Pontifical Mission Societies Office

Go into all the world and tell the Good News

Society for the Propagation of Faith: Founded in 1822 by Pauline Jaricot, a 19 year old woman, in Lyons, France.  Pauline gathered together other young women, all of whom worked in the factories of France.  They would pray for the missions and missionaries.  Their motto became “a sou a week”, or the equivalent of a penny.  These funds were to be sent to the missionaries for their needs and support.  Their first appreciable collection came to some $4,000 which was divided three ways, a third each to China, Louisiana and Kentucky.  Since 1928 it has been set up progressively in mission countries, too, and at present exists in 85 countries.

Pontifical status was granted to the Society on May 3, 1922 and its central administration was transferred to Rome.  It thus became the Church’s official organization for mission aid.  The Propagation of the Faith raises funds to help the 1,100 dioceses throughout the world which are not able to be self-supporting.  It also challenges young people to go to these dioceses as lay missionaries, sisters, priests and brothers.  This society is supported by high school and college students, and adults from all walks of life.

Holy Childhood Association: Founded in 1843 by Bishop Charles De Forbin-Jansen of Nancy, France.  It is an organization of children helping children.  This quickly spread throughout France to other European countries and to America.  Recently it has been set up also in several mission countries and is today organized in over 70 countries.  It was given Pontifical status on May 3, 1922.  This society aims to awaken in children an awareness of the needs of other children throughout the world.  Children are brought to an appreciation of their gift of faith, and are encouraged to pray and offer financial help for children in the developing world.

Society of Saint Peter Apostle: Founded by Stephanie Bigard and her daughter Jeanne, in France.  It is based on awareness of the world-wide need of priests and religious, and the particular need of the poorer dioceses to be able to support their own people in pursuing these vocations.  Every year, in many parts of Asia and Africa , bishops are forced to deny too many young men admission to seminaries because they cannot afford to train and support them.  Although originally founded for the support of priests and seminarians, this society was later expanded to include religious Brothers and Sisters and lay catechists in the mission areas.  It enables people to be trained for and supported in assuming positions within the Church and often within the wider community of their own countries.  This society was also given Pontifical status.

The Pontifical Missionary Union: Founded in Italy in 1916 by Father Paolo Manna, receiving papal approval from its very beginning and is now organized in more than 50 countries.  Originally founded as an association of priests, its scope was enlarged on July 14, 1949 to include religious men and women and all those engaged in the pastoral ministry of the Church.  Missionary formation and responsibility are fundamental so that every Christian community and every member of it may feel he or she is really participating in the Church’s universal mission and is involved there in accordance with his/her vocation.

Each year monies are collected from individual donations people make; and through the efforts of children and young people in grade and high schools. This money is kept here in the United States. Each year requests for funds are sent to Rome, from the Bishops around the world, for the needs of their particular areas. These requests are directed to the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, whose function it is to oversee the mission areas of the world and their needs.

The requests are then compiled and copies are sent to the National Directors of the Pontifical Mission Societies all around the world, who are asked to study them. In May of each year about 90 of these directors meet in Rome and after careful discussion, decide which requests can be fulfilled. The decisions depend on the monies available and the relative necessities in each area of the world. The national directors from the different countries, proportion the funds from their respective countries.

All monies available are distributed. There is no big amount left in the banks for a rainy day! The national directors meet again in November to disburse any funds that may have accumulated since May, honoring some of the requests that could not be fulfilled at that time.

As you can see this is a very equitable manner of distributing what is known as the General Fund. Having representatives from the different countries present at this meeting allows these representatives to speak about their needs right there, and come to decisions in a way that a select group without knowledge of the particular situations could never otherwise do.

The Catholics of our country contributed over substantially to the General Fund of the Propagation of the Faith and to the Society for St. Peter the Apostle.

