100 Years of Vincentian Presence in Panama

NUNTIA, the international journal of the Congregation of the Mission,  celebrates 100 Years of Vincentian Presence in Panama

(View beautiful 64 page memorial booklet commemorating 100 years  requires Adobe Flash Player version 10.0.0 or greater)

From Nuntia MAY 2014 ENG (PDF)

“In January 1910 Father McHale, the Visitor of the Philadelphia Province (today the Eastern Province of the United States) asked Father Thomas McDonald to investigate the possibility of establishing a permanent mission in Panama.  From 1910-1913 Father Thomas McDonald, McHale and two other confreres preached popular missions in Panama during the dry season.  In 1914 the Visitor of the Philadelphia Province and the Bishop of Panama reached an agreement to formally establish a mission in the Canal Zone in order to serve the English-speaking community.  In 1917 this mission was extended to Bocas del Toro in order to minister to the members of the African-Caribbean community.  In 1948 the Bishop of Panama asked the Congregation to begin ministry in the Province of Chiriqui.  In 1976 Father Charles Schuster initiated ministery in the indigenous area of Chiriqui, now part of the Ngobe Buglé Comarca.  From the beginning the Missionaries have engaged in sacramental ministry, popular missions, lay formation, the formation of Missionaries and many other ministries that have had a social and pastoral implact on the country.

“In 2013 the mission of the Congregation of the Mission in Panama became a Region and its first Regional Visitor was appointed, Father Alcibiades Guerra.

“During this past month the community celebrated the 25th anniversay of the death of Father Nicolás Van Kleff who was assassinated on May 7th, 1989.