catholic church mission trips

Cross Catholic Outreach

Delivering food, shelter, and hope to the poorest of the poor

Mission Trips

Putting faith into action, a unique opportunity.

Mission trips are a unique opportunity for your Catholic community to share Christ’s love with the poor in developing countries.

When you partner with Cross Catholic Outreach, you’re partnering with a Catholic organization that has worked with priests, nuns and Catholic lay missionaries around the world for over 20 years.

Each mission trip experience allows U.S. Catholics to encounter the poor and serve alongside our ministry partners in their work. This service may include building homes or schools, feeding children, digging irrigation ditches, caring for orphans and vulnerable children, or visiting the elderly.

Our mission trips can be tailored to your group’s specific needs and interests, always grounded in our service to the Lord. We will help you plan, organize, and engage your Catholic community for a blessed and enriching experience.

Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action. 1 John 3:18

Encountering Christ through Mission Trips in Belize and Guatemala

Read how u.s. catholics are encountering christ through cross catholic outreach mission trips..

Idaho Parish is a Model for Catholic Evangelization

Nestled deep in the heart of Idaho, Holy Apostles Catholic Church participates in Cross Catholic’s Box of Joy program, which brings Christ’s love and joy during the Christmas season. In addition to its commitment to the good works, the parish also sponsors a mission trip with parishioners to visit Cross Catholic Outreach missions in Belize.

Donors Share Inspirational Visit to Santa Rosa, Guatemala

When Terry and Cindi Ruder visited the Diocese of Santa Rosa de Lima last year, they saw poverty – as well as incredible signs of hope. This was a “vision” trip provided to major supporters. Even in one of the most destitute areas of Guatemala, the Ruders saw the fruits of their generosity and the restoration of dignity among the poor.

The cost of each mission trip varies by destination,group size, length of stay and type of service project.

All food, lodging, materials for service, travel health insurance and devotional journals.

Airfare, trip insurance, travel visas, immunizations, and your personal essentials like clothing and toiletries.

Trips average seven days, but can be customized up to 12 days to fit each group’s needs.

At Cross Catholic Outreach, your safety is a high priority. We work closely with our ministry partners in each country to ensure your safety at all times. During your trip, you will stay at a secure compound, mission house or hotel. We register all groups with the U.S. Department of State.

Participants must be at least 13, and those who are 13-17 must be accompanied by an adult.

You will need to contact your cell phone carrier for international data packages available in the specific country you plan to visit.

When your group arrives in-country, a Cross Catholic Outreach team member will be there to meet you at the airport. Our team will be with you for your entire experience and see you off at the airport.

Yes. A detailed itinerary will be provided to you prior to your scheduled departure date.

It’s important that visitors respect local cultures and norms, so participants must adhere to a modest dress code. For work times, men and women should wear pants or modest shorts, and T-shirts. For church, men should wear khakis or slacks and a clean shirt; women should wear skirts or dresses (knee length or longer). For leisure time, men should wear swim trunks; women should wear one-piece bathing suits. Bikini-style or tight bottoms or sleeveless shirts are not allowed.

A Cross Catholic Outreach team member will contact you with a packing list before your trip.

Depending on the country you go to, projects range from clean water wells, feeding, construction, and helping at orphanages or nursing homes.

No. interpreters will be provided.

Yes — a valid U.S. Passport is required.

There will be morning and evening devotions, prayer, and worship. Our goal is that your relationship with the Lord grows stronger!

At this time, we do not host trips for individuals to join.

Important Information Regarding COVID-19

Personal safety is Cross Catholic Outreach’s top priority. Whether it’s you, your group, our ministry partners, or those they serve, service to the poor must be done in a safe and controlled manner.

Cross Catholic Outreach has established thorough mission trip protocols to protect against COVID-19. This includes requirements for pre-travel, travel, in-country service and stay, and return travel back to the U.S.

Start Planning Your Group’s Mission Trip

If you’re interested in learning how your Catholic group can put faith into action through a mission trip, complete and submit the form below. Our team will help you plan, organize, and engage your Catholic community for a blessed and enriching experience. Note, at this time, we do not offer mission trips for individuals to join — only trips planned as a group.

Our mission is to mobilize the global Catholic Church to transform the poor and their communities materially and spiritually for the glory of Jesus Christ . Your gift empowers us to serve the poorest of the poor by channeling life-changing aid through an international network of dioceses, parishes and Catholic missionaries. This cost-effective approach helps break the cycle of poverty and advance Catholic evangelization.

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What kinds of service could you do on a FOCUS Mission trip?

Corporal Works of Mercy

The Corporal Words of Mercy, as found in the teachings of Jesus, include feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, sheltering the homeless, visiting the sick and the imprisoned, burying the dead and giving alms to the poor. This teaches us to see Jesus in everyone. Potential activities include serving food in a soup kitchen, doing homeless ministry or spending time with the elderly.

The Spiritual Works of Mercy guide us to “help our neighbor in their spiritual needs” (USCCB). Serving on a catechesis-based mission trip means opening the world’s eyes to the truth, beauty and goodness of the Catholic faith. Teaching people about the faith is an amazing opportunity to share the story of Jesus and the Catholic Church, as well as deepen your own faith. Activities may include home visits and working with youth groups.

Evangelization

Come share the Gospel with us! On evangelization trips, we share the story of Jesus with people who may have never heard the Gospel before. Activities might include sharing your testimony, teaching people how to lead bible studies, or simply starting conversations with people about faith. Answer the call to share the good news to the ends of the earth!

To be Jesus’ hands and feet on missions means always being ready to serve the needs in front of you. Based on the needs of those who invite us, service trips could include cleaning, teaching English, gardening, cooking, as well as other activities that are helpful to our hosts.

Whether it be restoring a dilapidated church or constructing stairs to improve access to a remote community, building projects on mission give you the opportunity to break a sweat and use your physical abilities for the sake of building up the Church. Building trips also give you the wonderful opportunity to labor side-by-side with the members of the community who will be most impacted by the work.

Medical missions are an amazing opportunity to live out the Corporal Works of Mercy to visit the sick and comfort the afflicted. By serving on a medical mission, you will have the opportunity to serve the basic health care needs of the poor. Some activities may include serving the ill and dying in a hospice, visiting a school to do health education, or setting up travel medical clinics to serve people without adequate access to health care.

Sports Camps

Spread the love of Christ through the universal language of sport! Share love, friendship, and encouragement through organizing sports camps for kids. Playing sports with locals is a great way to build cultural bridges. Sports camps allow you to teach children and invest in the future of a community through sports like volleyball, basketball, track, hockey, ultimate frisbee, and soccer.

Looking to experience Jesus and the Church in a new and life-changing way? Going on pilgrimage launches us on a transformative spiritual journey. By visiting some of the most important places in the Catholic faith, we are invigorated in our personal faith and shown what it means to be part of the universal Catholic Church. Walking in the footsteps of Jesus and the saints on pilgrimage teaches us what it means to follow Jesus in our every day life.

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2025 Dates & Locations

Join us this summer, love. serve. connect., catholic mission trips that transform lives and communities.

For the summer of 2025, we have 3 types of camps spread out over 8 weeks. No matter which mission trip location you choose for your youth group, we provide a safe & enjoyable environment where they can grow spiritually, serve the community, and meet other members of the Catholic Church. At CHWC, you will play hard, work harder, and transform yourself and the world around you!

Next Level: Open to those entering the 8th grade in the fall of 2025 and older Elevate:   Open to those entering the 9th grade in the fall of 2025 and older International: Open to those entering the 10th grade in the fall of 2025 and older

*note: all camp types   & details are subject to change., before registering, please take a moment to review our payment and refund policies. ***updated for 2025***, june 29 – july 5, rome 2025 – registration open , letters of recommendation &, host youth group, more information about, chwc musicians, learn more about the, history of chwc, waiting list.

Submission will be added in the order that are received.

Our Mission

Bring Catholics closer to Christ through short-term mission trips that form them through personal and communal prayer, participation in the sacraments, building community with fellow Christians, and providing an opportunity to partake in works of mercy by helping those in material and spiritual need.

Be a national organization first in using Catholic social teachings and Catholic spirituality to plan short-term mission trips for working adults and families while inspiring zeal and love for the Roman Catholic Church throughout the world.

We are the Catholic laity that desires to partake in the Church's mission life. We have children, jobs, and responsibilities, yet are called to mission ministry. Through CBC, we engage in the corporal and spiritual works of mercy and are brought into a fuller communion with the Catholic Church, her teachings, and her mission life.

• Mission Week at a Glance
• Our Leadership Team
• Lake Charles, LA
• South Texas
• Dominican Republic
• Puerto Rico
• New Orleans, LA
• Marion Cooper
• Jake Whitener
• David Lawless
• Richard Hilton
• Michelle Perez
• Kevin Maloney
• Stephany Head
• Jacqueline Masson
• Application

Welcome to Catholic Mission Trips, Inc. , where we equip Catholics in the call to be missionary disciples. Established in 2008, Catholic Mission Trips, Inc. had its beginnings in 1998 with one youth minister and 10 teens. Inspired by St. Mother Teresa and Pope St. John Paul II, Steve Nasche, a Youth Director for a Catholic Parish, wanted to do a mission trip to let American youth experience the culture and spirituality of Mexico, as well as assist the people by building homes, chapels, and schools.

Soon after, Steve had other catholic parishes joining him. Thus the concept of Catholic Mission Trips began. We have since grown into a full-service ministry and lead mission trips for young people all over the world! We understand that there are lots of people out there who would love to go on a mission trip, but just don’t have any connections or think it’s too difficult to plan. That is where Catholic Mission Trips, Inc., comes in. We do the planning and handle all the logistics for you. All the parish group needs to do is sign up and come. We handle everything else. We make it as easy as possible for groups to have a life-changing mission trip experience.

The tools express that we are Service-Oriented . We engage in construction projects for the poor, put our faith in action, and leave an expression of God’s protection behind. The home symbolizes that we are Relational . We are about rebuilding our relationships with one another as we experience the joy of family life on our mission trips, ultimately rebuilding the domestic church. The seven windows express that we are Sacramental . We live in and out of the Sacraments on our mission trips, living out of our baptismal call as priest, prophet, and king, activating the gifts our of Confirmation, as our source and strength of the mission as we have daily Mass, Adoration and Reconciliation. The central cross claims we are Christ-Centered , as we offer and unite our sacrifices and suffering on the mission to Christ to bring forth victory to the world. The airplane shows that we are Spirit-Led , blazing a trail behind us to set the world on fire in the shape of an eclipsed moon as seen in our patroness, Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mother of the Americas, Mary who God placed Himself in to unite Heaven and Earth to make us all one. The logo as a whole states that we are Formational as we equip missionary disciples in a week of prayer, formation, service, and community life back to their own communities at home.

