Society for the Propagation of the Faith

The Society for the Propagation of the Faith is one of the four Pontifical Mission Societies. Under the direction of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples (Rome, Italy) and the bishops, the Society for the Propagation of the Faith seek to foster an ever-deeper spirit of universal mission, to inform Catholics of the life and the needs of the Catholic Church in the Missions, and to encourage prayer and financial help for those mission churches.

The Society for the Propagation of the Faith was founded by a young French girl named Pauline Jaricot who wished to support the missions. Her plan was to form groups of ten persons into “circles”, each of which would organize another group of ten. These groups would be formed into units of one hundred and the hundreds into thousands, each with its own leader. Every member was expected to make a weekly offering and pray daily for the missions.

This became known as the Society for the Propagation of the Faith.The first collection, in 1822 was sent to the missions in China, Kentucky and the diocese of Louisiana, which included all of the territory from the Florida Keys to Canada.The United States continued to receive funds from the Pontifical Mission Societies until 1908, when we became mission independent.