Friends in the Field - Zoë Rowmanowsky

They Open the Soul Cages
Meet three apostolates dedicated to spreading the Faith.

Parish Visitors of Mary Immaculate
Since 1920, they've been knocking on doors to remind countless families and individuals that God still makes house calls. Founded by the late Mother Mary Teresa Tallon in New York City, the Parish Visitors of Mary Immaculate are a family-focused, contemplative missionary order of sisters who spend their days in prayer and door-to-door evangelization. "Mother was convinced that anyone could become a saint, even the most hardened sinner, if we could but put them in the embrace of the Good Shepherd," says current superior general, Sister Carole Marie Truskowski.

The religious order's mission flows from a life centered around Eucharistic prayer. Daily, the sisters attend Mass, pray the Liturgy of the Hours, make a holy hour, pray the rosary, do a half hour of meditation and read Scripture and spiritual works. "Mother Foundress had a profound experience that she was a living tabernacle of God," says Sister Carole Marie. "We bear the Lord to people who may not have been to Church in years."

Parish Visitor missions currently exist in the Archdiocese of New York, the Diocese of Brooklyn, the Diocese of Scranton, Pennsylvania; Norwich, Connecticut; and Syracuse, New York. There is also a mission in Nigeria, West Africa. Typically, a pastor invites the sisters into his parish and asks them to visit each home in the parish on his behalf. "Pastors are amazed at the number of Catholic parishioners they never knew about, and parishioners are floored that the Church is so interested in them," says Sr. Carole Marie.

The approach of the Parish Visitors is like that of a friend coming in the spirit and love of the Good Shepherd, Himself. "We strive to be friendly, conversational, patient, persevering and tactful," says Sister Carole Marie. "People almost expect someone from the Church to reproach them if they have gone astray and they're surprised and happy to experience God's saving truth spoken to them with compassion." Sometimes, it takes many visits before a person is ready to go to a priest for the sacraments or join the parish community.

The sisters don't give "canned presentations," but are ready from years of preparation and prayer to approach each person as an individual. With pamphlets, prayer cards and leaflets in hand, they answer questions, catechize, pray with people and listen to parishioner's stories. "One woman told me that the day she told God she would never go back to Church was the very day I showed up on her doorstep," recalls Sister Carole Marie.

The sisters are also committed to helping families find assistance in other areas of necessity such as physical needs or social services. "Being there at crisis moments and helping people to see how God works for their good through every circumstance is something they never forget," says Sister Carole Marie. "Whatever it is, AIDS, abortion, poverty, we always present the Lord and His love — we are there on His behalf."

One of the great obstacles to evangelization, according to Sister Carole Marie, is today's noisy, fast-paced society, which doesn't allow people the time and quiet to think about their souls. "But the Holy Spirit will use a certain need a family or person has — their marriage, unemployment, a child on drugs — and then they begin to realize their spiritual hunger," says Sister.

No matter the situation, the Parish Visitors always explicitly talk about Jesus. Back home at the convent, they receive encouragement and support for their work. "When we share about how the Holy Spirit has worked in our day, it sets us all on fire," says Sister Carole Marie. The small but mighty flock — 72 sisters strong and steadily growing — is committed to the new evangelization, following the Good Shepherd to seek out the lost sheep and bring them back to the fold.

To purchase their Evangelization Manual for Catholics, or for information about the Parish Visitors of Mary Immaculate, call: (914) 783-2251, or write to them at: PO Box 658, Monroe, NY 10950-0658.

The Society for the Propagation of the Faith
A penny a week was a lot to ask from the working girls at a silk factory in 1820. But for Pauline-Marie Jaricot of Lyons, France, it was a concrete way to put into action her plan to help missionaries. Two years later, her vision of sacrifice and prayer for the Missions became the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, now the central means of support for more than 1000 mission dioceses around the world.

The Society for the Propagation of the Faith, under the direction of the Holy Father, is headquartered in Rome. "Our mission really began in Jerusalem and now reaches to the ends of the earth," says Bishop William J. McCormack, D.D., national director of the Propagation of the Faith for the United States, located in New York City. "We exist to promote the universal mission of the Church and to help dioceses fulfill their responsibility to spread the Gospel."

The very first collection of the Propagation of the Faith went to the Church in China and the Church in Louisiana and Kentucky, which both stretched many more miles than they do these days. Today, the Society supports the pastoral and evangelizing programs of the Church in Asia, Africa, the islands of the Pacific and the remote regions of Latin America — covering two-thirds of the human family.

