PMS PROFILE
Introduction
The Pontifical Mission Societies [PMS] owe their history to individual Christians, who urged on by Christ’s love for humanity and supported by prayer prioritized their dedication to mission. The individual societies rose spontaneously from the people of God, as private apostolic initiatives of the laity and priests. Each society transformed Christianity into a lived and shared missionary responsibility. The societies eventually became recognized as Pontifical and were placed in direct relationship with the Holy See.
Individual Societies and their Focus
The societies of PMS form one institution with four branches:
The Society of the Propagation of Faith encourages the faithful to pray and offer sacrifices for the missions. It forms the people of God so they become aware of their worldwide missionary vocation. It was founded in 1822 by a laywoman: Pauline Marie Jaricot in Lyon, France. It was made Pontifical in 1922 by Pope Pius XI. World Mission Sunday is PMS Propagation of Faith Day.
The Society of St. Peter the Apostle motivates Catholics to cooperate in supporting the formation for the priesthood and religious life by offering spiritual and material aid to the seminaries and novitiates. It was founded in 1859 by a laywoman: Jeanne Bigard. It was made Pontifical in 1922 by Pope Pius XI. Vocation Sunday is PMS St. Peter the Apostle Day.
The Society of the Holy Childhood awakens and fosters the missionary spirit in children, in order to lead them to offer spiritual and material sacrifices to other children in the world. It was founded in 1843 by Bishop Marie de Forbin Janson in France. It was made Pontifical in 1922 by Pope Pius XI. It celebrates the Epiphany of the Lord.
The Pontifical Missionary Union of the Clergy, Religious and Laity promotes missionary formation and awareness among the three tribes of the Family of God: priests, religious and laity. The Society was founded by Blessed Fr. Paolo Manna in 1916. It was made Pontifical in 1956 by Pope Benedict XV.
All the four societies have a common purpose of fostering a universal missionary spirit, as they promote awareness, prayer, sacrifice and fundraising to support the worldwide Catholic Mission. PMS has the right and duty to “make disciples of all nations” [Matthew 28:19].
PMS in Livingstone Diocese
PMS is God’s gift to the Universal Church, and the Church in Livingstone Diocese. The PMS strives to continue fostering the spiritual dimension of the societies as a concrete response to a spiritual inner journey manifested in evangelization, outside of the subsidies they provide to the diocese. One of the challenges we face is to help the priests, religious and faithful realize the spiritual vocation of the societies. In as much as we anticipate support from the PMS out of necessity, we need to feel the necessity of responding to this generosity by seeing our own possibility to participate in the greater purpose of the Church in its task of continued evangelization. The money that the PMS redistributes is a result of a personal spiritual process of ordinary lay people in other countries towards us, the receiver.
Every year, Livingstone Diocese celebrates the three PMS feasts in all Parishes. Animation material including the Papal messages, posters from the national PMS office and the locally applied message from the PMS Diocesan Director, are sent a month prior to the feasts. It is our responsibility to ensure that every Parish offers prayer and sacrifice and remits collections on these days.
How to Contact Us
The Diocesan PMS Office
Diocesan Pastoral Offices
Cnr Airport Rd & Likute Way
P.O. Box 60138
Livingstone.
Diocesan PMS Director: Fr. Imasiku Ngalama: 097 8 582 499 / 096 7 582 499; email: imangalama@yahoo.com