Monies are used:

For basic bread and shelter and support of those who carry on the work of the Church in the mission areas of the world, usually a grant of $30,000 – $50,000 per local Church

For daily pastoral care of Catholics and for outreach programs to others
For chapels, churches and parish centers

For local communities of Sisters and Brothers who serve as teachers, nurses, social workers, leaders of faith communities

For the social and lay apostolate: for the spiritual development of lay leaders and support of self-help projects

For the communications apostolate through which people hear the Gospel message by radio, television, print and film

For schools

For transportation and relief

For the work of Bishops’ Conferences

For the education of mission seminarians

For the missionary activity of the Eastern Rite churches

For pastoral work of the Church in Latin America

There are only two collections taken up in a parish for the Pontifical Mission Office:

1.  World Mission Sunday (always the next to the last Sunday in October)
2.  Missionary Cooperation Speaker or visit by the Diocesan Director or representative of the Pontifical Mission Office to speak about membership in the Society of the Propagation of the Faith

Faithful Friends to the Poor
Sharon Warunek

“A faithful friend is a sturdy shelter and he who finds one, finds a treasure.”
Proverbs

Prayer and concrete support for missions are seen as an integral part of every Christian’s life, Pope Benedict has said. Sharing involves the faithful of all communities in providing for the needs of our brothers and sisters in mission lands.

The goal of the Propagation of the Faith is to awaken interest and responsibility for the universal evangelization among families, Christian communities, parishes and teaching centers.

Christ makes people’s hearts ring with the decisive “come and follow Me.”  How and when is this being accomplished in our Diocese? Simply by the generous outpouring of love and concern each and every person in our diocese displays when a Missionary visits one of our parishes and speaks about his homeland.

We receive letters from missionaries thanking our Diocese for the gift of our friendship and love. A letter from Father Paul Gaggawala touched my heart because I visited Africa many years ago and can only imagine what it must be like for our African brothers and sisters.

Dear Friends,

“Thank you so much for your prayers and support for the missions. I have just returned from visiting our missions in East Africa where I spent the whole month of February.  Our Seminarians, Missionaries and the people they serve, send you their love, prayers and deep gratitude for your love and sacrifices that have become great blessings and have made a big difference in their lives. Your care and solidarity has brought smiles on many faces in missions.

I have a lot to share with you from my visit but I will center on the frightening reality of drought and how it has impacted the most vulnerable of society…that is the children in East Africa .

You have seen it on TV and read about the long drought that has gripped East Africa . I saw it and lived through it for a month. What truly breaks ones heart is to see how it has impacted human lives. And the most affected of all are the children, particularly the orphans, who lost their parents to HIV at an early age, putting them at great risk of poverty, disease, hunger, homelessness and life in very miserable circumstances. I don’t want to sound overly dramatic but there is no other way to put it. Yes, they have no parents, no families no education, not enough food, no clean water…they are trying desperately to survive.”

Father goes on to say “evangelization goes on in spite of the situation, because our missionaries know that proclaiming the Gospel is to reveal our inalienable dignity; and that none should live in sub-human social, economic, cultural and political conditions.  We assist the needy children, not only to survive the drought, but to break free of the chain of poverty, by giving them an education and better living conditions.

St. John Chrysostom tells us that “Almsgiving is the mother of love, of that love which is characteristic of Christianity.” Indeed, giving is more about the heart than it is about the pocketbook.”

Another inspiring letter received in our office came from Father Damian Milliken serving in Lushoto, Tanzania. He begins by saying “We all stop and think of new beginnings and take stock to see what has been accomplished, where we have been and what our direction for the future is. He says the generosity of the people of the Diocese of Scranton helped create, Mazinde Juua, a functioning secondary school vital to the growth of young women of Tanzania . Their development, both material and moral points the way to success. We are on the way.  It is not a dream. It is happening now due to you.  Let us work together to bring it to fruition. The enrollment at the school is at 500 students and parents are begging us to enlarge. Parents obviously see that we have something of value to offer.”

Father stated “when we started our first class of 40 there was an undercurrent of cynicism about such a school for local village children. Teachers from the local primary school chided me for filling the school with “waste-basket children”. Ironically, now that the school is succeeding and the children are performing with top academic honors, the critics say Mazinde Juu caters to the “elite” and neglects the poor! My reply is simply:  we don’t select the elite; rather, we take in the poor and neglected and create the elite.”

I think the last line in Father Gagawala’s letter says it all “giving is more about the heart than it is about the pocketbook.” After 20 years in the office for the Pontifical Mission Societies, I can sincerely say, the people of the Diocese of Scranton are a faithful friend and a treasure to all missionaries and to all in need of help.