Help us Grow

Does your parish already do work in a foreign country? If so send us the contact name for your leader and Catholic Mission Trips, Inc., will try to organize trips to further the work that your parish or community has begun.

Our Patron Saints

“What frightened you, what afflicted you is nothing; do not let it disturb your face, your heart, do not fear this sickness or any other sickness, nor any other sharp or hurtful thing. Do not be afraid. Am I not here, I who have the honor to be your Mother?” – Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mother of the Americas, Star of the New Evangelization, Patroness of CMT

“Unless we believe and see Jesus in the appearance of bread on the altar, we will not be able to see him in the distressing disguise of the poor . ” – St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta

“Young people of every continent, do not be afraid to be the saints of the new millennium! Be contemplative, love prayer; be coherent with your faith and generous in the service of your brothers and sisters, be active members of the Church and builders of peace.” – Pope St. John Paul II

“It is a great blessing for souls to be under the protection of the saint whose name makes demons tremble and flee.”-Bl. Bartolo Longo about St. Joseph

The jurisdiction of His Excellency Bishop Mark A. Pivarunas, CMRI in Russia

Baptism behind the Rear of the War

“i shall come to ask for the consecration of russia...”.

On March 31, Fr. A. Kryssov made a missionary trip to care for our faithful in Gelendzhik - it was the only Easter Mass in all of Russia.

Nowadays of the Mission

Moscow - st. pius v oratory, gelendzhik - russian catholic i-net community center, sevastopol' - parish of st. clement i, history of the mission, moscow - st. luis church, mission's places of care and concern:.

• Moscow - Heart of the Catholic Mission in Russia: spiritual guidance and active outreach.
• St.Petersburg - Capital of the Russian Empire during the Fatima revelations; a city of faith and remembrance.
• Gelendzhik - Digital frontier of the i-net Mission, nurturing faith on the Black Sea coast and all Russia.
• Sevastopol - Martyrdom site of Saint Pope Clement I; a testament to enduring faith amidst modern military significance.
• Vladivostok -Eastern beacon of the Catholic Mission, standing near the borders of China and North Korea.
• Barnaul - the GULAG center in Southern Siberia, memorial to the exiled Catholics of the Stalin era; a place of remembrance and resurgence.
• Dikson (urban-type settlement) - the northernmost and coldest of living places on Russia's Arctic Ocean coast, known for its warm-hearted people. Twin town with Dixon, Illinois since 1989.
• Nizhny Novgorod - Industrial powerhouse and vibrant hub of Catholic activity on the Volga.
• Kazan - Recognized as Russia's Muslim capital but with a significant Catholic presence.
• Vilnius - Spiritual center, home to Our Lady of Mercy and St. Casimir; an emblem of Lithuanian Catholic heritage.
• Minsk - Unique in its veneration of the Ascension of Mary; a capital city deeply rooted in Catholic faith.

How You can help Fr. Kryssov in Russia?

Catholic Mission in Russia and former USSR

Copyright © 2019-2024 Russian Catholic Mission - All Rights Reserved.

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Casas por Cristo exists to open the door for local pastors and churches to share the love of Jesus Christ by serving. Our mission is to build and serve.

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Giving one week of your life to serve will give a gift of a lifetime to a family in need.

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It's World Water Week!

Over a million people – many of them children – die from preventable causes linked to unsafe water every year. We're working to improve access to clean, safe water in rural and under-resourced communities around the world, saving lives and building health.

International Catholic Volunteer Opportunities

Global catholic volunteer opportunities at cmmb.

We love what we do, but we can’t do it alone. Our volunteers are the hands, hearts, and feet on the ground, delivering healthier lives to the most vulnerable women and children in the around the world. They are the best of CMMB. Wherever they land, they bring healing and hope, and they too are changed forever.

One of the most beautiful compensations in life is that no person can help another without helping themselves. – Ralph Emerson

Since its inception in 1912, CMMB has been placing Catholic volunteers around the world. Our founder, Dr. Paulel Flagg’s first mission trip was to Haiti where he served those suffering from leprosy. Seeing the extreme need, he recruited others to join. We have been sending volunteers ever since.

CMMB’s founder Dr. Paluel Joseph Flagg (middle)

At CMMB, our international Catholic volunteer program employs the help of several organizations, universities, and health systems to help recruit highly qualified healthcare professionals to volunteer in the US and around the world. We are proud to partner with the  Catholic Volunteer Network , a leading advocate for faith-based service who support and enhance our recruitment efforts.

CMMB also partners with Catholic Health Association (CHA).  CHA is a ministry of the Catholic Church committed to continuing Jesus’ mission of love and healing in the world today. It is made up of over 600 hospitals and 1,600 long-term care and other health facilities in all 50 states. It is the largest group of non-profit healthcare providers in the United States. CHA’s research with members helps to evaluate the structure of programs and identify best practices. This provides us with a wealth of information and resources that inform CMMB’s program development training and deployment efforts with volunteers.

Partnering with Universities

CMMB is fortunate to partner with several universities including Fordham , Fairfield ,  Notre Dame , Columbia ,  St. Catherine’s , and Regis University . The core of our relationships with universities is around capacity building for program development and implementation. As students and faculty contribute valuable knowledge and skills in research and training for CMMB and our programs, they gain authentic, often tangible, international experience and have a very real and direct impact on the work that we do . These partnerships are a key components of our volunteer program.

Fairfield University

Fairfield University was established in 1942 and is a Jesuit Catholic university. One of university’s main objectives is to promote a sense of social responsibility, while ensuring all its students embrace and develop their full creative, intellectual potential.

We are fortunate to partner with both the faculty and staff at Fairfield as they support CMMB’s Children and Mothers Partnerships (CHAMPS) programming through class projects and operations research. We also benefit from their presence and support at our New York City headquarters, where several students complete internships.  The internships provide students with opportunities for professional development, to build networks and relationships with experts in the field, and to get authentic work experience.

We are working with Fairfield to link their state-of-the-art nursing school with current and future nursing education programs in some of our country offices. The first is is the newly launched nursing school in Mutomo, Kenya . A press release about launch of the nursing school highlights the hopes and objectives of the school:

“The school envisions being a Center of Excellence in the training of nurses for the health sector. Its mission is to develop a nursing workforce that will provide holistic, accessible, and sustainable quality healthcare. Students are actively engaged in meaningful learning experiences so that they can gain a wealth of skills, vast amounts of knowledge, and a genuine love for learning.

The learning center, library, and lab skills room at the new nursing school in Mutomo.

Aware that infrastructure alone cannot infuse the vision and passion that guides the school’s development, the school promotes the human spirit and interaction between teachers and students. It is this interaction that will make the difference and ensure that the buildings and the environment support higher levels of learning. The school is committed to ensuring that students receive not only the appropriate skills in their field but most importantly, formation in their physical, social, psychological, emotional and spiritual aspects. This is with the sole objective towards their personal growth and integration. Character formation must be the driving force behind all the instruction and interactions.”

CMMB has partnered with Our Lady of Lourdes Mutomo Mission Hospital in Kenya for years – it is the hub of our Children and Mothers Partnership (CHAMPS) program. CMMB is now looking for nurse educators to serve at Mutomo Mission’s new nursing school. Learn more .

Our partnership with Fairfield University is always evolving and growing and we are always looking for new ways to engage our partners. For example, during our winter 2018 international volunteer orientation , Dr. Terry-Ann Jones, Director of International Studies and Associate Professor of Sociology at Fairfield University presented a session about cultural humility and cross-cultural communications. Dr. Jones highlighted concepts including culture and biases, and the talked about the challenges of serving abroad. She encouraged us to examine our own culture and to understand that what we bring with us impacts our ability to develop relationships and serve effectively. Dr. Jones reminded us to observe and listen closely and remember we don’t have all the answers.

Here is an example of the a collaborative project between Fairfield and CMMB. It was written by Anna-Maria Aksan, the Associate Professor of Economics at Fairfield University.

Fairfield University: Helping Us WASH-Up

Fairfield University’s Economic Development class has been scouring the academic and policy literature to provide supporting evidence on best practices in implementing WASH (water, sanitation, and hygiene) initiatives in CMMB’s CHAMPS sites around the world. After studying each CHAMPS site, the students conducted literature reviews on initiatives to improve water access, storage and treatment, hand washing, latrines, and waste disposal as well as to provide dignity kits to adolescent girls.

This project brought me a sense of fulfillment beyond simply completing an assignment for a grade. I am excited that our work will be shared with CMMB and will possibly be able to contribute to some of their various initiatives throughout the world. – Chase Crean, student researcher at Fairfield University

The semester-long research project concluded with an individualized report on each CHAMPS site, recommending best practices for CMMB’s proposed initiatives. The students range in academic interests and include economics, finance, international studies, international business, and politics majors. Student research was monitored throughout the semester by Fairfield University professors.

Only by working together can we address this public health issue, strengthen health systems  and make the delivery of health care safe for every patient in Africa, every time. —Dr. Marie-Paule Kieny Assistant Director-General, Health Systems and Innovation WHO

University of Notre Dame

The University of Notre Dame partnered with CMMB in 2015. This particular partnership provides opportunities for research and capacity building in Peru, where we have a country office .

Notre Dame students link their thesis and capstone projects to our CMMB programs in communities. Paulina Luna, a master of science in Global Health at University of Notre Dame and MD candidate at Yale School of Medicine shares her experience collaborating with CMMB in Trujillo, Peru:

A Picture Truly Worth A Thousand Words

Since 2015, the University of Notre Dame and CMMB have collaborated to improve the health of vulnerable populations. In 2016, we teamed up to evaluate CMMB’s Rehabilitation with Hope , a community-based program that assists children with disabilities by providing access to quality therapy. There was already clear evidence of the benefits for children enrolled in the program, but we wanted to find out how the program affected the jparents.

We used Photovoice, a community-based participatory research methodology, to invite parents to describe and explain their experiences through photography. We learned that parents perceived feelings of disdain towards their children and judgment and blame for their children’s disabilities by others, leading to isolation.

It was incredible to witness how the parents in our study displayed leadership in presenting their photos to their communities. As they shared their powerful stories, they advocated for their children’s rights and educated others with the hopes of creating a more welcoming community.

Our results were be presented at the Consortium of Universities for Global Health in March 2018, to ensure that the parents’ stories continue to be shared and to help advocate for the rights of children with disabilities and their families worldwide.

Fordham University

Fordham university: preparing for careers in global health.

Our partnership with Fordham University started in 2014 and it provides students and alumni with an opportunity to gain hands-on experience and meaningful professional development through placements at CMMB’s New York City office.

They support all departments as well as our five country offices while building skills and experience for careers in global health and development.

