MISSIONARIES OF THE HOLY FAMILY. – A religious congregation founded in 1895 by Fr. G. B. Berthier at Grave, near Bois-le-Duc in the Netherlands. The purpose of the Institute is to foster ecclesiastical vocations that could not otherwise be realized on account of poverty or the age of the candidates, and to multiply, for this end, in countries where such vocations flourish, houses to prepare as many priests as possible for missionary service. The Institute developed successfully and, at the founder’s death in 1908, numbered 25 priests and 183 students. In 1911 it received the decree of praise, and in 1939 definitive approval.
The first Missionaries of the Holy Family set out for Brazil, then for Argentina, Chile, Borneo, Java, and northern Norway. In the latter country an apostolic prefecture has been entrusted to them. Today the Congregation counts 978 professed members and about a thousand scholastics and novices.