History

In 19th century France, the Church emerged from the severe persecution of the French Revolution. During the Napoleonic period (1804-1815), the Missions Etrangères de Paris (MEP) – Foreign Missions of Paris – managed to send only two missionaries to the Far East. It was in these circumstances that the charisma of the Spirit was placed on a young woman from Lyons, Pauline Marie Jaricot, who, after a comfortable life, rediscovers the authenticity of faith in Christ and dedicates herself wholeheartedly to this charisma. In 1816 Pauline took a vow of chastity and rediscovered the reasons for her life in the devotion to the Eucharist and in the reparation of the offenses against the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

She established a union of prayer among pious servant girls, the members of which were known as the «Réparatrices». Thus a group action with 10 people was born, each of whom is committed to finding ten other people who pray weekly and donate a penny for the Missions. The idea inflames hearts and the project spreads like wildfire: this led to the official founding of the "Association of the Propagation of the Faith" on May 3, 1822.

In confirmation of her missionary spirit and service to the universal Church, on May 3, 1922 Pius XI, with the Motu Proprio Romanorum Pontificum, declared the Society of the Propagation of the Faith «Pontifical» (POPF).

Mission

The Society of the Propagation of the Faith aims to open the heart of every believer to the vastness of the missionary horizon, through spiritual and material support for the proclamation of the Kingdom of God.

Through a constant and energetic commitment to missionary formation and animation, it promotes:

• missionary spirituality which, through prayer and sacrifice, helps to revive the missionary ardor of Christian communities and individual faithful, through meditation on the Word of God, Eucharistic Adoration and the missionary Rosary.
• Universal solidarity through the contribution to the Universal Solidarity Fund for the Evangelization of the world, especially on World Mission Day which is celebrated on the penultimate Sunday of October, an event of participation of the people of God in the catholicity of the Church.

The POPF International Secretariat has the task of urging the local Churches to open up to universal missionary cooperation and to distribute, in the name of the Pope, what is collected throughout the world during World Mission Day, highlighting in this gesture the dictates of the II Vatican Council, which exhorted every believer to personally enter into the missionary dynamism of the whole Church.

History

The PMU, PONTIFICAL MISSIONARY UNION, was created on 31 October, 1916, an inspiration of Blessed Paolo Manna, PIME missionary, with the aim of animating and forming the faithful baptized in their missionary responsibility through the pastoral service of the bishops and priests according to the motto “All the Church for all the world”. Initially called “Missionary Union of the Clergy,” it was conferred by Pius XII the title of “Pontifical” by a decree of 28 October 1956. Since being given its original identity of service to the faith and the mission of all baptized by Saint Paul VI in 1966 with the Apostolic Letter “Graves et increscentes,” it follows a new way of working of missionary formation of the entire People of God. The year 2016 saw the start of a work of listening, study and discernment in order to understand and serve the local needs of permanent formation for the faith and evangelization of the particular Churches, in particular for those linked to the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples (CEP), in their various ecclesial subjects (lay faithful, families, the young, catechists, bishops, priests, deacons, men and women religious with particular attention to religious communities which are locally founded and of diocesan law). The CIAM, INTERNATIONAL CENTER OF MISSIONARY ANIMATION, was created on 31 May 1974 in the wake of the Bishops’ Synod, the outcome of which was marked by the Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Nuntiandi, by Cardinal Angelo Rossi, Prefect to the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.

Mission

In the light of the only mission of Jesus Christ, delivered to the Church through the Holy Spirit, the formation commitments of the mission are called to a creative involvement of the faith, prayer, testimony and charity of every Christian. It is about living and educating ourselves to the only ecclesial communion where the Universal Church, particular Churches, Churches of recent foundation, fruit of the missionary work of the last centuries, missionary and consecrated life institutes, ecclesial movements and new communities of Christian life can serve the salvation of all, the transmission of faith and the transformation of the world to dialogue with the conscience and freedom of everyone, with the people, their cultures and religions.

The universal opening of the faith in a permanent state of mission interests, however, all the Christians of the whole world, beginning with our own necessity for the evangelization of every local Church. By permanent formation we intend all that concerns the growth, development, purification, solidity, maturation of the Christian faith, meant as the personal encounter with Jesus Christ alive in his Church. The mission, in its paradigmatic origin of relationship of the Christian faith with the world, especially in its non-Christian dimension and absence of faith, represents the universal opening and ecclesial responsibility towards the fullness of the human dignity of everyone, as sons and daughters of God, their salvation from sin and death and the interest of Christian charity towards all humanity, called to be the family of God.

