 In 1889, Stephanie and Jeanne Bigard – mother and daughter – answered a desperate plea for help from the missions. The French missionary Bishop of Nagasaki, Japan wrote to the two women asking for help to keep his seminary open because he had run out of the funds necessary to help educate these young men to serve their people as priests. The bishops just did not have the funds to train these young Japanese men whom, he judged, would make excellent priests.
The Bigards came to the Bishop’s assistance and started a small group for this purpose in their native Caen, France. From these humble beginnings emerged the Society of St. Peter Apostle. Within five years of sending their first donation to Japan, the Bigards and those whom they enlisted to help were sending funds to seminaries in India, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Korea, and China.
The goal of the Society of St. Peter Apostle then and now has been to invite individuals to support the education of candidates for the Catholic priesthood in the developing world, and to support the formation of men and women candidates for the religious life in the missions. In its first year, the Society of St. Peter Apostle sent help for some 2,700 seminarians in the missions! Today, more than 79,000 seminarians in some 400 seminaries, mostly in Africa and Asia, receive an annual subsidy of $750 per student. This subsidy pays for room, board, books, buildings, and professors needed for the training of the seminarians. In addition, close to 10,000 men and women religious novices receive assistance.
Contributions to the Society of St. Peter Apostle are allocated to seminaries and seminarians in mission dioceses throughout the world according to need, with certain help offered to each seminary by the number of students there. This system of allocating funds helps ensure that aid is distributed fairly and that those who are most desperately in need receive enough support. Fundraising in the Archdiocese of Saint Louis consists of an endowment fund and an annual direct-mail campaign in November.
Stories from the Missions
 Inspiring letters. Such are those received from mission seminaries. These letters tell of the growing number of young men in Asia and Africa who are responding to our Lord’s call to the priesthood. One recent letter, from a seminary in Nigeria, included such facts and figures – and then one line that spoke to the heart.
St. Augustine’s Seminary in Jos, Nigeria, is filled to capacity, with some 300 students. The rector, Father Sylvester Dagin, offers particulars about their formation, and even of their work on the seminary’s small farm, growing potatoes and vegetables for sustenance. He tells too about their service outside the seminary, in local parishes, hospitals and prisons. The seminarians here belong to a “mission club,” praying for all Missions and for those who bring to the world the “Good News” of Jesus.
Near the end of the letter came the heart-hitting line: “I have placed my hands in those of Christ, trusting in Him.” This was how seminarian Andrew Midim described his resolve to complete studies for the priesthood, no matter the difficulties like an attack on the seminary just last November. He and his classmates are convinced, most especially, of the need, in their own homeland, for the message of Jesus and for the Eucharist.
Mission seminarians and Religious novices count on your help so that they may offer such loving service among the poorest in our human family. Know that even as you pray and sacrifice to support them in their formation, you remain in their prayers. May the Lord bless you for your generous missionary heart!
Did You Know...
 Today, there are some 30,000 seminarians studying in 500 major seminaries throughout the Developing World. Support provided through the Society for St. Peter Apostle ensures that these young men may continue to answer the call to serve as priests.
Catechists in the Missions speak of faith to those who have never heard the Gospel — and witness to that faith by the very example of their lives. From the mid 1960s through the 1980s, the West African country of Guinea experienced uprisings and civil war. The Church itself suffered great persecution, with only two priests left alive after that fighting. During that time, catechists “kept the faith alive.” In fact, the sons of these catechists are now priests in this African nation.
How Can I Help?
 Vocations to the priesthood and religious life are growing in the Developing World. The typical mission seminarian is from a poor family. The seminarian's family contributes the little it can; his bishop is hard-pressed for funds; the people this young man will serve once ordained a priest are also often struggling merely to survive. The Society of St. Peter Apostle is the instrument of the Holy Father, the bishops and all in the Church to provide spiritual and financial assistance to seminarians of the Developing World.
Offer yours prayers and personal sacrifices for the growth of mission vocations to the priesthood and religious life.
Encourage mission vocations through the Society of St. Peter Apostle with a donation. Maybe you could offer a week's support of $35 - that's $5 a day. Or perhaps you could send $300 to support one year’s education for a male or female religious novice - or even $700 to support the education of a mission priest for one year. Whatever amount you can send will be treasured!
If you would like to give a gift to the Society of St. Peter Apostle,
please call 314-792-7655 or write to us:
Society of St. Peter Apostle
20 Archbishop May Drive
Saint Louis, MO 63119
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