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A Message From The National Director
A sacred trust. That‘s how I view my trip to Rome, Italy, each spring for the annual meeting of national directors of the Pontifical Mission Societies. Just two weeks ago, I spent time with those directors from all over the world, including the Missions of Africa and Asia.
Each of us had journeyed to Rome conscious of the generosity of donors back home. We were to review the great mission needs and to match the greatest of these with the support available because of your generous missionary spirit and the same spirit from Catholics worldwide. With every request for help was an inspiring story of the growth of faith in the Developing World. Of particular note, for me, was the distributions made to seminaries in Africa and Asia.
 To a few, we provided help to purchase a tractor, so that students could work on seminary farms to grow food for their own sustenance and to sell locally in support of their seminary studies. For other seminaries, we brought cows and pigs for these same reasons. This financial assistance is in addition to the per student support — some $700 annually — that we provide, through your generous offerings, to more than 30,000 major seminarians worldwide. And Catholics in the Missions also provide help, as seminary rectors and local bishops appeal to them to be part of the Church’s missionary outreach, working toward self-sufficiency.
The examples of the help you have offered through the Pontifical Mission Societies fills pages and pages. With every distribution we made, I offered a prayer for you, ever grateful for your trust and for the missionary spirit that compels you to be part of the continuing Pentecost story. There was a prayer too for all in the Missions who await the “Good News” of Jesus and for those who bring that message and His love.
Rev. Msgr. John E. Kozar National Director
Pontifical Mission Societies in the United States
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