“Missioners are to go where they’re needed but not wanted, and stay until they’re wanted but not needed,” said Maryknoll foreign missioners cofounder Bishop James A. Walsh. In those few words, he also summed up the lives of those serving as Glenmary missioners, here in the home missions!
Glenmary—a community of priests and Brothers—is the only Catholic missionary society working exclusively in the mission areas of the United States, specifically in counties throughout the South and Appalachia. Glenmary priests and Brothers work to build up the Kingdom of God by establishing an effective Church presence in rural counties where the Catholic Church is not yet present.
Often, the sacraments are first celebrated in a county for a small number of Catholics during Mass in a field, a rented storefront or a local resident’s living room.
Glenmarians evangelize, that is, proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ and the unique gifts of the Catholic Church within the neglected rural areas of the United States. These gifts are especially shared with the unchurched—those claiming no religious affiliation—who make up a large percentage of the population of all Glenmary mission counties.
Glenmary priests and Brothers proclaim the reign of God by serving both the spiritual needs of those living in a mission area and the material needs of the poor—regardless of their religious affiliation. In the words of our founder, “Our work is to arouse America and make it convert-conscious and to turn the main force of its convert effort into the small towns and the open places, to make people realize that if we are going to convert America it must be done from the grass roots up and not from cities down.”
Glenmarians often find ourselves working with local partners to initiate and organize food pantries and home building and renovation programs, ministerial alliances, thrift stores, social service centers and youth groups. We work to protect the environment and natural resources in our mission regions and collaborate with local leaders on a wide range of issues affecting local communities.
The main thrusts of Glenmary’s mission effort are direct service to those living in mission counties and educating the universal Church about the missionary need within the United States. Since 1939 missioners—through the power of the Holy Spirit and trust in the guiding hand of Jesus—have established over 120 missions and outreach ministries in about 140 counties in 14 states, impacting thousands of lives in large and small ways.
Glenmary missionary priests and Brothers work to build up the Body of Christ in rural counties by nurturing the faith of the small number of Catholics living there, reaching out to the unchurched and helping serve the material needs of the poor living in these counties.
Once the community and mission parish are firmly established, it can be given back to the pastoral care of its local diocese, thus allowing Glenmary missioners to move on the areas of greater missionary need.
The name “Glenmary” is derived from Glendale (a suburb of Cincinnati, Ohio, where our first Glenmary headquarters was located) and Mary, the mother of Jesus, who is our society’s patroness under the title of “Our Lady of the Fields.”
In the southern United States, there are over 350 counties without a Catholic church or a resident pastoral minister.
The poverty level within Glenmary mission areas is often twice the national average.
Frequently less than 1% of the total population in our mission counties are Catholic.
4119 Glenmary Trace, Fairfield, OH 45014
Dirección Postal: PO Box 465618, Cincinnati OH 45246
