Pontifical Society of the Propagation of the Faith

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.