The longer you spend at CMMB the better it gets. This is not your typical intern position. I’ve worked in other offices before, but this is the first time I’ve felt like a part of a team that values my input and wants to include me in the process. Because of this, I’ve learned more than I ever expected and I feel like I am ready to transition into employment. – Greta Schneider, former NY volunteer and Fordham class of 2017

Regis University

Providing therapy, dignity, and hope in peru.

Regis University’s partnership with CMMB began with the efforts of one long-term field volunteer, Amber Walker. In 2011, while in Peru, she noticed that one segment of the community was stigmatized and ignored: children with disabilities. Amber took action. She decided to engage and mobilize her Regis University colleagues to become a force for change in Trujillo.

With a team of professionals in tow, Amber returned to Peru to train and assist caregivers and physical therapists to work with children who needed rehabilitative services. Regis University faculty and students have been going back every year since. CMMB is committed to developing academic partnerships that increase our capacity and ability to serve communities, while offering universities meaningful, skills-based international service opportunities for their students, faculty and alumni

I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to participate in the global health program at Regis, to learn from the people of Peru, to challenge myself to practice with cultural sensitivity, and to gain a better understanding of a culture different from my own. – Abby Burger, Regis class of 2017

The partnership between CMMB and Regis University’s Rueckert-Hartman College for Health Professions (RHCHP) focuses on the following three components:

• Building a community of practice linking CMMB technical staff to RHCHP Faculty
• Increasing the flow of students doing clinical rotations at CMMB volunteer placement sites.
• Creating new academic programs in Global Health which would include a service learning component, linked to CMMB sites

This partnership provides RHCHP access to ongoing, sustainable and high-quality programs in the developing world.  This access increases the University’s visibility within the global health sector, enhance opportunities for students and staff to be more involved in long term projects, and create new funding opportunities (including both private and government funds).

All of these benefits will increase the caliber of students and staff that are attracted to the University, which will support the growth of the University into the future.  For CMMB, the benefits from this partnership include:  1) Increasing access to technical support though faculty communities of practice; 2) enhancing the pool of volunteer candidates who have the specific skills needed for its programs; 3) creating new funding opportunities through linkages with the University (including both government funds as well as private revenue).

St. Catherine University

St. Catherine University’s mission is to educate women to lead and influence. At all degree levels, St. Catherine integrates liberal arts and professional education within the Catholic tradition, emphasizing intellectual inquiry and social teaching, and challenging students to transformational leadership. Committed to excellence and opportunity, The aim to develop ethical, reflective, and socially responsible leaders.

CMMB is proud to partner with St. Catherine University. Together, they share a joint grant with Zambia GHR Foundation.

The GHR Foundation was founded in 1965 by the Gerald and Henrietta Rauenhorst and is pioneering design-build philanthropy to create change with its partners around the world in the areas of global development, education and health. GHR started its partnership with CMMB in 2014, funding and supporting the Kusumala Child Protection Project, a long-term project to build system capacity and provide stable, protective, nurturing family environments for children.

The project aims to increase

• Capacity of existing formal government structures and staff specifically, and ensure a coordinated and integrated response that promote pro-family alliance systems and policies that promote stable family environments and reduce institutionalization of children.
• Capacity of the health sector to prevent and respond to family separation cases, by strengthening their ability to identify assess and refer vulnerable children and families.
• Awareness of the need to prevent harmful cultural practice for children and families and promote knowledge of hold positive attitude toward practice that contribute to strong family, prevent separation and reunite children.
• Knowledge, skills and positive practices of communities, families and children that promote stable, protective, nurturing family environments for children of all ages

CMMB and St. Kate’s: Kusamala+

In 2014, with the support of GHR, we started the Kusamala Child Protection Project. This project provides at-risk children with a continuum of care and a variety of interventions to support them either in their home environments or in community-based alternatives. The project

• Strengthens the capacity of existing formal government structures and staff specifically, and ensure a coordinated and integrated response that promote pro-family alliance systems and policies that promote stable family environments and reduce institutionalization of children.
• Increase the capacity of the health sector to prevent and respond to family separation cases, by strengthening their ability to identify assess and refer vulnerable children and families.
• Increase awareness of the need to prevent harmful cultural practice for children and families and promote knowledge of hold positive attitude toward practice that contribute to strong family, prevent separation and reunite children.
• Increase knowledge, skills and positive practices of communities, families and children that promote stable, protective, nurturing family environments for children of all ages

In 2017, CMMB joined forces with St. Catherine’s University to launch the pilot Kusamala+. The purpose of this two-year pilot was to test an intervention designed to mitigate stigma and limited resources of children with disabilities and their families through family and community engagement, advocacy and skill building, and systems linkages.

The first phase of the intervention included a survey to estimate the prevalence of children with disabilities and the environmental conditions. It also included baseline measures for assessing change in knowledge, attitudes, and skills. The second phase of the intervention involves St. Catherine faculty developing the curriculum and implementing the training of trainers. The training will be done with health professionals from the Kanyama clinic and include dialogue and education around disability, skill-building, and ways to enhance local resources, including a referral system.

The curriculum will be evaluated by CMMB and the trainers will then train community outreach workers to engage with the residents in the Kanyama community and support families through education, support groups, skill development, and sensitization. This is now a placement site for global health MPH practicum students.

Key Partners

Our partnerships with universities are also key for our recruitment efforts for both field and NYC volunteers. We also collaborate with NYU, NYITT, Rutgers, Upsala, Liberty, Benedictine, and AIC and are always looking for new partners. Interested in partnering with us? Look no further .

Medical Residency Program

Authority health and cmmb: launching a global health residency program.

Forging Partnerships to Improve Human Resources for Health

The CMMB volunteer team is engaging in partnerships to create innovative programs to address global health challenges. Our newest model, a global health residency program for medical residents was co-created with Authority Health, an industry leader in community-based medical residency training focused on serving the most vulnerable around the world.

What I am hoping to achieve as a doctor is to simply do my part in helping more people live in the best way that they can. – Earl Carlos, medical resident at Authority Health. Served at Mutomo Mission Hospital in Kenya in July 2017

In July 2017, the first group of medical residents travelled to eastern Kenya to begin an eight-week placement. During this time, they served at the Mutomo Mission Hospital, as well as at rural health centers and in the community; learning alongside local practitioners, while contributing valuable skills and helping build capacity. Following this first rotation in Kenya, the goal is to expand to Peru and open to new partners and locations.

Chris Allen, Executive Director and CEO Authority Health

It has been a pleasure partnering with CMMB and providing Authority Health medical residents with a real opportunity to serve people living in low-resource settings globally. I am honored to have Michigan State University and the University of Michigan as our academic partners and am hopeful that other universities and residency programs will join to help expand this life changing program.- Chris Allen, Executive Director and CEO, Authority Health and former CMMB Board Member

Corporate Volunteers and Employee Engagement Opportunities

In 2014, Rose Hanley of Merck & Co. Pharmaceutical Company (MSD), joined CMMB as a corporate volunteer. Merck & Co. is committed to discovering, developing, and providing innovative products and services that save and improve lives around the world. They have been working in partnership with CMMB for decades delivering healthier lives worldwide.

Rose served with CMMB for three months and her contributions continue to have an impact today. She describes her experience, “My assignment at CMMB, along with another fellow, was to develop operating strategies for CMMB’s country offices in alignment with their then new, global strategy. The work entailed developing strategy maps, initiatives and metrics for each country office, and it leveraged the skills, experiences and methodologies that I have been fortunate to acquire in my 20+ year career.”

Part of Rose’s experience was traveling to Peru to visit our programs in action.

Rose speaks about this part of her experience: “Working with CMMB’s team in Peru was one of the highlights of my experience. I met the team in the central highlands city of Huancayo, and we worked together to develop their country strategy. But the most significant impact came when the CMMB team took me to see their programs in action in the field; programs focused on the health of women and children.

I met families living in such extreme poverty; in houses that they themselves had built, using whatever materials they could find around them. They had no access to water or sewers. In this part of Peru, the most common health issues result from a lack of access to clean water, sanitary living conditions and proper nutrition. CMMB works hard to educate women about ways they can address these issues and create healthier homes for their families.”

Employee Engagement 

Employees Producing to Donate: Now That’s In-Teligent : Getting Much Needed Medicine Where it’s Needed Most

Over the past three years, the employees from the pharmaceutical manufacturer, Teligent, join together on Martin Luther King Day for their annual day of service. Over the course of the day, the team produce and package product for CMMB’s medical donation program, Medical Donations Program. Nearly all of Teligent’s committed employees donate a day of service.

In 2017, this collaborative effort resulted in the delivery of over $100K worth of medical products to be distributed at no charge to patients served by CMMB in the developing world. The 10,752 units of topical pain medication (Trimacinolene) was delivered to CMMB’s newly-opened hospital, the Bishop Joseph Sullivan Center for Health in Côtes-de-Fer, Haiti in March – arriving in time for the hospital’s official dedication.

If you are interested in employee engagement opportunities, please contact us !

More Than A Catholic Missionary Organization

In Matthew, 19: 16-26, Jesus is asked by a young man, “Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may obtain eternal life?” After being reminded about the commandments, the young man asked, “All these things I have kept; what am I still lacking?”

Jesus responded, “If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven.”  The young man went away and grieved; for he was one who owned much property.”

As Catholics – inspired by the example of Jesus – we are called on to serve the weakest and most vulnerable among us. For Catholic Missionaries, this work has often happened outside the geographically defined parishes and dioceses and often involved people with material resources to spare.

CMMB has been supporting medical missions and sending missionaries and volunteers to where they are needed most for more than 100 years. In 1934, our CMMB executive director,  Father Edward F. Garesche wrote :

“The medical side of the missions should especially appeal to those who have devoted their lives to medical ministrations. The fruitful field offered by medical work in the missions is inconceivably great. Many of our missionaries live and work at distances of hundreds of miles from any hospital, doctor, nurse, or even drug store. They are besieged by crowds of sorely afflicted people, suffering from almost every ill that human flesh is heir to.”

Inspired by the Impact of the Second Vatican Council

Pope John XXIII announced the creation of the Second Vatican Council in January 1959. In the aftermath of World War II, cultural shifts emphasized the need for the church to reconsider its practices. Nearly 2,500 bishops and thousands of observers, auditors, sisters, and laypeople were called to attend sessions at St. Peter’s Basilica over the course of three years, between 1962 and 1965. The biggest change – the church’s willingness to operate in the contemporary realm.

The Second Vatican Council had an immense global impact on Catholic missions. With the theme of reconciliation, Catholics were encouraged to pray with other Christian denominations, and to forge friendships with other non-Christian faiths. It also opened the door for languages besides Latin to be used during Mass, and impacted new positions concerning education, the media, and divine revelation. Today, the council is credited with essentially shaping the modern Catholic Church.

Peter A. Huff, from Xavier University said, that “Pope John XXIII wanted to reinforce the missionary mandate, but he also wanted to create an environment of dialogue, where the church would engage in all the forces of the modern world.”

