The Society of St. Peter the Apostle (SPA) is one of the four
Pontifical Mission Societies
The Pontifical Mission Societies, known in some countries as Missio, is the name of a group of Catholic missionary societies that are under the jurisdiction of the Pope. These organizations include the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, t ...
. It is the
Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
’s official fundraising body for the training of clergy and religious in mission countries.
It was founded in 1889 by Stephanie Bigard and her daughter and Jeanne, of
Caen
Caen (, ; nrf, Kaem) is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the department of Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inhabitants (), while its functional urban area has 470,000,"Society of St. Peter the Apostle", Archdiocese of St. Louis /ref> In 1922, the Society obtained papal patronage from
Pope Pius XI
Pope Pius XI ( it, Pio XI), born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti (; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939), was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 to his death in February 1939. He was the first sovereign of Vatican City fro ...
. Its focus is primarily in mostly in Africa and Asia.
Today the SPA is established in 157 countries. It supports 1,069 mission dioceses and funds the training of 31,000 seminarians in about 500 seminaries and 10,000 novices.