The Missionary Society of St. Paul
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The Missionary Society of St. Paul is a Roman Catholic Society of Apostolic Life which began as an idea in the mind of its founder, the late Dominic Cardinal Ekandem. The Catholic Bishop Conference of Nigeria finally made the decision to establish the National Missionary Seminary of St Paul in its meeting in Kaduna Nigeria in September 1976. The decision of the Nigerian Bishops was inspired by the timely prophetic call of Pope Paul VI in Kampala, Uganda, for Africans to be Missionaries to themselves.
Members of the Society now work in Botswana, Gambia, Malawi, Chad, South Africa, Sudan, Ireland, Italy, Sweden, Grenada, the Bahamas and the UK.
In the UK, MSP priests are working in the following dioceses; Southwark, Westminster, Northampton, Clifton, Portsmouth, Leeds and Wrexham. While in Southwark Archdiocese, there are ten MSP priests serving in eight parishes; St Gertrude Bermondsey, Our Lady of the Assumption Deptford, St Pius X Kingston-Upon-Thames, Ss Philip and James Herne Hill, St. John the Evangelist Gravesend, The Annunciation and St Augustine Beckenham Hill, Church of the Holy Ghost Balham and most recently St Thomas the Apostle Nunhead.
The words of St Paul “we are ambassadors for Christ,”(2Cor 5:20) is the motto and basis for the existence of the Society. Its members take on the missionary activities to all nations in accordance with the mandate Jesus Christ gave. Like St Paul, the members are driven by the love of Christ (Cf 2Cor 5:14) to “be all things to all people” (1Cor 9:22). Though primary evangelization is its central mission, the Society is also committed to the apostolate of the printed word.
The Society as at the moment has a total number of 214 priest members and 11 deacon members