"It's been incredible for me to visit the young and sometimes persecuted churches and see their great vitality and faith and how much they've grown in such short periods of time," says Bishop McCormack. The Bishop fondly recalls a trip he made to Nigeria to ordain 12 young Africans who were being sent out as missionaries. "It's amazing that the Church there has developed to a point that they are now sending out missionaries to other part of the world," he says.

To avoid the danger of particularism or forgetting some needy churches, the Propagation of the Faith provides financial help from a general fund. In the U.S., the Fund is gathered in various ways. World Mission Sunday is the premier event. This Sunday observance, calling Catholics to a generous missionary spirit, is celebrated throughout the world, including the missions themselves. Funds are also raised through direct mail appeals, Mission magazine and wills.

Early each year the national offices throughout the world report to the International Secretariat of the Propagation of Faith in Rome how much money is available from the General Fund for distribution. Each Mission diocese receives a basic grant of support depending on its size. Then the bishops of these missions submit requests for any additional help they might need. National directors from the developing and the developed worlds gather in Rome each spring to review these requests and to vote on the distribution of the subsidies, matching the funds to the greatest needs.

Financial assistance is specifically applied to the education and support of seminarians, religious novices and lay catechists; the building of churches, schools and clinics; the work of religious communities in education, healthcare and social services; communication and transportation needs; and disaster and emergency relief, when necessary.

Above all, the Propagation of the Faith has as its primary aim "to remind all baptized Catholics of their responsibility to share their faith, and to participate in the worldwide mission of the Church through prayer and sacrifice."

To make a donation or to find out more about the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, write to them at: National Office, 366 Fifth Ave., New York, NY 10001, call: 800-431-2222, fax: 212-563-8725, or visit their web site at: www.propfaith.org

The Cardinal Kung Foundation
If you think it's challenging to be a faithful Catholic in this country, try living in China. Anyone who remains loyal to the Pope and refuses to join the government-sponsored Patriotic Association is considered a criminal, and is subject to harassment, arrest and even death. "Western Catholics need to know what is going on in China and we're helping to inform them," says Joseph Kung, president of The Cardinal Kung Foundation, an organization that assists the persecuted Church in China through prayers, financial support and other appropriate projects.

The Stamford, Connecticut-based foundation is named after Joseph Kung's uncle, Ignatius Cardinal Kung, who was imprisoned for 30 years in China because he wouldn't renounce the Holy Father. Thousands of loyal Catholics in China have been martyred since communism came to power in 1949, and thousands more beaten, arrested and tortured. Joseph Kung is out to alleviate the misconceptions people have about the Church in the Far East country. "There is a church in China — the Patriotic Association — that claims itself to be Catholic and is intent on replacing the Roman Catholic Church," says Kung. "Many people don't know the difference between the two and they need to know the facts."

The Chinese Patriotic Association, under the authority of the communist government is the country's official religious organization. Catholics, Protestants, Buddhists, all people who wish to practice their religion — must register with the Association or face penalties. The Catholic "wing" of the Patriotic Association is four million strong, but the persecuted Church, which remains loyal to the Roman Pontiff, has tripled its size to almost nine million since it went underground. Poor and suffering, its property has been confiscated and all activities must be done in secret.

Kung and his volunteers at the Foundation aim to bring the plight and pleas of the persecuted Church to the free world. Donations help them to disseminate information through their newsletter, the media and conference exhibits. Kung speaks at churches, prayer groups, universities, schools and conferences.

The Foundation's "Partner in Vocation" program provides a way to directly participate in the formation of seminarians. Another program supports underground priests for training in the United States. Since the Church in China has no church buildings, property or collections, mass stipends are collected and sent to China. Kung has also set up a church building fund. "Masses are offered in deserted fields or private homes, but the people would like to offer the Blessed Sacrament more dignity by having church buildings," he says.

Individuals can become prayer sponsors by promising to pray each day for a particular bishop, priest, nun or lay person — many of whom are in prison. "The designated member to pray for may also be a Patriotic Association bishop whom we pray will return to the 'one fold, one shepherd,'" says Kung.

Kung hopes to have more opportunities to inform the public about the Church in China through the media. "We also strongly encourage parishes to show solidarity with our brothers and sisters in China by praying for them and by raising awareness," he says. "And we pray that citizens will get their local government representatives involved in the issue of international religious freedom."

For more information about The Cardinal Kung Foundation, to receive their newsletter or arrange for Joseph Kung to speak at your event, please contact: The Cardinal Kung Foundation, PO Box 8086, Ridgeway Center, Stamford, CT 06905, call: 203-329-9712 or fax: (203) 329-8415 or visit them at: www.cardinalkungfoundation.org