d’Orient.
2017
L’Œuvre d’Orient created sister branches in Poland, Spain, Switzerland and Monaco.
2017
Fellowship and Aid to the Christians of the East (FACE) was set up as a sister branch of l’Œuvre d’Orient in the United Kingdom, with the encouragement and support of Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, President of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue.
2018
Fellowship and Aid to the Christians of the East (trading name: FACE) was registered with the Charity Commission of England and Wales as an incorporated charitable organisation, and John Fox was elected its first chairman.
2018
The Most Reverend Timothy Radcliffe, OP, former Master of the Dominican Order, was appointed Pastoral Advisor of FACE.
2019
His Eminence Cardinal Michael Louis Fitzgerald, M.Afr., former President of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, was appointed Patron of FACE and its principal advisor on interreligious relations.