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Our Mission/Charism

ADCAPOSTLES OF DIVINE CHARITY (CHARITAN MISSIONARIES) ... Servingh the Poor and The Needy   ...
Specific Means of Fulfilling our Mission
Education

One of the primary means of fulfilling our mission is providing sound intellectual and moral education to the poor and the less-privileged. Even though our primary focus is the neglected poor and the less-privileged, our schools are open to everyone interested in receiving sound moral and academic training. We make scholarships available to eligible students. The scholarship eligibility is based on the student’s funding capacity. Please, refer to the Charitan Foundation for the Needy (CFN) for more information about our scholarship programs. You can learn more about the CFN at https://charitanmissionaries.org/cfn.html.

Healthcare Provision

Providing healthcare services to the people of God is also an integral means of fulfilling our mission. Health is one of the major problems facing the society today, especially those whose poor financial status would not permit access to fitting medical treatments. So, those poor ones who have no money to go to the hospital for treatment are welcomed to come to our hospitals and/or clinics at a reduced charge. In some cases, free treatments are also available to eligible patients. One’s eligibility, of course, depends on one’s financial status and one’s ability to foot the medical bills. Some of our missionaries receive medical and paramedical professional training necessary to carry out our health-related apostolate. But, we also employ non-members who have medical and paramedical professional knowledge necessary for our mission.

Youth Apostolate

We also have youth centers open to all youths within and outside the community in which we work. At the youth center, we organize various sportive activities for the benefit of the youth. Annually, we organize sportive tournaments among the youth for fun and recreation. We also have a summer camp annually which comprises of sports, academics, spirituals, craftsmanship, and handiworks. At our youth centers, youths are helped to discover their talents and gifts. Moreover, we also organize a leadership workshop at our youth centers for any interested youth and/or adult. Even though our focus at the youth center is the youth, everyone is always welcomed. The epicenter of our youth apostolate is the moral upbringing of the youth, especially the strayed and unattended ones.

Adult Education:

It is a common saying that illiteracy is a disease. We strive to provide some basic formal education to those adults who had no opportunity of attending a traditional institution of learning at their younger age. We are patient with them as learning at old age requires enormous effort on the part of both the instructor and the student. To be able to do this, our missionaries are seriously involved, but we also hire outsiders who are trained for adult education. The tuitions are made affordable to the students, but students who are not financially capable of paying the tuition, but are willing to learn, are never deprived of the opportunity, provided their financial capacity has been ascertained by our missionaries.

Parish Work:

We are also open to running as many parishes as assigned to us by the local ordinary. At the parish, we strive to be priests and servants for the people of God. In other words, the spiritual and the pastoral needs of the parishioners are our primary focuses. No one is denied of any sacramental benefit unless with a grave or cogent reason. There should be a daily Holy Mass at any parish run by the Charitan Missionaries, the time of which is to be decided by the priests in charge. Our parishes are structured to have a very strong religious education program where the people of God learn more about the Catholic faith. Practically, there is weekly bible study forum, marriage preparation program, Holy Communion preparation class, Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) program, Confirmation preparation class, and continuous faith education for all.
We encourage pious societies such as the Legion of Mary, Blue Army, Block Rosary, Sacred Heart of Jesus, Charismatic Renewal Movement, St. Jude’s Society, Altar Servers, St. Anthony’s society, Divine Mercy, etc. We also ensure that the four alms of the Church, including the Catholic Men Organization (CMO), the Catholic Women Organization (CWO) and the Catholic Youth Organization (CYO) are waxing strongly in our parishes. We equally have a Holy Hour with the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament and Benediction every Sunday evening, following the catechetical instructions. Finally, we do our possible best to see that the laity are participating strongly in the life of any parish run by the Charitan Missionaries.

Orphanages:

Ministering to the orphans and the vulnerable children occupies a very important place in our charism of promoting the love and mercy of God in our today’s world. We diligently discharge this responsibility by the means of running orphanage centers where we provide shelter, food, clothing, and sound education to the homeless, orphans and indigent children. This project requires that we build, at least, a dormitory where orphans and other beneficiaries of our mission are housed and cared for. We also make a reasonable effort to make provisions for the basic infrastructural amenities necessary for a comfortable living in our orphanage centers.

