Mission de France
They are priests, deacons, lay people, driven by a passion to live the Gospel.
Sent out in teams, they live by their work and share in the ordinary conditions of their contemporaries.
The abbey church of Pontigny is their cathedral, and everyday life is their mission space. Father Hervé Giraud is the bishop of this transversal diocese serving the Catholic dioceses of France.
They are part of Mission of France.
Day after day, they seek to bear witness to God's tenderness manifested in Christ for all the people, whether they believe in Him or not.
The Spirit gives them the freedom to be fellow travellers with women and men who keep their distance from God.
They intend to give a true and clear sign that the Spirit is at work everywhere in the world.
They serve God's quest, not His conquest.
They do not live apart, but contribute their share.
Through their commitment to society and through prayer, they are helping to build a fairer world and a more fraternal Church, where no one is left by the wayside.
Some of them serve in North Africa and Asia, helping to broaden everyone's outlook and awareness.
They serve conversation, not conversion.
Mission de France stems from an initiative taken in 1941 by Cardinal Suhard and the bishops of France. It began in Lisieux (Normandy) with a seminary to train priests who would be better equipped to deal with the modern world, particularly those who did not share the Christian faith. Since 2002 deacons and lay people, men and women, have associated in teams with priests to proclaim the Gospel by entering into dialogue with their contemporaries.
Mission de France
This 12th-century Cistercian abbey became Pontigny's parish church during the French Revolution. Since 1954, it has also been the cathedral of Mission de France.
Mission de France stems from of an initiative taken in 1941 by Cardinal Suhard and the bishops of France. It began in Lisieux with a seminary to train priests who would be better equipped to deal with the modern world, particularly those who did not share the Christian faith. From the outset, and still today, these priests, sent out in teams, live by their work, sharing the habitat and living conditions of those to whom they are sent, in France and sometimes abroad.
Today, Mission de France includes lay people. Men and women, they are involved in mission teams and share with priests and deacons the same project: to proclaim the Gospel by entering into dialogue with their contemporaries.
Sent into the heart of the world, they seek to bear witness to the tenderness of God manifested by Christ for every human being, whether they believe him or not. As witnesses of Christian hope, they want to help build a more fraternal and just world where no one is left by the wayside.