Famous Missionaries Throughout History

Throughout history, Christian missionaries have had a profound impact on the communities where they have served. Spreading the teachings of Jesus Christ around the world, bringing education to underserved communities, providing healthcare to the poor, building orphanages, amongst many other noble endeavors, these Catholic missionaries were change-makers, set on making the world a better place.

William Carey

William Carey (1761-1834) is considered by many to be the father of modern missions. Born in England in the mid 18 th century, Carey grew up in the Church of England. Carey went to Calcutta, India in 1793 to spread the gospel. He was not able to evangelize as he wished in Calcutta due to the hostility of the East India Company towards missionaries at the time. Unwilling to give up on his own mission, Carey joined Baptist missionaries in Serampore, India.

In Serampore, Carey’s work really began. As a skilled linguist and translator, Carey converted the Bible into Bengali, Hindi, Sanskrit, Oriya, Assamese, and Marathi—making the gospel significantly more accessible to the people of India. He also translated the Hindu classic text, the Ramayana into English—giving the West a window into understanding Hinduism in more depth.

Carey also founded the Serampore College and the Serampore University. The Serampore University  was the first university in India to award degrees. Carey believed in the transformative power of education and believed firmly that people should be able to access education to better their lives. He started schools for impoverished children where they learned not only about Christianity but also how to read, write, and do simple math.

Carey was in many ways a renaissance man committed to social justice, education, and Christianity. He was also considered “India’s first cultural anthropologist.” Carey also worked to establish the Baptist Missionary Society, which works today in forty countries around the world on projects related to disaster relief, development, education, health, and advocacy.

Carey’s influence has helped shape the course of Christianity in India and he remains a role model to modern Christian missionaries seeking to bring education to underserved communities.

Saint Patrick

St. Patrick , the patron saint of Ireland was one of the most famous Catholic missionaries of all time. Born in Britain in the late 300s AD, St. Patrick was taken from his home village as a teenager by pirates who brought him to Ireland. While enslaved by his captors, St. Patrick became deeply devoted to Christianity and believed his captivity was a test of his faith in God.

After six years in captivity, St. Patrick had a dream in which a voice told him that if he attempted to escape, he would return home. Following that dream, St. Patrick began a long voyage and eventually returned home to his family. The experience profoundly affected him for the rest of his life and confirmed his commitment to his faith.

St. Patrick studied and became ordained in France in the early 400s. However, he always knew that he wanted to return to Ireland and bring the gospel to the Irish. By 432 AD, Pope Celestine I sent St. Patrick to Ireland to fulfill his mission.

Upon his initial arrival, St. Patrick faced resistance from the local people. They were not initially open to the teachings of Jesus Christ and the church. However, over time St. Patrick had incredible success spreading the gospel all over Ireland. St. Patrick utilized many different mediums to convert local communities to Christianity. He preached to large groups, wrote extensively and performed innumerable baptisms. He also recognized the people’s attachment to their traditional spiritual practices and incorporated them into the church.

St. Patrick is a celebrated Christian missionary whose work shaped the course of Irish history and continues to influence Irish identity today.

Daniele Comboni

Daniele Comboni was born in Italy in 1831. He was a Roman Catholic bishop who worked in Africa and founded the Comboni Missionaries of the Heart of Jesus and the Comboni Missionary Sisters. His missionary work brought light to the suffering of people living in extreme poverty in Africa.

Born into a poor family in rural Italy, Comboni was one of eight children. All his siblings died before reaching adulthood. He was an incredible student and finished a degree in medicine as well as becoming fluent in French, English, and Arabic. He became ordained in 1854 and left to do missionary work in Africa a few years later. He felt called to do missionary work in Africa.

Comboni first arrived in Khartoum, Sudan in 1858 where he was met with some extreme difficulties. Despite the harsh climate, sickness, and the deaths of many of his fellow missionaries, Comboni continued his mission work in Sudan. Despite his resolve, Comboni was forced to return to Italy the following year with a terrible case of malaria.

For a couple of years in the 1860s, Comboni worked out a plan to return to Africa and expand the missionary work done on the continent. Comboni dedicated the next few years to fundraise for more missions in Africa and raise awareness about the African continent. He travelled around Europe seeking funding for his missions and created the slogan, “Save Africa Through Africa.”

With the funding, Comboni opened two different missionary institutes in Verona, Italy, the Comboni Missionaries of the Heart of Jesus and the Comboni Missionary Sisters, one for men and one from women, respectively. He then opened new missions in Sudan and Egypt and worked to spread the gospel in eastern and central Africa while living there.

Today, the Comboni Sisters are one of our amazing partners in the field in South Sudan. They run Nzara Hospital in Nzara, South Sudan. The mission of the Comboni Sisters is to “serve the world’s forgotten.”

Daniele Comboni’s influence is alive and well today. The missionary groups he established remain influential in east Africa in spreading the gospel and providing services to the region’s most vulnerable.

Mother Teresa

Mother Teresa was born, Anjezë (or Agnes) Bojaxhiu, to Albanian parents in Skopje, Macedonia on August 26 th , 1910. When she was just eight years old, her father passed away. In order to support their family, her mother opened a small embroidery shop. Though they never had a lot, her mother always invited people who were hungry to eat with them.

Mother Teresa was always involved in her local church but decided to join the Loreto Convent in 1928 in Ireland. It was while she was there that she received the name Teresa, after St. Therese of Lisieux, patron saint of missionaries. Mother Teresa first took her religious vows in 1929 and then later took her solemn vows in 1937 in India.

Mother Teresa experienced what she famously described as “the call within the call” which jump started her commitment to live amongst the poor and serve their needs. It took some time before she was allowed to leave the convent to live among the poor and serve. In the meantime she became an Indian citizen and received some medical training so she could better help those in need.

In 1950, Mother Teresa started the Missionaries of Charity. By the 2000s the Missionaries of Charity existed in over 100 countries and had more than 4,500 religious sisters in the congregation. Chastity, poverty, and obedience are of course three of the vows of this religious order but the fourth one is unique. Sisters are to “give wholehearted free service to the poorest of the poor.”

In 1979, Mother Teresa received the Nobel Peace Prize. She also won many more prizes throughout her lifetime for her humanitarian and missionary work. Once when asked “what can we do to promote world peace?” She very famously responded, “Go home and love your family.” She believed very strongly that love starts in the home and in creating a home for the poor.

CMMB had a special relationship with Mother Teresa. CMMB sent about $5,000 worth of medicine to Mother Teresa and her mission in India for patients suffering from leprosy.

One of our staff members at our distribution center in Queens wrote:

“Generally, Mother Therea’s appearances are totally unexpected. The receptionist will inform us that Mother Teresa is at the front door requesting a few minutes of our time. That sets the office staff into great excitement because Mother, though her visit is always a short one, always has time to visit all of the staff and express her thanks for their share in her shipments.”

Mother Teresa’s mission to “serve the poorest of the poor and to live among them” is one that strikes at the core of who we are at CMMB. We strive to work in solidarity with her mission, and seek to serve the most vulnerable women and children around the world.

“ He’s Jesus Christ “

Dr. Tom Catena  is the only full-time, permanent doctor serving the people in the war-torn Nuba Mountains of Sudan. The Nuban people live in fear, with ground fighting, aerial bombardment, and starvation warfare as regular occurrences in their lives.

Children of the Nuba Mountains in Sudan

The Nuba Mountains and Mother of Mercy Hospital are now home to this American-born medical missionary . Over two decades ago, Dr. Catena – the New York native – left the United States to answer a call to serve the marginalized and forgotten, and he has been serving ever since.  He is the medical director of the Mother of Mercy Hospital, a mission hospital located in a region under rebel control.

Dr. Tom Catena’s History with CMMB

Dr. Catena was still a medical resident when he first came to CMMB in the late nineties. “I was looking for organizations that would sponsor doctors, and that’s when I came across the Catholic Medical Mission Board .” He started by joining short-term, volunteer mission trips, serving the most marginalized in Guyana and Honduras. While completing his navy commitment and his postgraduate residency, Dr. Catena remembers always feeling the call to return to missionary work.

When he completed his residency in 1999, Dr. Catena came back to CMMB.  He was placed at the  Mutomo Mission Hospital  in  Kenya  where he served for two years. While there, Dr. Catena worked with Anita McTernan, who remembers him with admiration and fondness,

“I remember working with Dr. Tom when he started as a volunteer. He was such a role model for people who are here to make a difference. Tom didn’t have any schedule as such. He worked all day, every day. He even worked all night if a patient needed him. I was a volunteer at that time as well, so I was very impressed by Dr. Tom and CMMB. I will always remember him as a very hard worker. He is a man who is really dedicated to helping people.”

When his two-years of service at the Mutomo Mission Hospital came to an end, Dr. Catena decided to extend his missionary work. He moved to Nairobi and volunteered at St. Mary’s Hospital, where he served for the next six years. In 2008, Dr. Catena’s commitment to providing medical care to the most marginalized brought him to southern Sudan where, together with the Diocese of El Obeid, he helped establish the Mother of Mercy Hospital in the Nuba Mountains. Today he is the medical director and surgeon.

“Dr. Tom is the gynecologist, the physician, the surgeon…he’s everything.” – Nurse and Women Religious at Mother of Mercy Hospital

As a medical volunteer in Sudan, Dr. Catena and his team encounter endless challenges – limited access to electricity, running water, and essential medical equipment. They also have deadly threats of violence. Despite these challenges, Dr. Catena remains in Sudan. When asked why a doctor educated in one of the top medical schools in the United States chooses to live under these challenging circumstances  Tom responds:

My decision to stay here was a simple one. As the only doctor at the only major hospital in the Nuba Mountains, I could not leave in good conscience. Also, as a lay missionary, I felt it was very important to show the presence of the Church in this time of need – that the Church does not abandon her people when a crisis arises.

Who is Dr. Tom Catena? 

Dr. Catena is a native of Amsterdam, New York. He grew up as part of a large, Italian-American family, with six brothers and sisters.

“ My parents were not overly strict but instilled a set of values that has stuck with me to this day .”

Tom studied at Brown University where he earned his undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering. While at Brown, he played college football and was an all-America, along with his long-time friend Ken Carlson (pictured below). Following his time at Brown, Dr. Catena worked toward his medical doctorate at Duke University on a U.S. Navy scholarship.

Dr. Catena inspires many people, but who inspires him? We had the chance to ask him, and this was his reply:

“ Saint Francis of Assisi has been my personal, favorite saint for many years, as he is for half the world, Christians and non-Christians alike. Growing up when I did, in the 70s, 80s, and 90s, Mother Teresa of Calcutta was a huge inspiration to my entire generation. When we were growing up, we always had this idea that saints were people who lived 500 years ago, they were out of touch, and that they were people who were above everybody else. But here was somebody, a sort of very quiet, humble person, who was living in our day and age. She was doing very simple things, but at the same time, very incredible things, and she was a tremendous inspiration for me, as she was for so many other people. I think it was so important to have somebody, a contemporary person, a Catholic person, in modern day, who was living the Gospel life that we could relate to very well.”

