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.