Now through June, 2009 takes on added significance as the Church here in the United States marks the 100th Anniversary of a papal decree which removed the designation of “Mission territory” from the United States – it is 100 years that we are no longer dependent on the generosity of the Catholic priests, brothers, sisters and laity throughout Europe who responded to their baptismal call in supporting the Pontifical Mission Society for the Propagation of the Faith.

In fact, two-thirds of the very first collection of the Propagation of the Faith in 1822, was sent to the Church here – to Kentucky and the vast diocese of Louisiana, which then extended from the Florida Keys to Canada. Philadelphia, from the beginning, was one of the first recipients of help from the Society for the Propagation of the Faith.  Years of financial and staff assistance helped build thousands of parishes, schools, and hospitals in the United States.  The seeds of evangelization sown by these Missionaries of the past have become the seeds we sow in the mission lands of today.