MISSIONARIES OF WORKERS. — Religious congregation founded on 24 Nov. 1894 at Seraing in Belgium by the priest Teofilo Reyn, with the full approval of Msgr Doutreloux, then bishop of Liegi. On 10 June 1930 the decree of praise was granted by the Holy See, and on 4 June 1935 the Constitution and the Congregation were definitively approved.
of Propaganda Fide. Following the publication of the Code of Canon Law, the Constitutions were revised and, with certain additions and modifications, approved in 1921.
In 1947 the Constitutions were again examined. The modifications proposed by the General Chapter concerned especially the erection of provinces, their government, and the powers of the provincial. The Society (1950) has 85 houses in Europe and America; its members number 2,624, including 31 bishops;
Its purpose is the apostolate among the working classes, in harmony with the principles of the encyclicals Rerum novarum and Quadragesimo anno, by opening apprenticeship, vocational, and middle and higher technical schools; by promoting Catholic Action among workers; by establishing employment offices and labour exchanges; and by giving lectures on religious and labour questions. The M. also have parishes in places where workers are especially numerous.
The Congregation, consisting of priests and lay brothers, currently has 15 houses with 106 missionaries in Belgium and the Belgian Congo.