In line with the original charismatic intuition of the PMU and the reasons given for the creation of the CIAM, the formation of the mission of the Church (missio ad-inter gentes) and the missionary animation of the entire People of God on the basis of the various vocations of the baptized faithful, continue to be the reasons for their existence and the nature of their commitment. The PMU and CIAM (read more) are invited to propose a missionary formation together with the particular Churches that will stimulate them towards the necessity of taking responsibility for evangelization and testimony towards their people and their country and towards people and cultures afar. A formative service, while being useful to local pastoral needs, continues to stimulate, provoke and induce reflection, actions and commitments that take into serious consideration the mission relationship which exists between belonging to Jesus Christ and being sent into the world, thus opening to the universal dimensions of Christian life.

History

The history of the Missionary Works shows how support for the missions comes from the people of God and how God uses what is weak to confound the strong ( 1Cor 1,27-29).

The Work of St. Peter the Apostle (POSPA) was founded to support the indigenous clergy.

From the 16th to the 19th century, the Holy See repeatedly drew attention to the issue of indigenous clergy. Missionaries in every country were always convinced that their work would be incomplete without the formation of a local clergy, yet the realization of this reality always encountered various obstacles and difficulties. Above all, the missionaries' efforts were stifled in the bud by the lack of resources both for the establishment of seminaries and for the training of seminarians. To find a solution, the missionaries made anguished appeals to their benefactors in Europe.

It all began in the last two decades of the nineteenth century, when Bishop Jules- Alphonse Cousin , of the Paris Foreign Missions, Apostolic Vicar of Southern Japan from 1855, then Bishop of Nagasaki from 1891, despite his conviction of the necessity of having Japanese priests for the resurrection of the local Church, found himself forced, due to a lack of resources, to painfully refuse and send home young men who showed clear signs of a priestly vocation. Directed by a benefactress, he addressed the Bigard ladies in a letter written on June 1, 1889 , which would be the starting point for the founding of the Work of Saint Peter the Apostle.

Mission

The Society of St. Peter the Apostle promotes awareness among Christian communities of the need to develop local clergy and consecrated life in recently founded missionary Churches.

It animates and coordinates missionary collaboration in all local Churches, through the offering of prayer, sacrifices, and almsgiving, to support the formation of future priests and religious men and women of the young Churches, and the necessary preparation of their formators.

It collects and distributes financial aid to support seminaries and novitiates, in collaboration with local Christian communities and under the guidance of their pastors.

The financial support of the Pontifical Society of St. Peter the Apostle is achieved through Ordinary Subsidies for the maintenance of seminarians and novices; Extraordinary Subsidies for the construction of new seminaries, for the rehabilitation and self-financing of existing ones; " Holy Mass Intentions " to support formators; and Scholarships for future formators. In this collaboration, the ultimate goal of POSPA, like that of all other Pontifical Societies, remains the spread of the Gospel and the advancement of the Kingdom of God.

Prayer: The children of the Missionary Childhood pray every day for the other children and for the spread of the Gospel message.

The Collection: This is the fruit of the missionary children's sacrifices and all those who want to give a better future to the children in the world. These “gifts” are collected by the National Directions present in the respective countries and sent to the Missionary Childhood Universal Solidarity Fund to be redistributed to millions of needy children in every corner of the world. Thanks to this aid, so many children can know Jesus and the Gospel, eat, study, have a roof over their heads where they can sleep, take care of themselves.

Missionary witness: Through their behaviour and their message, the missionary children are witnesses and an example for their peers and the whole community.

The Pontifical Association of the Holy Childhood is an excellent way of giving the children and adolescents the opportunity of sharing with others and of doing their part for the common good. It advocates a human and Christian education while offering the space for recreation and sharing based on Gospel values, all this through the activities of catechesis, formation, prayer, visits to the poor and the sick. The association offers a positive and fraternal approach towards others, in the light of the Christian faith, to inculcate closeness of the heart and prayer, knowledge and collaboration, and mutual help among the children of the world. The missionary education of children passes through the awareness of the conscience, which would lead to a spirituality and a will to stimulate, in a lasting sense, a change of lifestyle and a growing relationship with God and neighbor.

The universal horizon is at the base of every experience at the local level.

The support that a diocese and parish can give to the task of the Holy Childhood could be in the form of awareness of children toward becoming witnesses of God’s love toward everyone, beginning with their own surroundings, thinking of other children and praying for them.