Missionaries of St. Charles

Scalabrinians

The Congregation of the Missionaries of St. Charles (Scalabrinians) is an apostolic community of religious priests and brothers, sharing in the missionary work of the Church for the realization of God’s plan in the world and in history. This plan was fully revealed in Christ himself, who was sent by the Father “to bring glad tidings to the poor” and “to gather into one all the dispersed children of God.” Even now this plan can be discerned in the events, the needs, and the longings of people.

This is the mission of the Church entrusted to us through our Founder, John Baptist Scalabrini, Bishop of Piacenza (1839-1905):  becoming migrants with the migrants, especially the poorest and most abandoned ones, by building with them the Church;      helping people discover Christ in their migrant brothers and sisters and perceive in migration a sign of the divine calling to build up God’s kingdom.

The specific purpose of our mission is to promote the total salvation of the human person. Therefore, in addition to spiritual care, we offer migrants our human, social, and cultural support. We denounce the causes of the evils afflicting them and promote the migrants’ fellowship and participation in the welcoming community. We also foster the participation and collaboration of lay people to pursue this mission, as our Founder taught us from the very beginning.

 

 Our pastoral care of migrants is an integral part of the ministry of the local Church. As missionaries we offer services and activities in line with the diocesan plan and policies, so that the pastoral care of migrants becomes the concern of the local Church itself. This cooperation, carried out with full respect of our apostolic identity, aims at making the clergy and the laity sensitive to and appreciative of the migrants’ values and needs.