Fifty years ago today, the Missionary Society of St Paul set up its first mission in Peru.

Since then, dedicated members have worked tirelessly to pass on their missionary zeal and love for those in need in different parts of the world. The society is also present in Australia, Italy, Pakistan, the Philippines, Canada and now Cuba.

To mark this milestone, MSSP communities in Peru are busy organising activities. Exhibitions and events tracing their presence and history over the years are being held in all seven parishes run by the MSSP.

“There is a particular way in which the Society works as a mission. It’s not just about preaching but also about unrelenting presence and social solidarity with the poor,” says Fr Frankie Cini, regional superior of the MSSP and former director of St Joseph’s Home in Santa Venera.

It’s not just about preaching but also about unrelenting presence and social solidarity with the poor,

For the past half-century, the society has been working on the periphery of Peru, mainly in Arequipa, helping settlements of people on the move from the Sierra mountains to the city in search of work.

There are seven Peruvian MSSP priests and seven Maltese MSSP members working in the Peru mission. Apart from the religious aspect, the missionaries take care of schools and medical clinics and, with the help of benefactors from countries like Malta, the US and Canada, have set up structures to help the poor find their place in society.

“Everywhere that we have been, we have helped the local people settle down in remote and challenging areas and build a life from scratch,” Fr Cini notes.

“The MSSP has always been a mission of presence and social action. Ultimately, we preach the gospel also by being there for the people. In days gone by, in times of crisis, members of the MSSP worked around the clock to feed the hungry and poor in Peru.

“But even now that the country is experiencing an economic boom, the number of poor people remains very high,” he adds.

The society feeds about 250 locals every day, especially older people who cannot move out of their homes, and also provides medication and education for the many children in the Aldo Cayma district.

“Recently, it was decided that MSSP members working in Arequipa should live together in one, common house. This has brought the members closer together by creating a space they can return to in the evenings and call home,” Fr Cini said.

“We were captivated by the idea of branching out to Cuba, even if the situation there is a bit more restrictive,” he says, having visited the latest MSSP mission in Cuba last December. The small mission has set off on a good footing, though, and is being run by two Peruvian MSSP priests

“Still reeling from the 1958 revolution and because of the embargo, in Cuba you cannot buy anything. In many places, shelves are empty, and a family of five is given a ration of five eggs a week.

“People queue for a portion of rice and a few chicken legs,” Fr Cini said.

“It’s mostly the grandmothers who have kept the faith and passed it on to their grandchildren,” he adds.

Commitment is becoming more of a challenge

He acknowledges that Cuba is a huge learning curve for the MSSP: “We know it’s a difficult mission but we are learning as we go along. Because of certain restrictions in Cuba, it’s a question of being present.

“We try to help as much as we can, especially with the people around us. We’ve already seen attendances in the Mani-caragua parish increase.”

Having just celebrated his 16th year after ordination to the priesthood, Fr Cini notes that religious vocations are one of the biggest challenges for the MSSP in Malta.

The Society is made up of only about 70 priests worldwide. In Malta, the MSSP has 27 priests.

“We’ve just had a person join us who is doing his novitiate in the Philippines, and two priests were ordained this year. It’s not only religious vocations that are in crisis. We could say the same thing for marriage. Commitment is becoming more of a challenge.”

Still, the MSSP ideal is one that fascinates many people, and through the empowerment of the laity, formation and self-care of members, themes which were discussed last June during the General Chapter in Peru, more youths now stand the chance of experiencing the beauty of voluntary work in places like Rwanda, the Philippines, Pakistan and Peru.

“Our aim is also to create spaces where those who are searching for what God is calling them to be can actually ask themselves what they want to do with their life. Life today is a rat race and people get caught up,” says Fr Cini, who shares his time between the MSSP Oratory in Birkirkara and St Paul’s Missionary College in Rabat (better known as St Agatha’s).

Part of the vision of the MSSP is to raise awareness about diversity and to tackle the big challenge of reaching out to minorities.

Voluntary work, Fr Cini points out, helps tomorrow’s youths understand that there is a bigger world out there.

An expanding mission

June 30, 1910 – Mgr Joseph De Piro, who founded the Missionary Society of St Paul, a Roman Catholic missionary congregation of priests and brothers, accepts the first two members, Joseph Caruana and John Vella. Eventually, Vella leaves the society after being ordained a priest. Caruana, who remains a lay brother, in 1927 becomes its first missionary, serving for 48 years in Ethiopia until his death.

November 14, 1921 – The society gets its first diocesan approval. The founder also manages to secure a mother house for the young congregation before he dies suddenly on September 17, 1933, at the age of 55. His fledgling society is still too weak to survive on its own. So for a time, superiors external to the congregation are assigned to guide it until, in 1948, the society has its first superior general from its own membership, Fr Michael Callus.

1948 – The Missionary Society of St Paul has its own first mission when two of its members go to Sydney, Australia, and start working as Maltese chaplains. Before then, Brother Joseph Caruana had served in a mission belonging to the Maltese Capuchins.

1959 – The MSSP is first present in Ontario, Canada.

1968 – The MSSP expands towards Latin America, opening its first community in the province of Arequipa, Peru.

1973 – The MSSP begins working among Maltese migrants in Detroit, US.

1982 – Under Fr Stanley Tomlin as superior general, the MSSP opens its first mission in Asia, sending two missionaries to Faisalabad, Pakistan.

1999 – Another mission is opened in Asia, this time in the Philippines. Two missionaries, one from Australia and another working in Pakistan, are sent by then superior general, Fr Joseph Cremona, to establish a community in Manila.

2017 – The MSSP sets up its latest mission, this time in Cuba, when two Peruvian missionaries are sent to Santa Clara.