Apostolic Work for Missionary Outfitting
The Apostolic Work for Missionary Outfitting originated in France in 1838 through the initiative of Marie Zoé Du Chesne to send personal outfitting items, furnishings, and sacred vestments to missionaries. The example was followed by other women.
In 1848, the work established its headquarters in Orléans. In 1852, it took the title of Apostolic Work of Pious Female Workers. On May 13, 1856, a central council was established in Paris. The first director was Fr. Schwindenhammer, who in 1854 presented the statutes of the Apostolic Work to Pius IX; they were approved and enriched with spiritual favors. In 1870, it came under the direct jurisdiction of the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith (Propaganda Fide). It is widespread in Europe and America with its own national directors. The statutes for Italy were approved by Propaganda Fide on January 9, 1934.
Saverio Paventi
In Germany, Katharina Schynse (1854-1935), at the suggestion of her brother August, a member of the White Fathers, founded in 1902 the Missionary Work of Catholic Women and Girls with the aim of aiding the missions and the German diaspora. The headquarters is in Pfaffendorf and it has spread to Austria, Belgium, Switzerland, and the United States.
Pius XI elevated the association to a papal work *ad instar* on March 18, 1934 (letter from the Cardinal Secretary of State to Cardinal Granito di Belmonte, protector of the Work: Secretariat of State, Prot. no. 131.006), and Pius XII definitively declared it a papal work on April 20, 1942 (*AAS*, 34 [1942], p. 219).