Home Visitations:

Through the home visitation, we are exposed to the needs of the community that we serve. By prudently interacting with the people, we stand a better chance of getting to know them and the pastoral needs they have. Moreover, interacting with the people we serve gives them the opportunity to feel loved. They are more responsive to the gospel message we bring them when they feel loved and cared for. While doing this home visitation, our missionaries should always remember that the work of charity is our identity, which means that we should never refrain from doing charity to people we work with. During the home visitation, the Charitan missionary may share the word of God or the Catholic faith to the visited, if the circumstance warrants that. We are creative in discerning the best means of making the visited feel very comfortable with our visit.

Caring for Retired Priests/Religious and Elderly People:
As promoters of charity among the people of God, the Charitan Missionaries always acknowledge the fact that old people are one of the most vulnerable groups of people in the society. As such, we extend our apostolate to priests who are retired or inactive due to their health conditions or other reasons, and older people in the locality where we work whose family members are not able to give the attention necessary for their well-being. Our missionaries are available to such aged people, including priests and religious, to enable them find the last years of their life more fulfilling than miserable. We build a home for them, train professional healthcare providers and hire people to take proper care of them, all to the glory of God.

Our Patron Saints and Feast Days:
  • Our Patron Saints/Models:

    • »Our Lord Jesus Christ
    • »Our Lady, Queen of the Apostles
    • »St. Joseph, the foster father of Jesus St.
    • »St. Elizabeth of Hungary
    • »St. Martin de Pores
    • »St. Theresa of Calcutta
    • »St. Vincent de Paul

  • Our Feast Days:

    Below is the list of the Charitan major events. They are to be faithfully observed and celebrated.

    Anniversary of our foundation:
    This is an annual event, and indeed, one of the biggest feasts of our society, which is very well planned. The “Anniversary of the foundation of the Apostles of Divine Charity (Charitan Missionaries) is commemorated on February 06, the Memorial of St. Paul Miki and Companion, Martyrs.

    Major Feasts of the Church:
    such as Christmas (the Birth of our Lord Jesus Christ), New Year (the feast of Mary Mother of God), Easter Sunday (the triumphant Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ), the Pentecost (Descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles), the feast of Ascension, the feast of Assumption, the feast of Immaculate Conception, the feasts of St. Joseph, St. Martin de Porres, St. Elizabeth of Hungary, St. Vincent de Paul, St. Theresa of Calcutta, etc.

    The Birthday/Memorial of our Sponsoring Bishop (December 26):

    In his honor, we commemorate the birthday of our Principal Bishop annually at our Mother House in Obala, Cameroon, on December 26. This feast can be celebrated elsewhere if our General Superior deems it necessary. People within and outside our foundation diocese are invited to celebrate the life of our Principal Bishop with us. Even if our Bishop has passed on to the Lord, this tradition is retained in memory of him while the birthday of the incumbent local ordinary of our foundation diocese is also celebrated.

    Note: For clarity sake, our Principal Bishop is the Diocesan Bishop from whom we received the official written canonical consent approving the erection of the Apostles of Divine Charity in his diocese. We are very answerable to him in all we do, and we are to stay closely connected with him.

    Founder’s Day (July 25):
    In his honor, we dedicate a day, known as the Founder’s Day, to our beloved Father Founder. Our Founder’s Day is celebrated annually on July 25, the birthday of our Father Founder. This is a special feast for all our Charitan family worldwide, which remains as long as our society survives. After the passing unto glory of our Father Founder, his memorial should still be commemorated on this day. Outsiders are invited to join us in honoring our beloved Father Founder.

Donate to Support ADC

In order to carry out our mission successfully, the Apostles of Divine Charity solicit the support of men and women of good will. This support can be done by adopting one or two of our seminarians, that is, by funding their education, seminary formation or training. Every year, we spend at least $2,000.00 on training each of our seminarians. One can also support us by making monetary donations towards our mission. We are appreciative of the support of our Benefactors and Benefactresses whose financial contributions have gone a very long may in carrying out our mission so far. We pray for them daily and always keep them in our thoughts. Please, deposit your monetary donations to the applicable under listed bank account:

Support/ Donate

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