MKLM History
To share the history of Maryknoll Lay Missioners it is important to first look at the history of the Maryknoll Mission Movement and the historical context of it’s founding. In the early years of the 20th century of the United States the Catholic population was rapidly increasing. This tremendous growth had begun in the last two decades of the 19th century. Millions of poor immigrants had come to the United States from various European countries looking for a better life. A great majority of them were Catholics and most settled in urban ethnic ghettos of cities in the northeastern part of the United States. Their poverty and social challenges were many and the US was considered a mission territory by the church.
By 1911 this new Catholic population had settled and stabilized enough to no longer be considered mission territory. Through the inspiration and dedication of the Director of the Propagation of the Faith Office in Boston, Fr. James Anthony Walsh and the first priest ordained in the state of North Carolina, Fr. Fredrick Price, the founding of a society of priests and brothers was founded for mission. Thus was founded the Catholic Foreign Mission Society popularly known as Maryknoll (Society).
Soon the two priests were join by a group of young women interested in mission and led by Mary Josephine “Molly” Rogers. The following year they founded the Maryknoll Sisters (Congregation) and Molly became Mother Mary Joseph. A new era had dawned in the US church that would call forth many young and committed Catholics to cross borders and serve and engage with peoples and cultures around the world and bring those stories home.
During the first sixties years of Maryknoll there were instances of laity serving with Maryknoll around the world. With the call of the 2nd Vatican Council to include the laity in the ministry of the church, the Maryknoll Society and the Maryknoll Congregation set forth to found a program to formally include laity in the mission of Maryknoll. In 1974 the first missioners were sent to Hong Kong and Venezuela and in 1975 the program was established.
Through the rest of the 70’s and into the 1980s Maryknoll Lay Missioners became a more integral part of Maryknoll, especially the Maryknoll Soceity. Some lay missioners asked to renew their three year commitments in mission and others were ask by the Maryknoll Society to come to the states to work in areas such as social communications, health services and development and mission education in different sectors of the country. The 1990 Chapter of the Society, an every six year representative meeting of Society members petitioned the Vatican to include the lay missioners in the constitutions of the Society. In 1992 the Vatican offered its negative response. They applauded Maryknoll Society for their work and promotion of laity in mission but asked that separate structures be set up for the lay misssioners. In 1994 a committee of lay missioners and Society and Congregation leadership was formed carry out a planning process. After a two year period of investigation and reflection a separate structure both civil and in relationship to the church (canonically) was founded on August 19, 1994. At the founding assembly statutes were ratified by delegates, leadership was elected and the name, Maryknoll Mission Association of the Faithful was chosen. The organization would be popularly known as Maryknoll Lay Missioners. Although Maryknoll Lay Missioners is primarily lay, it was “constituted open” and can have as full members clergy and religious who have the permission of their superior or bishop. At the founding in 1994 there were nine diocesan priests members and in all, 167 missioner members of the new entity within Maryknoll.
Total financial independence from the Maryknoll Society was gradual over the next decade. Today we are totally independent in our fundraising efforts and our future is our responsibiity. The 2008 international economic crisis required a full review and evaluation of our organization. After determining how many regions (countries where we work) we could sustain, we went through a process of consolidation. As of July of 2010 we work in six countries; El Salvador, Bolivia and Brazil in Latin America, Cambodia in Asia and Tanzania and Kenya in East Africa. The hope of our five year strategic plan is to open two new regions where we have never worked.
In the 36 years of our history almost 700 US lay Catholics have gone to mission with Maryknoll since our official beginnings in 1975. As we invite new people to do mission from a community context we also want to strengthen our relationship and network with all who have participated as a part of Maryknoll Lay Missioners.
As we say, “Always a Missioner, Always a Maryknoller”, Sam Stanton, Executive Director.
