Stories from the Missions

The Society of St. Peter Apostle

The Vatican

The US Conference of Catholic Bishops

International Fides Service (Mission News)

Joy-filled and enthusiastic – ready for work.

That describes the 125 young men preparing for the priesthood at St. Thomas Aquinas Major Seminary in Nairobi, Kenya. And their job, they’ll tell you, is to make Christ present in all times, in all places. And they are doing that even now, as part of their formation. They visit local hospitals, to pray with the sick and dying. They spend time with the many orphans of HIV / AIDS in their African homeland, reminding these children that they have not been abandoned, that the Lord loves them. They help in parishes near the seminary. “Our work is now and will always be about every moment of every day,” explains one seminarian, Joshua, “about filling those moments with God’s love.”

Will you be with a young man in the Missions in this moment as he gets “ready for work” – as he prepares to be a priest among his own people? Mission seminarians receive about $700 in support each year – that’s just about $2 a day, $60 a month. Would you provide such help today, making a donation to the Society of St. Peter Apostle?

Offered one mission seminarian at St. Thomas Aquinas: “We remember you in prayer, with grateful, loving hearts.”

Stories from the Missions

To Bring People To Christ

A Mission to bring people to Christ.

That’s how young men preparing for the priesthood at the Missionary Seminary of St. Paul in Nigeria define their future as priests.

This seminary has received support from the Propagation of the Faith / St. Peter Apostle from the day it opened its doors in 1977. It was founded those three-plus decades ago as a dream of the now-deceased archbishop of Abuja in Nigeria, Cardinal Dominic Ekandem. He envisioned a seminary in his homeland that would neither be diocesan nor regional. Instead, it would educate priests who would serve the Church Universal.

Today more than 100 young men are receiving support for their studies at this major seminary. The first ordination took place in 1985, and more than 200 young men have been ordained since that time. In the first year after ordination, these new priests serve within their homeland of Nigeria; the next year, they are “sent” on mission – to any of 14 countries, including nine in Africa.

Offered one student, about his call to study at this particular seminary: “It’s our way of showing gratitude to the missionaries who helped us come to know Jesus. We are prepared to offer the same faithful witness to our Lord.”

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