MISSIONARY COOPERATION. — The faithful can cooperate in the propagation of the faith through prayer, offerings, and by promoting vocations to the apostolate.
The papal works of missionary cooperation must be promoted in a preeminent manner. These are the Missionary Union of the Clergy, the P.O. of the Propagation of the Faith, the P.O. of St. Peter the Apostle for Indigenous Clergy, and the P.O. of the Holy Childhood. Each of these works has its own central organization, which is coordinated from a directive and administrative standpoint. The Missionary Union of the Clergy is solely directed toward engaging the clergy in missionary apostolate, while the other works collect offerings and prescribe brief prayers. Also papal is the «Consociatio mulierum et puellarum catholicarum pro missionibus», founded in 1903 in Coblenz, which, however, has a local character.
In addition to the papal works, there are numerous other initiatives to aid the missions. Here only the principal ones will be indicated, grouped into works of prayer and works of material and intellectual assistance. A work of prayer is the Apostleship of Prayer, which since 1928 has added each month a particular missionary intention to its general intention. Among the works of material assistance, mention must be made of the Epiphany Collection for the fight against slavery, instituted by Pope Leo XIII with the constitution *Catholica Ecclesiae* of November 20, 1890, and in 1919 recommended by Benedict XV, with the purpose of collecting offerings on the feast of Epiphany for the African missions. The Sodality of Missionary Books collects offerings especially for the African missions. The Apostolic Work for the Outfitting of Missionaries originated in France in 1838 and was later developed in Europe and America. The works of medical assistance have a twofold purpose: to provide missionaries and sisters with theoretical and practical instruction in medical and surgical care, and to facilitate the acquisition of medical supplies for the missions. Courses of this kind are offered at the Universities of Louvain, Lille, Rotterdam, Fribourg, Parma, Georgetown in Washington, and at the Catholic Institute in Paris and Würzburg. In Rome, the Sovereign Military Order of Malta has opened an international school of emergency medicine and surgery for missionaries, as well as the Group for Medical Assistance to Missions, which receives monetary donations or medical supplies. In Milan, the Italian Missionary Physicians’ Union (U.M.M.I.) is also active. Worthy of mention is the M.I.V.A., i.e., the «Missions-Verkehr Arbeitsgemeinschaft», founded by Fr. Schulte with the purpose of providing missions with means of terrestrial, nautical, and aerial locomotion. After an initial period of flourishing development, it ceased to exist, and only the Swiss section remains. During the war, the same Fr. Schulte founded a similar work, «Wings of Mercy», which had a short-lived existence.
The works of intellectual cooperation are also very numerous and vary according to the country. Missions (v.) is noted.
In missionary cooperation among students, Catholics were preceded by the Protestants of the United States, who in 1888 founded the «Students’ Voluntary Movement». Toward the end of the last century, Catholic initiatives of this kind arose in Germany, which also developed in Austria in various forms of Missionary Leagues. In Belgium, the «Pro Apostolis» and the A.U.C.A.M. (v.) are flourishing, the latter having a Flemish counterpart. In the United States, the «Catholic Students Mission Crusade» is highly developed, and in France the following associations are successfully active: «Les amis des Missions», the «Ligue Missionnaire des Étudiants», and «Ad Lucem», i.e., the Association of University Laymen and Missionaries. Missionary Leagues among students are also developed in Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Spain.
In Italy, the Missionary League of Students (L.M.S.), which has its own bulletin, *Gentes*, has been active since 1927. Among university students since 1931, the Italian Catholic University Federation (F.U.C.I.) has carried out extensive missionary activity. Moreover, the Missionary Union of the Clergy has sought to engage teachers in the missionary ideal and to include a brief missionary chapter in the catechism. Recently, the Fathers of the Pious Society of St. Francis Xavier in Parma have established the Mission Education Center (C.E.M.), which, in the minds of its promoters, should lead to the realization of a broader missionary movement among the educated classes.