Propaganda Fide: Promoting the Church’s mission to the ends of the earth

The Dicasteries of the Holy See told from the inside: history, objectives and "mission statement," how the structures that support the Pope's ministry work

By Amedeo Lomonaco - Vatican City

The history of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples goes back four centuries and responds to the timeless mandate to reach out to what Pope Francis calls the human and existential "peripheries." The Congregation’s work encompasses the world, where mission "ad gentes" requires vocations, labor, intelligence, and structures. The work of the dicastery headed by Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, is supported by a budget of 25 million euros (official figure for 2021) and is at the same time detailed and complex. He gives us background and details about its activities, projects, and objectives.