Missionary Society of St Paul

 

The following is a short, chronological history of the Missionary Society of St Paul.

Click on the pictures to see the full-sized photos and description.

30 June, 1910

Joseph De Piro accepts the first two members for his new Missionary Society.

14 November, 1921

The local bishop officially approves the establishment of the Society.

18 March, 1924

The first rules of the Society are approved by Church authorities.

21 June, 1927

Br Joseph Caruana is the first Paulist to be sent to the missions. He was sent to Ethiopia (then known as Abyssinia), where he remained until his death in 1975, at the age of 83.

17 September, 1933

Mgr Joseph De Piro dies at the age of 55, leaving the Society in its infancy and struggling to survive.

14 April, 1948

Fr Michael Callus becomes the first Paulist priest to be appointed as Superior General of the Society.

2 August, 1948

Fr Augustine Grech is the first Paulist member to arrive in Australia.

January, 1959

The Society opens its first house in Ontario, Canada.

May, 1968

The first group of Paulist Missionaries arrives in Peru.

December, 1972

The MSSP goes to Michigan, USA.

19 January, 1973

The Missionary Society of St Paul becomes officially recognized by the Vatican as a Religious Order of Pontifical Status, under the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.

January, 1981

The Paulist Missionaries open a new mission in Faisalabad, Pakistan.

January, 1997

The MSSP starts discussions with the Church authorities in the Philippines to open a new mission there.

March, 1997

The Missionary Society of Saint Paul purchases a house in Rome, Italy. These premises will house the Central Administration of the Paulist Society.

8 May, 1998

The new Generalate for the MSSP is officially opened in Rome.

11 January, 1999

Fr Lonnie Borg arrives in the Philippines, to be the first Paulist Missionary in this new mission.

15 February, 1999

The MSSP returns to Canada! Frs Dominic Cachia (from Australia) and Mark Demanuele (from Malta) are the first Paulist Missionaries to minister at St Paul the Apostle Parish, Toronto

July, 2000

The MSSP holds its first General Chapter outside Malta, namely at St Paul's Missionary College, Australia.

25 January, 2003

The diocesan process of the cause for the beatification of Joseph De Piro comes to an end. All material is now passed on to the Sacred Congregation of Saints in Rome.

 

"I follow you wherever you go"