Tom Catena and his former Brown University football teammate, Ken Carlson (Photo: NCAA)

The Heart of Nuba

When Dr. Tom Catena and his former Brown University football teammate, Ken Carlson (pictured above) reconnected in 2013 to discuss Catena’s journey

He must become greater; I must become less.

In a speech addressing the 2015 graduating class at Brown University, Tom’s challenge to them highlighted how one can live this mantra:

Everyone is in search of happiness. Everybody is in search of fulfillment. I think if you really want fulfillment in this life, what I would suggest to you is go and get rid of everything you have.  Sell everything you have.  Get rid of all of your baggage and go live a life of full and total service to other people. I think if you do that, you will find that the rewards are incredible.  You will find that you have fulfillment more than you could ever have imagined.  So I throw that challenge out to you.

Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity

In honor of his unrelenting dedication and commitment to serving the most vulnerable, his willingness to place the lives of others before his own, and his rekindling of faith in humanity, Dr. Catena – esteemed Catholic missionary – was awarded the $1 million Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity.

Tom Catena Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity Laureate 2017

The Aurora Prize is granted by the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative in honor and memory of those whose lives were lost in the Armenian Genocide, on behalf of the survivors, and in gratitude to their saviors. The initiative aims to empower modern-day saviors who offer hope to those in desperate need, and therefore continuing the cycle of generosity and giving.

It’s time we shake off victimization and embrace our common humanity and tolerance. As we leave here, let us take this spirit of shared humanity and do a little of the courageous work we have witnessed here tonight. – David  Ignatius, Journalist and Novelist

Are You Ready?

We change their lives, they change ours

CMMB believes in a world in which every human life is valued, and health and human dignity are shared by all. Sadly, this is not the world we live in – yet. Volunteers can help us get closer! We are always looking for qualified and committed individuals to join us as we work to deliver healthier lives worldwide. We are looking for medical and programmatic volunteers

Who is most needed in the field

Medical and surgical specialties most needed: 

• General practitioners
• Specialists
• Physician assistants
• Family medicine
• General surgery
• Internal medicine
• Emergency medicine
• Pharmacists
• Dentists and dental surgeons
• Anesthesiologist
• Opthomologist
• Orthopedist

Nursing specialties most needed: 

• Midwives/labor and delivery
• Pediatric and neonatal
• Primary care and family practice
• MCH and OB/GYN
• Community health
• Nurse educators
• Emergency/trauma
• Nurse Anesthetist

Public health professionals most needed: 

• Public health generalists
• MNCH, WASH, HIV, e Health, and  malaria experts
• Nutritionists
• Health administrators

Allied health professionals most needed: 

• Physical therapists
• Occupational therapists
• Speech & language therapists
• Clinical lab specialists and medical technologists
• Radiologists
• Ultrasound and X-ray techs
• Dental hygienists and assistants
• Health educators
• Health information technologists
• Biomedical equipment technician

What to expect in your role:

Volunteers in clinical roles work directly with hospital leadership and clinical staff on health service delivery, capacity building, and various outreach projects within the community setting to reach those who lack access to healthcare.

Volunteers in programmatic roles serve in CMMB offices and CHAMPS sites, providing support to CMMB’s diverse programs. They receive exposure to a broad base of global health and community development initiatives and are able to use their knowledge and skills to help improve the lives of vulnerable women, children, and communities.

How to become a volunteer 

Our volunteer opportunities are skills based and demand driven. We conduct a needs assessment in the countries where we work to identify the human resource skills required on the ground. Once these needs are identified, we begin recruiting and screening possible candidates.

Find a need and fill it.

If you (or someone you know) has the qualifications, skills, and inclination to fill a need in one of our country offices , please start by completing or sharing the online application . CMMB staff reviews all applications and if if your background and skill are a good fit, they will schedule a personal interview.

If accepted, all international volunteers also participate in a 3-day pre-departure orientation in New York City.

Benefits of Volunteering

Each international volunteer who serves six months or longer in the field receives a round-trip ticket to their placement site, housing, a monthly stipend, insurance coverage, storytelling and fundraising training, and the opportunity to contribute to vital community development initiatives for under-served populations while building a longstanding legacy for the community.

Financial Contribution

All volunteers are required to fundraise to help offset the cost of their experience, and cover travel costs to and from the pre-departure orientation in NYC.

The fundraising target is $5,000 and volunteers are required to raise a minimum of $3,500 prior to departure. Fundraising tools and training are provided by CMMB.

I want to help!

Domestic volunteers

Domestic (e.g. New York City internships) volunteers do not have to meet the international age, licensure, or financial contribution requirements, and do not receive program benefits outlined above.  We encourage New York based undergraduate and graduate students to apply for these domestic opportunities.

Other Catholic Volunteer Opportunities

We are seeking doctors, surgeons, dentists, specialists, and physician assistants,  21 years of age and over, who can serve for a minimum of six months.

Here is a list of the medical and surgical specialties most needed: 

You will work directly with hospital leadership and clinical staff on health service delivery, capacity building, and various outreach projects within the community setting.

Public Health Professionals 

We are looking for public health professionals who are 21 years and older and can serve for a minimum of six months in the following public health volunteer positions:

• Public health generalists will serve in one of CMMB country offices (Haiti, Kenya, Peru, South Sudan, or Zambia) and CHAMPs sites to provide support to our country directors and programs team through a range of programmatic support activities. They will receive exposure to a broad base of global health and community development programs and put their knowledge and skills to work in a field office setting.
• Specialists in maternal, neo-natal, and child health (MNCH), water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH), safety and health, HIV, eHealth, and malaria contribute their expertise to support CMMB’s exisiting programs around the world. They will be involved in designing, implementing, and evaluating diverse initiatives in collaboration with CMMB’s Country Directors, partners and National Ministries of Health.
• Nutritionists are needed in Peru and Zambia to support ongoing programs related to child development and health education.
• Health Administrators provide critical support as we engage with clinical partners to improve human resources for health and facility operations. This is particularly important in Haiti where CMMB opened the Bishop Joseph M. Sullivan Center for Health .

Kirollos Fares, Public Health Generalist in CMMB Kenya.

One of the greatest challenges in delivering quality healthcare is the chronic shortage of health workers, and this is where I hope I can positively contribute. – Kirollos Fares, Public Health Generalist

Apply to become an international Catholic volunteer today . 

Are You Ready to Join a Catholic Volunteer Mission Team?

We are committed to supporting medical mission trips to improve the quality of healthcare services provided to under-served communities. CMMB works hard to find highly qualified healthcare professionals, and to match their skills with the needs of our partner health facilities to help maximize their impact.

For example, in September 2017, three doctors traveled to Mwandi, Zambia as part of an eight-day medical mission trip committed to:

• Strengthening the health systems serving communities in Mwandi.
• Building capacity by mentoring and training healthcare professionals in Mwandi.
• Providing recommendations to improve patient care, quality of services, and hospital development based on observations at the site.

One of the members of the medical mission team was Dr. Helene Calvet. Dr. Helene Calvet, an experienced physician, specialized in infectious diseases, is our first clinical mentor. She visited Mwandi Mission Hospital for a second time in March 2018 and will continue serving both remotely and on annual or biannual visits.

It was an invaluable experience; a chance to meet wonderful people and see the impact of CMMB’s work. I’ve decided to leave my current job to focus on global health, volunteering with CMMB and other organizations who work with impoverished communities around the world. I look forward to continuing the relationships established during this first trip, and to contribute, however I can, to healthier lives worldwide.- Dr. Helene Calvet, Infectious disease specialist

Clinical Mentors

Clinical mentors are healthcare professionals who can commit to repeat visits to the same healthcare facility over. These volunteers will forge unique partnerships with specific facilities, to offer ongoing support, in person and remotely. Clinical mentors build long-term relationships with local health professionals to increase technical capacity and ensure sustainable impact.

Dr. Helene Calvet is a clinical mentor who is supporting Mwandi Mission Hospital and the health professionals and volunteers in the communities in Mwandi, Zambia.

Read about our some of our other medical mission trips:

Mercy Health Medical Mission Team: March 2017

Medical Mission Trip to Mwandi, Zambia: October 2017

Mercy Health Medical Mission Team: February 2018

Medical Mission Trip to Mwandi Zambia: March 2018

Interested in being part of a medical mission team or becoming a clinical mentor? Learn more .

Why It Matters?

Our volunteers are some of our most valuable resources. They are our hands, feet, and hearts on the ground. In their work and their attitudes, they truly reflect the life and wisdom of Mother Teresa, who said: “Your true character is most accurately  measured by how you treat those who can do ‘nothing’ for you.”

As Mother Teresa knew well, in service we also receive. Our volunteers change lives, in profound ways – they help provide better health care, they help build the capacity of people and institutions, and they foster new hopes and dreams among those they serve. But, in their service our volunteers are also changed.

Stories of Impact

In addition to the regular stories shared by our volunteers straight from the field , we send out a biannual publication that highlights the amazing work of interns, field, and corporate volunteers.

Healthier Lives, Together #1

Healthier Lives, Together #2

Testimonies from People Impacted by International Volunteers 

About Laura Kyriss – Labour and Delivery Nurse

Jesse Kihuha, our  CHAMPS coordinator in Mutomo , recalls Laura Kyriss with fondness,

“Laura was a blessing to the mission of CMMB, to Mutomo Mission Hospital, and to Kenya. We hope she will come back one day.”

These sentiments were shared by all those, both staff and patients alike, who were lucky enough to meet Laura. In fact, one young mother named her daughter “Laura” in honor of the care and compassion she received from this amazing nurse. We are proud to say that Laura received a special honor at the UN on Friday 11th May, 2018 during National Nurses Week.

About Brynn Macaulay

“It’s so great that dear Brynn is coming back to Peru to accompany us on our journey to improve the health of women and children. Her work is very valuable to us and everyone in our community. We can’t wait to have you back, Brynn!” – Nancy Castillo, Project Coordinator-CMMB Peru talks about how Registered Nurse, Brynn Macaulay who served in Peru in 2010 and returned in 2018

Measuing children’s height. Brynn Registered nurse and volunteer.

About Rachael Consoli – OBGYN in South Sudan

In 2016, Peter David was a nurse in training at Nzara Mission Hospital in South Sudan when he first met CMMB volunteer alumnae and OBGYN, Dr. Rachael Consoli . Peter explained that Dr. Consoli provided whatever care was needed, when it was needed. He said she was very open with patients, offering them counselling to help them come to terms with whatever diagnosis they were given. She provided similar care to all the doctors and nurses on staff. He praised Consoli for her role in building capacity in the local staff. She was constantly providing commentary as she treated patients, first making sure that they understood the illness before teaching them the necessary treatment.

