Sons of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. — This Congregation, dependent on the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda, is also known as the Institute of African Missions of Verona. In 1867, Bishop Daniele Comboni began a seminary in Verona for Negro Africa, which was later canonically erected by a decree of 8 December 1871 by the Bishop of Verona; his successor, Bishop Francesco Sogaro, transformed it (1885) into a religious Congregation. It received the *decretum laudis* in 1895 and final approval of its constitutions in 1910. In 1923, the German branch became autonomous, forming the Congregation of the Missionaries Sons of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
The purpose of the Institute is the conversion of unbelievers, particularly those in Africa. At present it has 25 houses in Italy, England, Portugal, the United States, and carries on missionary apostolate in Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Uganda, Egypt, Eritrea, Mozambique, among Negroes and Indians in the United States, and in Mexico. It numbers over 800 professed members, 160 novices, and 600 aspirants.