International Missionary Foundation

Missionary activity specifically directed “to the nations” (ad gentes) appears to be waning, and this tendency is certainly not in line with the directives of the Council and of subsequent statements of the Magisterium.

St. John Paul II

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Redemptoris Mission

IMF serves as a conduit between needs and resources, providing hope through well-designed programs and projects.

The International Missionary Foundation is a Catholic apostolate dedicated to serving the suffering Christ in the poor by fostering Parish2Parish relationships that are mutually beneficial between the united states and developing nations.

Apostolic Priority

The grace of renewal cannot grow in communities unless each of these extends the range of its charity to the ends of the earth and devotes the same care to those afar off as it does to those who are its own members

Decree on the Missionary Activity of the Church Ad

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Gentes, 37

The Need: Spiritual Poverty

The spiritual poverty of the Western World is much greater than the physical poverty of our people.

St. Teresa of Calcutta

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  • Seventy-one million of the seventy-seven million Catholics in America are disengaged
  • 6.4 percent of registered parishioners contribute 80% of the volunteer hours in a parish
  • Only 30% of Americans who were raised Catholic are still practicing

Dynamic Catholic Institute

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In so many of our societies, side by side with material prosperity, a spiritual desert is spreading; interior emptiness, unnamed fear, a quiet sense of despair.

Dynamic Catholic Institute

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The Need: Physical Poverty

How many poor people there still are in the world, what great suffering they have to endure!

Pope Francis

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  • Almost half of the world (over three billion people) live on less than $2.50 a day
  • Of the 1.9 billion children from the developing world:
    • 400 million have no access to safe water (1 in 5)
    • 270 million have no access to health services (1 in 7)
  • 22,000 children under the age of 5 die each day due to poverty, and they die quietly in some of the poorest villages on earth, far removed from scrutiny and the conscience of the world

UNICEF

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Parish Renewal

To prayerfully facilitate an atmosphere for parishioners to experience the grace of renewal, while embracing the call for the New Evangelization. “The Second Vatican Council invited all “to a profound interior renewal, so that having a lively awareness of their personal responsibility for the spreading of the Gospel, they may play their part in missionary work among the nations.” (Decree on the Missionary Activity of the Church Ad Gentes, 35)

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Parish2Parish Relationships

To actively engage Catholic parishes to be involved in Parish2Parish relationships that are mutually beneficial. “Cooperation between the churches, in an authentic reciprocity that prepares them both to give and to receive, is a source of enrichment for all of them and touches the various spheres of ecclesial life”. (St. John Paul II)

Serving Christ in the Poor

Inspired by the unmitigated love of the Sacred Heart of Jesus for humanity, we foster an opportunity to encounter and serve the suffering Christ in the poor. “Whatsoever you do to the least of my people, that you do unto me” (Matthew 25:40)

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Our Approach – What We Are Doing To Help

  • Foster the grace of spiritual renewal in parishes through our pre- and on-mission retreats as well as spiritual reflection based on St. John Paul II’s Encyclical on Redemptoris Misio.
  • Building Parish2Parish relationships that are mutually beneficial between parishes in the United States and the Developing Nations.
  • Organize and lead missions for Parish2Parish partners while preparing them to continue their mission relationship into the future.
  • Provide concrete opportunity through Parish2Parish relationships to assist and empower our suffering brothers and sisters in Developing Nations.
  • Create a platform through Parish2Parish relationships to invest in integral human development projects in Developing Nations over the course of one to three years of IMF accompaniment.
  • Work with mission volunteers to maximize their mission experience for personal spiritual growth and for parish post-mission evangelization.

Why Our Mission Is Unique Among Others

  • Parish Renewal – We facilitate an atmosphere and experience of spiritual renewal within the parish before, during and after the mission.
  • Staff Support – We assign IMF missionary staff to accompany the parish (coach, plan and lead retreat, and co-lead missions)
  • Parish Engagement – We actively engage parishes and parishioners in the United States to be involved in missions that are mutually beneficial parishes and parishioners in Developing Nations.
  • Customized Mission – We create customized Parish2Parish missions that are based on need and interest of parishes in the United States and Developing Nations

The particular churches in America are called to extend their missionary efforts beyond the bounds of this continent…it would be a mistake not to encourage an evangelizing effort beyond the continent with the excuse that there is still so much to in America

St. John Paul II

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