“I feel so lucky that she came to Nzara. I am so inspired by the work she did here. She is my role model. I want to study medicine because I want to become like Dr. Consoli. She inspired a lot of people here and we learned a lot from her. I want to be just like her.”

The reach of a dedicated volunteer cannot be predicted, nor ever accurately measured. Their legacy lives on long after they leave. For the volunteers themselves, life is forever changed.

My year of volunteering gave me this answer. I needed the chance to grow my skills in different areas and help others. What I didn’t realize was that my time in Mwandi would reveal my purpose in life. If I really think about it, it just confirmed what I always knew it was. – Janet Choongo, Volunteered in Zambia for one year

Apply to be a volunteer today:  

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General Cepeda is Family Missions Company’s longest established mission post, having had missionaries there for over 20 years, and is well loved by mission trip participants. You will have the opportunity to spend a week in Mexico in evangelization and service. In General Cepeda, mission trip participants go out to share the Good News with people through their loving witness and in sharing their testimonies of God’s grace working in their lives.

On this trip, mornings are spent engaged in Christian service, through building projects, visiting the elderly and sick, and praying with those we encounter. The whole experience is wrapped in prayer and fellowship. In the evenings, our team travels to nearby ejidos , or desert communities, to celebrate Mass, hold prayer meetings, and share testimonies.

One day during the mission trip is devoted to a pilgrimage to the capital city of Saltillo to visit the Cathedral of St. James, the Miracle Chapel ( Capilla de Milagros ), and the local market.

Desert day, a time of prayer and silence with the Lord, is often spent in the beautiful foothills of Tejocote or the desert spring oasis of Chaco San Isidro.

Who Should Come?

Individuals and families can join any of our planned trips.  // We also welcome church groups, school groups, prayer groups, youth groups, homeschool groups, clubs, and organizations. All you need is a group of 12 or more to schedule and plan a trip of your own.

Where will I stay?

The Casa de Misiones (Mission House), once the servants’ quarters for a former hacienda, has become the home for FMC’s full-time missionaries. It was built in 1591! While retaining its old Mexican charm, the Casa de Misiones does have running water and electricity.

How do I get there?

Groups have three options for arriving in General Cepeda: 1. Drive to the mission base, roughly 5 hours from the Texas border. 2. Fly into Plan de Guadalupe International Airport (SLW) in Saltillo, MX and get picked up by missionaries. (Airport is 1 hour away from the Mission House.) 3. Fly into General Mariano Escobedo International Airport (MTY) in Monterrey, MX. (Airport is 2 hours away from the Mission House.)

$800 per person

Please ask about our family rates..

Includes the following:

• Room and board
• Work/service projects
• Alms for the poor
• Airport pickup and drop off
• Transportation at mission site
• Mission trip t-shirt

* Does not include transportation to and from Mexico.

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Interesting Facts about General Cepeda, Mexico

General Cepeda is a small mountainous desert town surrounded by many ejidos (desert communities) and sits at roughly 4,800 feet above sea-level.

Most Mexican people in General Cepeda live in small adobe homes comprised of one or two rooms, where immediate and extended family live together.

The population of General Cepeda, including the 40+ villages and main city, is over 11,000.

General Cepeda is located in the state of Coahuila, one of the 31 states in Mexico.

Kim Capoun // Mission Trip  Coordinator

[email protected] (337) 893-6111

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Join A Trip Trip FAQs Support A Trip

• Missional Living
• Local Opportunities
• Global Opportunities
• Missionaries
• Partner Organizations

Every believer is called to go and show God’s love, whether to a neighbor across the street or to someone on the other side of the world. Our Go Trips are one of the ways you can get involved in what God is doing far beyond the walls of our church. Whether you want to go serve in another country and culture or make a difference right here in the U.S., there’s a Go Trip for you.

More Than a Mission Trip

What do you think of when you hear the phrase “mission trip”? The answer to that question can vary widely, so we want you to know what our Go Trips are really about and what sets them apart from other mission trips you might be familiar with.

• Extended Impact: On our Go Trips, you will serve alongside missionaries and ministries whom Stonebriar supports year-round, so the reach and connections formed extend far beyond the few days of the trip.
• Training & Discipleship: As a Go Trip team member, you will receive training that will not only prepare you for the trip itself, but help you grow spiritually and equip you to live missionally in your everyday life when you return.
• Servant-Hearted Perspective: We approach the people we meet on our Go Trips with deep respect, coming to humbly serve others as the Lord leads us.

To learn more about what to expect on our Go Trips, select a trip below to see details, or reach out to our Missional Living ministry team at ML@stonebriar.org .

March 16–20 (Frisco ISD Spring Break) Registration Opens November 1, 2024

Prepare the Kids Across America camp facilities near Branson, Missouri for a summer of ministry to inner-city kids.

Learn More I'm Interested in Going -->

Rio Grande Valley

March 15–21 (Frisco ISD Spring Break) Registration Opens November 1, 2024

Partner with Buckner International as part of our Build Hope project to assemble a home for a family in need in Peñitas, Texas .

Rio Grande Valley (High School Team)

Help on the construction team for the final stage of our Build Hope project in Peñitas, Texas . This trip is open to high school students (grades 9–12) and chaperones only.

June 26–July 6 Registration Opens February 1, 2025 Trip Full -->

Serve alongside the ministries of Naomi’s Village to help care for orphans and transform lives in Mai Mahiu, Kenya .

July 4–13 Trip Full Registration Opens February 1, 2025

Lead an English-learning outreach camp for kids and teens in the village of Mogilno, Poland , and serve with Stonebriar-supported missionaries Staszek and Asia Bialecki from CRU.

Navajo Nation (High School Only)

Dates and details coming soon! July 14–22 Trip Full Spend a week serving families of the Navajo Nation in Shiprock, New Mexico . This Go Trip is only for students in grades 9–12 and their chaperones.-->

July 4–14 Trip Full Registration Opens February 1, 2025

Help put on a family retreat for Agapia Baptist Church (planted by Stonebriar-supported missionaries Ben and Anda Mogos from Global Outreach International) in Bucharest, Romania .

Mexico (High School Only)

July 20–26 Trip Full Registration Dates TBD

Gain ministry experience while leading an English-learning outreach camp in Veracruz, Mexico . This trip is open to high school students (grades 9–12) and chaperones only.

October 4–13 Trip Full Registration Opens May 1, 2025

Host a retreat for Galway City Baptist Church (planted by Stonebriar-supported missionaries Jason and Mandy Post ) at Castledaly Manor between Galway and Dublin, Ireland.

How to Apply

• Pray to the Lord and decide about going on a trip.
• Apply online for your chosen trip.
• Pay the deposit to secure your spot (once your application is approved).
• Prepare for the trip by raising support, attending training meetings, reading your Go Trip devotional, and planning logistics.
• Go on the trip!
• Respond by reflecting on the trip, following up with connections, telling your story, and using what you learned to continue showing God’s love to those around you.

Go Trip FAQs

To support you as you fundraise for your Go Trip, our Missional Living team has put together this Fundraising Packet , which provides the why of fundraising, suggestions for how to do it, a sample fundraising letter, and social media templates for your use.

All financial contributions you or your supporters make toward your trip total (the “fundraising goal” listed for your chosen Go Trip) are considered donations to Stonebriar Community Church’s Missional Living Ministry.

Your Go Trip team leader will provide you with a contribution schedule. The final contribution is due at the last training session before your trip.

A $100 non-refundable deposit is due at the time of application approval to reserve your spot on the team.

• 25% is due at the first training.
• 50% is due at the second training.
• 75% is due at the third training.
• 100% is due at the fourth training.

Not every trip is the same, so some of the inclusions can vary, but for the most part, your fundraising goal total will include:

• A background check
• Flights to and from the final destination
• International travel insurance
• All food, transportation, and accommodations while on location (excluding a couple meals out during free time, which will be listed in your trip details)
• Any group activity or outreach that is part of the trip itinerary

Ministry expenses (supplies, training costs, T-shirts, etc.)

Outside of what you personally contribute or fundraise toward the stated total for your trip, expenses you will cover separately may include:

• Immunizations and other medications (malaria prevention, indigestion, etc.)
• Passport expenses (renewal, purchase, picture, etc.) and Travel Visa
• Transportation to and from DFW international airport (before and after the trip)
• Cultural excursions and personal shopping (souvenirs, activities outside the itinerary, etc.)
• Extra meals or snacks during travel or while at the airport
• Flight weather delay, natural disaster or emergency costs for additional lodging, meals, or expenses
• The cost to print and mail fundraising letters

Each Go Trip team member is expected to fully participate in the preparation process and all scheduled meetings before the trip date. If a team member misses ALL scheduled team meetings, they will be unable to travel on the trip. The airline seat will be released, and the participant will forfeit the $100 non-refundable deposit. Any funds contributed toward a Go Trip at Stonebriar Community Church are considered a donation and therefore are non-refundable. This money will NOT be designated to the General Fund but will be considered a donation to the Missional Living ministry account.

During your fundraising process, should you receive more donations than you need, you have the following options:

• Funds can be used for a future trip.
• Funds can be transferred to another team member going on your trip.
• Funds can be used for in-country needs for your trip (ex: Bibles, craft supplies, etc.)

Excess funds will not be designated unless you provide a written request for one of the above to our Missional Living staff. If there is no request, funds will be re-designated at the end of the year for future Stonebriar short-term mission trips.

All funds contributed to Stonebriar Community Church are tax deductible and cannot be returned. Cancellation of one’s trip will forfeit the $100 non-refundable deposit. Personal financial contributions to your trip are tax deductible as per IRS Publication 526 under the heading “Travel.” No significant element of performing services during the expedition is for “personal pleasure, recreation, or vacation,” so you may deduct personal donations to Stonebriar Community Church for your Go Trip. Stonebriar Community Church recommends you consult a CPA for further questions.

Each Go Trip application will be reviewed by the Missional Living Pastor and the Go Trip Team Lead. Applicants may not be approved due to medical history, criminal background, prior trip concerns, or other circumstances.

More Ways to Reach the Nations

• Pray for  Stonebriar-supported missionaries who serve around the world.
• Explore ways to serve locally and impact the nations near and far on our main Missional Living page .
• Find prayer guides, resources, and missionary stories on our  Pray for the Nations page .

Missional Living Team

Keith Tyler Lead Pastor—Missional Living keitht@stonebriar.org

Karen Hawkins Pastoral Leader—Community Care karenh@stonebriar.org

Jennifer Whitson Ministry Leader—Missional Living jenw@stonebriar.org

Michelle Flores Ministry Coordinator—Missional Living michellef@stonebriar.org

If you have any questions about Missional Living or want help deciding where to start, please reach out to us at ml@stonebriar.org 469-252-5206 -->. We look forward to meeting and serving alongside of you.

