The Verbum Dei Missionary Fraternity ( es, Fraternidad Misionera Verbum Dei) is an

institute of consecrated life An institute of consecrated life is an association of faithful in the Catholic Church erected by canon law whose members profess the evangelical counsels of chastity, poverty, and obedience by vows or other sacred bonds. They are defined in the ...

of 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 ...

dedicated to

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

work.

History

It was founded on 17 January 1963, in the Spanish island of

Mallorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest island in the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain and located in the Mediterranean. The capital of the island, Palma, is also the capital of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. The Bal ...

, by Father Jaime Bonet. The community was ecclesiastically approved as a new form of

Consecrated Life Consecrated life (also known as religious life) is a state of life in the Catholic Church lived by those faithful who are called to follow Jesus Christ in a more exacting way. It includes those in institutes of consecrated life (religious and se ...

of pontifical right, by

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

on 15 April 2000. According to the constitutions endorsed on that date their mission is to announce the Word of God and to propagate the

Kingdom of God The concept of the kingship of God appears in all Abrahamic religions, where in some cases the terms Kingdom of God and Kingdom of Heaven are also used. The notion of God's kingship goes back to the Hebrew Bible, which refers to "his kingdom" b ...

through prayer, the ministry of the Word, and the testimony of evangelical life. The community consists of

consecrated Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service. The word ''consecration'' literally means "association with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different grou ...

women, consecrated men (

brothers A brother is a man or boy who shares one or more parents with another; a male sibling. The female counterpart is a sister. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to refer to non-familia ...

and

priests A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in p ...

), and consecrated married couples according to their state. The name, ''Verbum Dei'', is

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

for "Word of God". The mission of the VDMF is to promote the greatest dignity for all people by empowering individuals and communities to partake in the journey of Christian discipleship. This discipleship is forged in a spirituality rooted in Scripture and Catholic tradition that leads to witnessing to universal fratarnety made visible through community. All celibate members of the community go through several years of academic study of philosophy and theology as that which takes place in a Catholic priestly seminary. The daily life of a missionary involves several hours of silent contemplative prayer. The Verbum Dei's ministerial work within the Catholic Church includes but is not limited to: Retreat Ministry for all ages and levels (Liturgical Seasons, Women’s Retreats, Men’s Retreats, Married Couples Retreats, Young Adult Retreats, Teenager Retreats, Vocational Discernment Retreats, Silent Contemplative Retreats), Scripture - Based Prayer Groups, Lay Leadership Formation, Lay Preaching Formations and Workshops, Parish Ministry, Pastoral Care for Individuals and Families, Spiritual Accompaniment, Theological Certificate or Diploma (offered only in some communities in the world), and University Campus Ministry. Across the five continents the institute involves people of different states and areas of life: single and married, old and young, of different backgrounds and occupations. The community encourages people who feel called to the Verbum Dei spirituality or experience themselves nourished by the Verbum Dei charism to commit to a discipleship group or a regular "revision of life" group in order to deepen their relationship with God personally and in a community of faith. There is also a focus on working with university students and young adults to help nurture a stronger Catholic identity and spirituality among the younger generation of the Church that works towards God's Reign of justice, peace, compassion and love in the world of today. Quite a few consecrated members of the fraternity work as Catholic chaplains in many universities. The Verbum Dei Missionary Fraternity is active over 30 countries in the world. The following are some countries the Verbum Dei is present in: England, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Russia, Spain,

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

, Bolivia,

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Honduras, Mexico, Peru,

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, Venezuela,

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

, the D.R. of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Côte d'Ivoire (the Ivory Coast), Australia, the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

, Singapore, and

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

. For periods of time the community has been present in France, Belgium, Ireland, Poland, Hong Kong, and elsewhere.

References

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History

References

External links