The Missionary Society of St. Paul is a Roman Catholic Society of Apostolic Life which began as an idea in the mind of its founder, the late Dominic Cardinal Ekandem. The Catholic Bishop Conference of Nigeria finally made the decision to establish the National Missionary Seminary of St Paul in its meeting in Kaduna Nigeria in September 1976. The decision of the Nigerian Bishops was inspired by the timely prophetic call of Pope Paul VI in Kampala, Uganda, for Africans to be Missionaries to themselves.
Members of the Society now work in Botswana, Gambia, Cameroon, Kenya, Central African Rep, Liberia, Chad, Malawi, South Africa, South Sudan, Italy, Sweden, Grenada, the Bahamas, Canada, the United States of America, Ireland and the UK.
The MSP UK Region has witnessed a steady growth in the number of personnel. In the last 15 years, the Region has recorded thirty-nine priests. Currently there are 33 priests of the Congregation engaged in parish-based, school and hospital apostolates in the United Kingdom. MSP priests are working in the following dioceses; Southwark, Westminster, Northampton, Clifton, Portsmouth, Leeds, Birmingham and Wrexham. In Southwark Archdiocese, there are ten MSP priests serving in eight parishes; St Gertrude Bermondsey, Our Lady of the Assumption Deptford, St Agatha Kingston upon Thames, Ss Philip and James Herne Hill, St. John the Evangelist Gravesend, The Annunciation and St Augustine Beckenham Hill, St. Francis de Sales & St Gertrude Stockwell, St Thomas the Apostle Nunhead and Our Lady of the Rosary Brixton.
The words of St Paul “we are ambassadors for Christ,” (2Cor 5:20) is the motto and basis for the existence of the Society. It’s members take on the missionary activities to all nations in accordance with the mandate Jesus Christ gave. Like St Paul, the members are driven by the love of Christ (Cf 2Cor 5:14) to “be all things to all people” (1Cor 9:22). Though primary evangelization is its central mission, the Society is also committed to the apostolate of the printed word.
The Society currently has a total number of 284 members.