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The International Conference On Missions (ICOM) exists to: encourage , equip , and enlist workers for the harvest. Our extensive international conference serves as a connection point for global missions but we are more than a five day event. ICOM is 365 – telling God’s stories, providing resources and uniting the world with missions!

Mary Mother of God Mission Society

The mission society is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in the united states. it exists to revive the roman catholic church in eastern russia. we are in union with the holy father and the magisterium of the roman catholic church. our members are individuals, families, and organizations that prayerfully or financially support this effort, or who volunteer time or talent. if you are interested in joining this work, please contact us..

Home > Catholicism in Eastern Russia

Catholicism in Eastern Russia

This page briefly covers the history of the Catholic Church in the territory that is now the Diocese of St. Joseph in Irkutsk.

T he existence of Catholics in Eastern Siberia and the Russian Far East is closely linked with the Russian policy of political and penal banishment of the 17th-19th centuries.  

At the beginning of the 19th century, the first Catholic missionary priests arrived. From 1806 to 1812 a mission of the Dominican Fathers was realized in Irkutsk. In 1812, priests of the Jesuit order began to work there.  In 1820, the Bernardine Franciscans replaced them. 

That same year, the parish was officially established, and in 1825 the Church of the Assumption of the Most Holy Mother of God was built.  The establishment of the parish was actually the first official, organizational structure of the Church in the territory that would later become the diocese of Saint Joseph in Irkutsk. 

At the time, this parish was the largest in the world in square miles, taking in the immense territory of the province of Irkutsk and the entire region of Yakutia in the northeastern central part of Eurasia.

Up to the middle of the 19th century, the territory of eastern Siberia included only three parishes: the one in Irkutsk, one in Krasnoyarsk (formed in 1836), and another in Nerchinsk (formed in 1842). There were no known formally established parishes in the Russian Far East. At that time, there were about 1,350 Catholics in the Irkutsk parish, nearly 1,500 in the Krasnoyarsk parish, and around 1,000 in the Nerchinsk parish. 

Polish Uprising of 1830

Also called the November Uprising, this was a result of Polish dissatisfaction with Russian rule of the Congress Kingdom of Poland and the Polish provinces of western Russia.  Initially, it was a reaction to reports that Tsar Nikolas I of Russia intended to use Polish troops to fight a rebellion in France, but it grew into an effort to restore a Polish state.  Ultimately, the uprising was suppressed and punishment followed.  Wealthy Poles in Russia saw their land confiscated.  Many Poles saw their schools destroyed and their families sent to Siberia and the Russian Far East.

In 1866 another parish was begun in Nikolaevsk-na-Amur, a military headquarters, which was transferred to Vladivostok in 1890. All these parishes belonged to the Archdiocese of Mogilev, a city 500 miles southwest of Moscow.

During the entire 19th century, the main reasons for Catholics to be in Siberia and the Russian Far East was for prison labor and banishment, as it had been for the last two centuries. After thousands of participants in the Polish Uprising of 1830 were sentenced to hard labor and banished to Siberia, Poles became the largest ethnic group among Catholics in the Asian part of Russia (i.e. all lands east of the Ural Mountains).

At the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century, the construction of the Trans-Siberian railroad caused a large influx of Catholics, creating many workplaces. Another major cause of Catholic immigration was the resettlement of peasant farmers from the western regions of the Russian empire during the Stolipin agrarian reform. (Stolipin was a Russian Minister of Agriculture.) Between 1894 and 1911 the number of Catholics in the province of Irkutsk increased almost five times and reached 30,000 people, while in the province of the Yenisey, the number rose from 5,000 in 1898 to 15,000 in 1912.

At this same time there appeared many new Catholic churches and chapels: in Irkutsk, Vladivostok, Khabarovsk, Alexandrovsk on Sakhalin Island, and other population centers.

In 1922, the deaneries of Irkutsk, Vladivostok, Omsk (Western Siberia), Tomsk (Western Siberia), and Tashkent (Central Asia), were separated from the Archdiocese of Mogilev and became an independent Apostolic Vicariate. Then on February 2, 1923, the diocese of Vladivostok was established by papal bull. To this new diocese were transferred the Primorye and Amursky provinces and also the northern part of Sakhalin Island. (Sakhalin Island’s southern part passed at this same time to the Japanese diocese centered in the city of Sapporo.)

At this time in the Soviet Union, however, a massive attack on religion began. Priests were murdered, and church buildings were closed and destroyed. At the end of the 1920s, the church in Krasnoyarsk was closed. In the early 1930s, those in Chita, Vladivostok, Khabarovsk, and Alexandrovsk-Sakhalinsky were closed. And in 1938 the churches in Irkutsk were also shuttered. By the end of the 1930s, practically the entire structure of the Catholic Church in Russia had been destroyed.

In the 1930s and 40s, the Stalinist repression sent thousands of exiles from western Ukraine, Belarus, and the Baltic countries to Siberia and the Russian Far East. Many of them were Catholics, but were forced to hide this fact and no parishes could be revived or established.  This remained the situation until the early 1990s,

The Rebirth of the Catholic Church in Eastern Siberia and the Russian Far East

On April 13, 1991, two apostolic administrations were organized on Russian soil—one for the European part of Russia (west of the Ural Mountains) and one for the Asian part (east of the Urals). Bishop Joseph Werth was named the Apostolic Administrator of the Asian Part of Russia. All of the Catholic communities in this immense territory came under his jurisdiction.

Church of the Nativity in Magadan. At more than 3,000 miles to the north of Vladivostok, Magadan is actually closer to the city of Anchorage, Alaska.

The parish of the Nativity of Jesus in the city of Magadan became the first parish officially registered by the Russian government in what was then called the Apostolic Administration of Eastern Siberia. It received its legal registration on January 3, 1991. In large part this was due to the activity of Archbishop Francis T. Hurley, D.D., of Anchorage, Alaska.

Soon afterwards, parishes in other large cities were established: Krasnoyarsk (May 15, 1991); Irkutsk (September 14, 1991); Vladivostok (January 4, 1992); South-Sakhalin City (February 25, 1993); Aldan (July 1992); and Khabarovsk (October 1, 1993). From these main centers, priests traveled to outlying towns and villages to organize parish life in other Catholic communities.

With pastoral activity growing, the bishops and Papal Nuncio of Russia appealed to the Holy See to appoint auxiliary bishops for both apostolic administrations. As a result, during the summer of 1998, the Church in Russia received Bishop Klemens Pickel for the city of Saratov in European Russia, and Bishop Jerzy Majzur, S.V.D., for the city of Irkutsk in Asian Russia.

After one year, Bishop Mazur became the head of the new Apostolic Administration for the Latin rite Catholics of Eastern Siberia, established on May 18, 1999, and centered in the city of Irkutsk. Here construction of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Heart of Mary was begun in June of 1999.  Its solemn consecration was on September 8, 2000.

By a November 10, 2000 decree of His Holiness Pope John Paul II, the head of the Apostolic Administration of Eastern Siberia, Bishop Jerzy Mazur, was also named the Apostolic Administrator of the former Prefecture of Karafuto. In this area are located the territories of South Sakhalin Island and the Kuril Islands. Until this decree, the former prefecture, established in 1938, belonged to the jurisdiction of the bishop of Sapporo (Japan).

In 2002, Pope John Paul II established the diocese of St. Joseph in Irkutsk to serve eastern Siberia and the Russian Far East. Since then, new parishes have been formed in Trans-Baikal (Chita, Ulan Ude, Angarsk, Bratsk, Usole-Siberskoe, Achinsk, Eniseysk, Kansk, Lesosibirsk, Norilsk, Abakan, Yakutsk, and others); and in the Far East (Blagoveshensk, Arsenyev, Ussurisk, Komsomolsk-na-Amure, Nikolaevsk-na-Amure, Lesozavodsk, Petropavlosk Kamchatsky, Ola, and others).

Bishop Cyryl Klimowicz

In April of 2003, Bishop Cyryl Klimowicz became the bishop of the Diocese of St. Joseph in Irkutsk.  Born in Kazakhstan to Belarusian parents, he later moved with his family to Poland. After graduating from high school in 1974 he entered the Major Seminary in the city of Olsztyn, later graduating in 1980. He was ordained as priest on June 8, 1980 by the Primate of Poland Cardinal Józef Glemp.

Priests and Religious Return to Eastern Siberia and the Russian Far East

Members of various religious congregations and orders of men and women now labor in the diocese of St. Joseph. In 1991 after preliminary talks with Bishop Joseph Werth, the congregation of Claretian Missionaries sent two of its members from Poland to work in Krasnoyarsk. In September 1992 a monastery of Claretian missionaries was founded there, and in 1997 another community of Claretians was established in the city of Achinsk.

After the founding of the Irkutsk parish in September 1991 with the appointment of a member of the Society of the Divine Savior (Salvatorians) as pastor, the Polish Salvatorians began working in Irkutsk.

In January 1992, members of the Congregation of Salesians of St. John Bosco arrived in Aldan. They went there to decide whether or not to have a permanent presence of priests of their order in that region. In July 1992 three men of the Salesian religious arrived there for service.

February of 1992 brought two Americans from a new order, the Canons Regular of Jesus the Lord (CJD) to Vladivostok.  Fr. Myron Effing, CJD and Br. Daniel Maurer, CJD, came at the invitation of Bp. Joseph Werth, SJ.  They have since been instrumental in founding or re-founding 12 parishes throughout the Russian Far East.

Also in 1992, sisters of the Congregation of Adoratrices of the Blood of Christ arrived in Krasnoyarsk, as did sisters of the Order of Sisters of Charity of St. Charles Borromeo. Because of the growth in number of local vocations, the General Council of the Order of Sisters of Charity of St. Charles Borromeo decided to open a Russian House of Formation. In 1999, with the blessing of Bishop Jerzy Mazur, such a house was opened in Irkutsk.

In November 1997 two priests of the Foreign Mission Society of America (Maryknoll) arrived in Khabarovsk. One of them went to work on Sakhalin Island. The other stayed in Khabarovsky Krai. Not long afterward, three more members of their society joined them. In addition, the religious sisters of the Japanese order of Sisters of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary began working in the parish communities of Khabarovsk and Khabarovsky Krai.

From 1999, at the initiative of Bishop Jerzy Mazur, SVD, and the Apostolic Nuncio in Moscow, Archbishop John Bukovsky, SVD, members of the Society of the Divine Word have been present. The Divine Word community was established in Blagoveschensk in 1999. During the same year, Fr. Aleksander Pietrzyk, SAC, a Polish Pallotine priest, started to work in Irkutsk.

In August 1998 a community of the Sisters of Charity of St. Ann was founded in Vladivostok, with the arrival of four sisters from Spain. The Sisters of the Congregation of St. Paul of Chartres (Paulist Sisters) from Korea also began working in Vladivostok.

