PIOUS SOCIETY OF SAINT FRANCIS XAVIER FOR FOREIGN MISSIONS. - It was founded by the servant of God Guido M. Conforti, at Parma, in 1895. A religious congregation in 1898, it received the «decretum laudis» in 1906 and definitive approval in 1921. Exclusive purpose: the conversion of unbelievers. Government: superior general and four councilors.

The Saverians, having set out in 1904, founded the apostolic prefecture of Western Honan, which was later divided into the dioceses of Chengchow and Loyang. At present they work in the aforementioned dioceses, in Kiangsi and at Tientsin. They have in Peking the house of studies and the native novitiate and in Shanghai the procuration. In Japan they are in the dioceses of Osaka and Fukuoka, in West Africa in the dioceses of Freetown and Bo, and recently also in Indonesia.

Personnel as of 1950: 309 professed, 650 students. The Institute has sixteen houses of recruitment, study and formation in Italy, two in Great Britain and one in the United States. It publishes various periodicals, among them Fede e civiltà for the educated classes, Didattica missionaria for teachers, Voci d'oltre mare for young people, Missionari saveriani, an organ of liaison with friends and benefactors. It also publishes missionary books.

Bibliography2 works

BIBL.: V. Vanzin, G. M. Conforti, Parma 1931; G. Barsotti, Il servo di Dio G. M. Conforti, ibid. 1949.

Giovanni Bonardi

@incollection{ec9_pia_societa_san_francesco_save, author = {Bonardi, Giovanni}, title = {Pia Società San Francesco Saverio Per Le Missioni Estere}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {IX}, pages = {1334--1335}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1952}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/pia-societa-san-francesco-saverio-per-le-missioni-estere} }

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Pontifical Society of Saint Francis Xavier for Foreign Missions

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