Maryknoll

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This article is about the Catholic mission society. For the town in Australia, see Maryknoll, Victoria.

Maryknoll or, the Catholic Foreign Mission Society of America, is a U.S.Catholic Society of Apostolic Life which has, throughout its nearly hundred-year history, had an exclusive emphasis on ministry and missionary work overseas, particularly East Asia, in China, Japan, Korea, Latin America, and Africa. Maryknoll Missioners include Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers ("the Society"), Maryknoll Sisters ("the Congregation")^[1], and Maryknoll Lay Missioners ("the Association").^[2] The three entities are canonically separate but work in partnership. The headquarters for all three entities are located just outside the town of Ossining, New York [1], thirty-two miles (50km) north of New York City on the Hudson River.

This order was founded by Fr. James Anthony Walsh of Boston and Fr. Thomas Frederick Price of North Carolina, who met at the 21st Eucharistic Congress in Montreal, Canada (7th – 11 September 1910). Maryknoll was established in 1911 as the Catholic Foreign Mission Society of America by the Archbishops of the United States with the commission to recruit, send and support U.S. missioners in areas around the world. On June 29, 1911, Pope Pius X blessed the founding of Maryknoll. Maryknoll's first missioners left for China in 1918.

Today there are over 550 Maryknoll priests and Brothers serving in countries around the world, principally in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Throughout their history, especially in the first half of the twentieth century, Maryknoll missioners played a large role in the Catholic church in East Asia where some missioners still work. Maryknoll also has extensive connections with many Latin American countries, where it has long worked to help alleviate poverty and bring constructive changes to the life of Latin America's poor.

Maryknoll Magazine is a publication issued by Maryknoll which attempts to expose a wide audience to its mission and other work around the world. Orbis Books is a publishing house owned and operated by the order, which puts out books on theological and other topics, particularly those with relevance to mission work and international cooperation.