Sister Catherine Marie provides flute music for the Christmas Mass in Vladivostok.

Since 2000 there have arrived the Sisters Servants of the Holy Spirit from Poland; sisters of the Order of St. Dominic; Sisters Servants of the Immaculate Conception of Mary; members of the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity from the U.S.; Maryknoll fathers from the U.S.; Carmelite friars and nuns from Poland:, and diocesan priests from Poland and Slovakia, India and Korea.

In 2013, the Sisters in Jesus the Lord came to the Russian Far East to serve on Russian Island as well as in Vladivostok and the surrounding area. The Sisters were from a new order in the U.S., and had visited southeastern Russia several times before establishing a permanent home.

PLEASE NOTE: IMMERSION Staff will be out of office Sept. 11-15. After submitting a form, use the link in your email to schedule a call for Sept. 18-22!

Service opportunities assigned to each community or program are not guaranteed to be part of every trip. Fill out an interest form to learn more.

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The Catholic Travel Guide

Catholic Churches in Moscow, Russian Federation

Although 70 years of Communism did much to suppress the Roman Catholic faith in what was the Soviet Union, some churches did survive. Much tension still remains, however, between the Russian Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches. As a result there are only a few Roman Catholic parishes in the city, but they are growing.

There is also a Franciscan monastery and as well as diplomatic missions from both the Vatican and the Sovereign Military Order of Malta

The principal church of interest would probably be the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception. Construction took place from 1901-1911 with notable contributions from the Polish community in Moscow. It was confiscated by the government in 1938, returned to the Church in 1996 and re-consecrated in 1999. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Moscow and one of three Roman Catholic churches in the city.

It is built in the Gothic style and has one of the largest pipe organs in Russia. As a result it is home to many concerts in addition to the Holy Mass. The acoustics and this remarkable organ make concerts here an experience to remember.

The Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception:

This imposing Cathedral has vigil Masses on Saturdays in both Russian and Latin. And, according to their website, the Sunday Mass schedule in various languages as follows:

8:30 a.m. Mass in Polish 10:00 a.m. Mass in Russian. 10:00 Mass in Korean (chapel in the crypt) 11:45 a.m. Mass for children in Russian. Homily for children. 12:15 p.m. Mass in English and French (in the crypt of the chapel) 1:00 p.m. Mass in Polish 2:30 p.m. Mass in Spanish 3:00 p.m. Mass in English (in the crypt of the chapel) 3:30p.m. Divine Liturgy of the Armenian rite 5:00 p.m. Mass on extraordinary form of the Roman Rite (chapel in the crypt) 5:30 Holy Mass in Russian

Address is:   ul. Malaja Gruzinskaja 27, Moskva, 123557

Tel:  +7 095 252 3911

Click here for the official website of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Moscow.

There are several other Catholic Churches in Moscow . We try to keep schedules current, but be sure to check with them for any changes in Mass times.

Catholic Chaplaincy of the Anglo-American School

Sunday Mass in English at 10:00 a.m., French at noon

Address: 78 Leninskiy prosp. Tel: 095-243-9621

Parish of our Lady of Good Hope

Masses in two locations: the Embassy of the United States and in the Cathedral (chapel in the basement of the temple). Evening Masses in English on Saturdays at 7:15 p.m. and Sundays at 6:00 p.m.

Address: ​7/4 Kutuzovskiy Prospect,(Bldg 5, Entrance 3, Apt. 42) Tel: 243-9621 (same as above)Parish of Our Lady of Good Hope

Tel: +7 499/243 96 21, fax: +7 499/243 96 21

e-mail : [email protected] (Fr. Michael Ryan, SM, Pastor)

The Church of Saint Louis of the French

This parish serves the French, English, Italian and Vietnamese communities although all are welcome.

Address:      Malaya Lubyanka, 12A ,  Moscow 101000,  Russia

Weekday Mass Schedule: 8:00 a.m. Mass in Latin (in French on Wednesdays)

Saturday Mass schedule:

• 09:00 in Russian
• 19:00 in Russian

during the week

• 18:30 in Russian

Sunday Mass schedule:

• 09:00 in English
• 10:30 in French
• 12:00 in Russian
• 13:30 in Italian
• 15:00 in Russian
• 17:00 in Lithuanian
• 19:30 in Vietnamese

Address: Malaya Gruzinskaya ulitsa, 27, gorod Moskva, Russia101000

Tel:  +7 095 925-2034

Click here for the official website for the Church of Saint Louis of France in Moscow

In addition to the Churches mentioned above, some embassies also have Catholic Masses on Sundays.

Click here to find hotels in Moscow, compare prices, and read what other travelers have to say at TripAdvisor

⇐ Back to Catholic places of interest in the Russian Federation

1 thought on “moscow”.

I attended mass at both the cathedral and at Saint Louis les Francais. At the cathedral there is a bookstore and a cafe. The weekend classical music concerts are great and very popular.

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6 Ways Global Mission Trips Can Transform Your Local Church

• September 5, 2024

What my friend said shocked me, “Short-term mission trips aren’t helpful.” 

I don’t know if I’d be where I am today if I hadn’t experienced a half-dozen mission trips in my faith-formative years. These short-term mission trips accelerated my faith and discipleship unlike anything else. And I like to believe that our teams made a difference in the lives of those we came into contact with.

When I asked my friend why, he said this is because sometimes when a group of people comes in for a week and leaves, it provides temporary relief but gives false hope.

After this, I went on my own journey to determine what I believe. I didn’t want to dismiss my friend’s thoughts. He encouraged me to read the book When Helping Hurts, and I did. I even had their author on my podcast here . 

Since then, I can confidently say that short-term mission trips are absolutely helpful, but how we do them and who we partner with are of uber-importance. When I think of a mission organization helping without hurting globally, I think of Children’s HopeChest. I’ve had the privilege of going on a trip with this organization and sponsoring children in Guatemala to see their long-term impact. 

In today’s blog, they share 6 ways mission trips can transform and even grow your church. And, I’d be honored if you’d join me and Wil Crooks for a one-hour webinar, on September 12th, Noon-1PM CT, called Fresh Insights on How Short-Term Mission Trips Can Grow Your Church .

Short-Term Trips, Long-Term Vision

The phrase “short-term missions” often suggests brief engagements that might not always lead to lasting change. While these trips can offer immediate, meaningful experiences, they sometimes fall short of creating the enduring impact that both the participants and the communities they aim to help truly need.

The challenge isn’t in the concept of short-term visits themselves, but in how we frame and approach them. When these trips are viewed as standalone events, their potential for fostering deep, sustainable change can be limited. However, by embracing a framework where short-term visits are part of a broader, strategic mission effort, your church can harness its full potential for lasting impact!

Mission Trips: Still Relevant and More Influential Than Ever

In an era where churches face declining attendance, cultural shifts, and the rise of digital engagement, mission trips might seem outdated. However, mission trips are not only surviving but thriving. They continue to play a vital role in revitalizing local congregations and enhancing global outreach efforts.

To truly fulfill the call of Christ, churches must embrace global discipleship with bold and innovative approaches. The Great Commission commands us to “go into all the world and make disciples” (Mark 13:14), and mission trips provide a powerful avenue for fulfilling this mandate. For these trips to be effective, they must be undertaken with intentionality, wisdom, and a strategic vision for lasting impact.

Here’s why mission trips are not only still relevant but essential to growing your church and enhancing its impact on both local and global scales:

1. Reigniting Faith

Mission trips challenge participants to step outside their comfort zones and confront real-world situations that demand active faith. These experiences go beyond serving; they involve deep engagement with global issues and communities. The transformative nature of these trips can reignite spiritual fervor within your congregation, encouraging members to embrace a more dynamic, action-oriented faith.

2. Strengthening Congregational Bonds

Shared experiences during mission trips—navigating new environments, overcoming obstacles, and celebrating successes—create deep, lasting connections among participants. These collaborative efforts foster a strong sense of community and unity within the church. Upon returning home, these strengthened bonds often translate into a more cohesive and supportive church body, enhancing fellowship and communal support.

3. Expanding Global and Local Engagement

Mission trips offer invaluable lessons from partner communities and often inspire participants to rethink their local outreach efforts. These experiences encourage increased involvement in local initiatives, volunteerism, and support for community needs. By thinking globally while acting locally, mission trips inspire a fresh vision for outreach and ministry, redefining how the church engages with the world in strategic and impactful ways.

4. Attracting and Retaining the Next Generation

Millennials and Gen Z seek authenticity, action, and purpose in their faith experiences. Engaging in sustainable and dignifying mission work can attract younger generations eager to participate in meaningful service. These trips demonstrate that your church is not just talking the talk but walking the walk, making it a compelling option for those seeking a faith that actively engages with the world.

5. Cultivating a Mission-Minded Culture

Mission trips help cultivate a mission-minded culture within your church. The impact of these trips is felt long after the journey ends, driving a sustained focus on mission and service that revitalizes every aspect of church life.

6. Experience the Holy Spirit in a New Way

Many American Christians are crying out wanting to experience the Holy Spirit in their lives. Sadly, however, when we set up our lives with comfort and security of this world, many of us push the Holy Spirit to the fringes. To experience the power of the Holy Spirit in a new way often requires doing something that breaks you out of your comfort zone. Short-term mission trips ensure a daily reliance on God in which we experience His comfort and power. This allows us to return with confidence and boldness to continue to go where God leads us.

How Mission Trips Are Evolving to Have Greater Impact

In today’s evolving landscape, traditional short-term mission trips—often criticized for their top-down approach—are transforming. The emphasis is now on:

• Service to Partnership: Modern mission trips prioritize collaboration and co-created solutions, fostering mutual respect and sustainable outcomes.
• Empowering Community-Led Initiatives: Supporting local communities to address their own needs ensures culturally relevant and impactful efforts.
• Breaking Problematic Mindsets: Challenging the hero complex and embracing humility makes mission trips more respectful and effective in addressing root causes.
• Long-Term Impact Through Engagement: Continuous support and ongoing relationships ensure that mission trips lead to lasting positive change.

Join Us for More Fresh Insights

To explore how mission trips can be a transformative force for your church, join us for the Red Letter Leaders webinar featuring Wil Crooks on September 12th from Noon to 1 PM CT . This session will provide valuable insights and practical strategies for integrating missions into your church’s ministry, ensuring that your efforts are both effective and sustainable.

Don’t miss out on this opportunity to gain fresh perspectives and actionable advice. Register now and take the next step toward transforming your church’s mission strategy!

Register Here: Red Letter Leaders Webinar Registration Date: September 12th Time: Noon to 1 PM CT

Remember, you don’t have to do ministry alone. Let’s come together to explore how mission trips can be a catalyst for growth and transformation in your church. See you there!

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