Patron of the Missions

P ope Gregory xv ’s short pontificate (1621-1623) was of grg significance for the Catholic revival. He called the new Sacred Congregation ‘de Propaganda Fide’ into existence on 6 January 1622. Later, the Apostolic Constitution Inscrutabili Divinae of 22 June, 1622, explained in detail its competence as the central authority covering the whole mission field. The centralisation of the Church’s missionary activity under a single Office had many advantages, especially in ensuring a better coordination for mission work. Its immense contribution to the expansion of the missions down the centuries only reminds us of the permanent validity of the Church’s missionary mandate. Propaganda Fide was called to play a role of primary importance with regard to reflection and programmes of action that the Church needed in order to be more decisively ...