Parishes all over the Diocese of Allentown are preparing for the warm weather of summer and for the annual mission appeals. Starting in June and running through September, parishioners can expect to see a missionary from various organizations around the United States. This year, the Diocese of Allentown is thrilled to have missionaries visiting all 78 parishes as part of their dedication to global missions.
Father Andrew Torma, a missionary himself who is a priest of the religious order Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, is in charge of all mission appeals. He was appointed in April 2023 and began his role in September, and now serves as Director of the Pontifical Mission Societies, which includes the Propagation of the Faith for the Diocese of Allentown.
Ordained in 1976, Father Torma is in residence at Sacred Heart Villa in Center Valley with other Missionaries of the Sacred Heart.
“[Each year] the organization gets an invitation from the Diocese and then we [the missionaries] contact the parishes we have been assigned to,” said Father Torma as he explained the way the mission appeal season regularly works. “We then arrange with the pastor of the parish the appropriate date to come and we preach at all the Masses.”
Each organization has specific focuses for their appeals. This year the Missionaries of the Sacred heart have a specific appeal, as well. “I will be talking about our missions in Bogotá, Colombia, and all our activities there. We will also be having a priest come from Papua New Guinea, and he will be also talking about our work there,” said Father Torma.
“There are a lot more organizations that want to speak than we can possibly assign here in the Diocese.”
These are the names of the organizations invited to participate in the Mission Appeals this summer:
- The Missionary Society of St. Paul
- Latin Diocese of Trivandrum
- Missionary Sisters of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus
- Divine World Missionaries
- Missionaries of St. Francis de Sales
- Marymatha Capuchin Province
- Comboni Missionaries
- Missionaries of La Salette
- Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers
- Missionhurst-CICM
- Society of the Mission of St. Francis Xavier
- Oblates of St. Francis de Sales
- Missionaries of the Sacred Heart
- Congregation of Rogationists
- Glenmary Home Missioners
- Apostles of Jesus Mission Office
- Catholic Diocese of Sunyani
- Piarist Fathers
- Missionary Sisters of the Holy Rosary
- The Evangelizing Sisters of Mary
- Mary Mother of God Mission Society
- Sisters of Christian Charity
Photo: Father Andrew Torma, Director of the Pontifical Mission Societies.
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