Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - The Pontifical Mission Societies (PMS) “rising spontaneously from the People of God as private apostolic initiatives of the laity, they transformed adherence of the faithful to Christ into a lived and shared missionary responsibility. Becoming part of the various local Churches the Societies subsequently assumed a supra-national character and were eventually recognised as pontifical and placed in direct relationship with the Holy See” (Statute, 10). Although the Pontifical Mission Societies are four, founded at different times by different people, they form one institution and have the same principal aim: promote a spirit of universal mission among the People of God.
The Pontifical Society for the Propagation of the Faith was born of the charisma of a young French woman Pauline Marie Jaricot (1799-1862) who lived in Lyons. In 1816, at the age of 17, she left her comfortable family life and founded a spiritual association with young women workers at her father’s factory. Two years later the group decided to focus on prayer and animation for the missions making a small weekly offering "to help spread the Gospel". The aim of the Society is to help the People of God grow in awareness of their world wide missionary vocation and to form Catholics able to combine total docility to the Holy Spirit with universal apostolic commitment. It is also concerned for the specific preparation of mission animators in the local Churches to enable the latter participate more actively in the universal mission. The Society also promotes missionary formation of youth and the missionary dimension of the family. A wonderful and well known fruit of this Society is World Mission Sunday, celebrated every year on the penultimate Sunday in October.
The aim of the Pontifical Society St Peter Apostle, founded in Caen (France) in 1889 by mademoiselle Jeanne Bigard (1859-1934) and her mother Stephanie, is to increase awareness of the importance of the apostolic character of mission and the necessity for every Church to form in local spiritual and cultural contexts its own religious personnel in particular ordained ministers. The support offered by the Society is not only financial, it is also rooted in prayer and in life inspired by the faith.
The Pontifical Mission Society of Holy Childhood was born of the charisma of Bishop Charles Auguste Marie de Forbin-Janson (1785-1844) of Nancy, (France) who gave a missionary dimension to devotion to the Child Jesus. On 19 May 1843 the Society was officially formed with the goal of helping Catholic children assist children. The Society also denounces and condemns the causes of many kinds of abuse of children and helps support aid projects in close contact with the local Churches and working with families, parishes and schools.
The Pontifical Missionary Union, initially the Missionary Union of the Clergy, has the specific goal of evangelising the world by means of direct commitment of those who have received the missionary mandate from Christ like the apostles. The Union was founded by Blessed Paolo Manna (1872-1952) a missionary in Burma forced by bad health to return to Italy where he used his talent for writing to spread the idea that missionary activity is a duty for all Christians and for all consecrated persons. The principal duty of the Union is to increase apostolic zeal among seminarians, priests and men and women religious and through them, the whole people of God. The Union also works to foster missionary vocations and ensure a better distribution of clergy promoting cooperation among Churches. (S.L.) (Agenzia Fides 3/5/2006 - Righe 42; Parole 570)
