Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Lyon (Fides Service) - The annual Assembly of the Pontifical Mission Societies closed on Friday 13th May, feast of Our Lady of Fatima with a solemn Mass presided by Archbishop Henryk Hoser, President of the Societies and Secretary adjunct of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples who thanked the 120 national directors from all over the world for the spirit of collaboration and communion lived during the meeting.
Fr Patrick Byrne SVD, Secretary General of the Pontifical Mission Society Holy Childhood, was the last of the four general secretaries to present his report on the past year’s activity to the PMS assembly. The fact that children are the ones who suffer most in the mission territories emerged continually during this week of discussion among the national directors. A desire to help the children of the world to learn about Jesus and to live a life of dignity was what inspired Bishop Auguste de Forbin-Janson of Nancy in 1843 to start Holy Childhood Mission Society through which he led children to help other less fortunate children with their prayers, sacrifices and little offerings.
In 2004 the Holy Childhood Society assigned funds to about 3,000 selected projects presented by bishops, parish priests, religious congregations and other Catholic institutions operating in mission territories. Catholic primary schools, the principal place for evangelisation in countries where Christians are a minority, received most of the funds assigned by Holy Childhood, either for building new schools, repairing and restructuring existing schools, or buying food and didactic material. In second place the Society supported projects pro-life: homes for orphans and abandoned children, street children, mother/child care. Thirdly it distributed funds in support of Christian formation: building of classrooms for catechism, publication of religious books, missionary animation among children.
Funds were assigned to continents as follows: Africa 52%, Asia 40%. Conspicuous aid was given to projects in aid of children in South America where the Society known as Missionary Childhood and Adolescence and in Oceania. From its emergency fund Holy Childhood sent aid to meet the needs of children suffering because of national disasters or sudden tragedies in Sudan, Uganda, Haiti, Peru, Iraq and Mongolia. (G.R.) (Agenzia Fides 14/5/2005, Righe:29, Parole:390)
