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| Frequently Asked Questions |
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| What are the Pontifical Mission Societies? |
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| The Pontifical Mission Societies consist of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, the Holy Childhood Association, the Society of St. Peter Apostle and the Missionary Union of Priests and Religious. |
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| What do these organizations do? |
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| The Pontifical Mission Societies have, as their primary purpose, the promotion of a universal missionary spirit — a spirit of prayer and sacrifice — among all baptized Catholics. The first three Societies, in carrying out that goal, invite baptized Catholics to express their missionary commitment by offering their prayers, personal sacrifices and financial support for the work of the Church in the Missions. The Missionary Union of Priests and Religious works to deepen mission awareness among priests, men and women Religious, catechists, and educators so that they are fully prepared to take on the mission formation of the faithful. |
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| What does the term “pontifical” mean? |
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| The four Societies each received the title “pontifical” in 1922 to indicate their status as official instruments of the Holy Father and of the Universal Roman Catholic Church. |
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| Where are the Pontifical Mission Societies located? |
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National offices exist in more than 120 countries around the world including the United States. Central administrative offices are located in Rome, Italy, under the direction of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples. Cardinal Ivan Dias is the Prefect of the Congregation.
The mailing address for The Pontifical Mission Societies in Brigeport is The Catholic Center, 238 Jewett Avenue, Bridgeport, CT 06606-2892. |
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| What makes the Pontifical Mission Societies unique from other mission organizations? |
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| According to the teaching of Vatican Council II, the Pontifical Mission Societies are institutions of the Universal Church and of each local church. Therefore, unlike any other mission organization, the Pontifical Mission Societies are both Pontifical and Episcopal in nature. And, as such, the Pontifical Mission Societies are recognized as the principal instrument for educating the faithful to an awareness of the Church’s universal mission and for encouraging their support, in prayer and sacrifice, for the evangelizing mission of the Church among two-thirds of the human family. |
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| What is the Holy Childhood Association? |
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| The Holy Childhood Association (HCA) is one of four Pontifical Mission Societies active in some 110 countries throughout the world. Founded in France in 1843 by Bishop Charles de Forbin-Janson, HCA helps to animate the young faithful to a universal missionary spirit and to gather support from these children for the service of the local churches of Africa, Asia, remote regions of Latin America and the Pacific Islands among the poorest of the world's children. |
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| How can I help the Missions of the world through the Pontifical Mission Societies? |
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| All baptized Catholics have the opportunity to participate in the worldwide mission of the Church by offering their prayers, personal sacrifices or financial contributions to the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, the Holy Childhood Association or the Society for St. Peter Apostle. The Missionary Union of Priests and Religious is a spiritual apostolate for Priests, Religious men and women, catechists and lay people. Each year, the celebration of World Mission Sunday provides an opportunity, within the context of the Eucharist, for Catholics to express their prayerful and financial support of the Church’s worldwide missionary work and the Society for the Propagation of the Faith in particular. |
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| What is World Mission Sunday? |
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| World Mission Sunday is a day set aside for Catholics worldwide to recommit themselves to the Church's missionary activity through prayer and sacrifice. Annually, World Mission Sunday is celebrated on the next-to-last Sunday in October. Offerings from Catholics in the United States, on World Mission Sunday and throughout the year, are combined with offerings from Catholics around the globe and distributed to mission dioceses — about 1,100 at this time. |
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| Our parish has a special relationship with another parish in the Developing World. I help to support this relationship through financial contributions and volunteer work. Do I still need to support the work of the Pontifical Mission Societies? |
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| Forms of direct cooperation between churches, also called “twinning” can be of great benefit to a parish in the Developing World and provide parishioners of the “sister” church in the United States with great spiritual fulfillment. This one-on-one relationship works best to the degree that it broadens the vision of Catholics here to see the universal needs of the mission Church. Care should be taken not to limit one’s range of action to one objective so as to safeguard the principal of universal equity in the distribution of funds. |
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| A priest from India just visited my parish. During his homily, he asked for help for his diocese. Does the money I offer during this special collection get sent to the Pontifical Mission Societies? |
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From time to time pastors accept the requests of mission priests and invite them to speak on certain occasions in their parishes. This generosity on the part of pastors is to be applauded because of their great missionary spirit. Of course, the collection taken up on that occasion is given to the priest who made the appeal. However, we must not confuse the visits of missionary priests who have been invited by pastors of a particular parish with the general effort of the Pontifical Mission Societies to help different Dioceses, Archdioceses, and religious Congregations, which takes place on "Cooperative Mission Sunday" each year.
The Diocesan Office for the Propagation of the Faith in Bridgeport, Connecticut assigns the third weekend of July each year for the "Cooperative Mission Plan" ( CMP ). In the course of the year our office receives requests from different Missionary Archdioceses, Dioceses, and Religious Congregations of men and women asking to be included in the collection that is taken up during this campaign. We are delighted to assign priests and sisters from the missions to parishes in our Diocese at that time because it gives our faithful the opportunity to see that the Church is indeed "Universal" and also gives them the opportunity to lend a helping hand to the specific works being done to spread the faith in those particular mission posts. All of the donations gathered on that weekend in July are distributed equitably among the mission representatives who participated.
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| How are my donations distributed to the Missions? |
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To answer this question, it will be necessary to explain the different Mission collections that are taken up during the Year By the Society for the Propagation of the Faith .
Many have expressed confusion about the varied collections taken up for the benefit of the Church’s missions. Without an explanation, it is certainly understandable.
Each collection has a different purpose:
At the beginning of each year, usually in January, there is a Collection taken up for the Latin American Missions. As the name implies, the donations which are received through the generosity of the faithful, are distributed among the Archdioceses, Dioceses and Religious Congregations doing apostolic work in the countries of South America, and Central America , and the Caribbean.
During the third weekend of the month of July the Diocese of Bridgeport asks the faithful ( through the Cooperative Mission Appeal ) to help the different specific Archdioceses, Dioceses, and Religious Congregations of men and Women working on the continents of Asia and Africa by inviting representatives of these missions to speak in the parishes of Fairfield County. These funds are distributed equitably to these missionaries whose Archdioceses, Dioceses and
Congregations according to the total amount received from the faithful.
In October, the whole Church is asked to cooperate with the Apostolic Missionary work in all the poorer countries on World Mission Sunday. These funds are channeled to the Holy Father in Rome so that he might distribute them through a committee set up for that very reason in Rome.
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| I would like to serve as a lay missionary. What should I do? |
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| There are a number of local and national organizations that help “connect” lay Catholics to mission opportunities in the United States and abroad. Contact your diocesan mission office for more information or contact the Catholic Network of Volunteer Service (CNVS). Catholic Network of Volunteer Service promotes opportunities for men and women of all backgrounds and skills to respond to the Gospel through domestic and international volunteer service to people in need. CNVS connects volunteers and missioners with more than 200 faith-based programs offering more than 10,000 full-time volunteer placements throughout the U.S. and in over 115 countries. |
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| How do I find out more about the Pontifical Mission Societies? |
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| Call, write or e-mail the Pontifical Mission Societies in Bridegport: |
Rev. Frederick L. Saviano, Diocesan Director
Pontifical Mission Societies
The Catholic Center
238 Jewett Avenue
Bridgeport, CT 06606-2892
Phone (203) 416-1447
Fax (203) 416-1490
e-mail: frsaviano@diobpt.org
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