Mission Magazine Summer 2023
With 1.4 billion citizens, India is the world’s largest country, and much like the United States it is home to some 20 million Catholics. The difference lies in the fact that in this Asian subcontinent they represent less than 1.6 percent of the total population, while here Catholics are the second largest religious group, representing 23 percent of all Americans. Hence, we dedicate an entire edition of MISSION Magazine to document the joys and struggles of India, a land that first heard the Gospel from the Apostle St. Thomas.
With 1.4 billion citizens, India is the world’s largest country, and much like the United States it is home to some 20 million Catholics. The difference lies in the fact that in this Asian subcontinent they represent less than 1.6 percent of the total population, while here Catholics are the second largest religious group, representing 23 percent of all Americans.
Hence, we dedicate an entire edition of MISSION Magazine to document the joys and struggles of India, a land that first heard the Gospel from the
Apostle St. Thomas.
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12 13<br />
<strong>Mission</strong>ary Union:<br />
Do you pray for your son to<br />
be a priest or a doctor?<br />
to take care of all the needs seminarians<br />
have,” said Father Aniceto<br />
Pereira, who runs the seminary.<br />
“We rely on your help to send some<br />
of our seminarians to further their<br />
studies in Rome. This is particularly<br />
important for us, because we need<br />
well educated and trained formators<br />
to elevate the education of our<br />
priests here.”<br />
The St. Pius X College.<br />
Diocesan seminary of the Archdiocese<br />
of Bombay.<br />
Founded in the 1960s.<br />
It has 100 students.<br />
10 new priests are ordained each year.<br />
Nevertheless, even though paying the bills at the end of the month is a constant<br />
looming concern for Father Aniceto, he said that what the seminary needs<br />
the most are prayers.<br />
As the 19th century was ending, French lay woman Jeanne Bigard and her<br />
mother, Stephanie, received a letter from a French bishop who was serving in<br />
Japan. He wrote asking them for prayers and help: more than 50 young men<br />
were preparing for the priesthood, and he was struggling to provide for them<br />
and the growing number candidates to the priesthood.<br />
In 1889, Jeanne and Stephanie established the Society of St. Peter Apostle to<br />
support mission vocations, both priestly and religious. In the first year of its<br />
foundation, the Society aided about 2,700 seminarians.<br />
Today, 28,000 major seminarians, mostly in Asia and Africa, receive an average<br />
annual subsidy of $700 per student; assistance is also provided for men and<br />
women religious novices.<br />
One of these seminaries is the St Pius X Archdiocesan Seminary of Bombay,<br />
where 100 young men are studying for the priesthood.<br />
“We are very thankful for the financial support from The Society of St. Peter<br />
Apostle because it is not possible for the Christian community in Mumbai<br />
“We want to have a vibrant generation of diocesan priests who witness their<br />
faith throughout their ministry, and we rely on the prayers of Catholics in<br />
the United States because we are a very small minority here in Mumbai, and<br />
in Asia as a whole,” he said. “We are inspired by the vibrancy of other local<br />
churches, and we are thankful for the support we receive from the universal<br />
Church in the form of prayers and missionaries, ready to leave everything behind<br />
so that others can follow Christ.”
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