Who We Are
The Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate is a world wide Roman Catholic Congregation of Priests and Brothers founded after the French Revolution in 1816 by St. Eugene de Mazenod to work among the poor. Today we number 4,440 priests and brothers working in 71 countries throughout the world. Having arrived in Canada in 1841, the Oblates presently form one of the most important communities of men in the country. We now number about 700 men in Canada. The Oblates in Canada are organized into three sections known as Oblate Provinces. Oblates exercise very diversified ministries, but above all we seek to dedicate themselves to the poor and abandoned in urban centers, in Northern Canada and in other remote areas of the country. Oblates also work with immigrants, ethnic minorities and First Nations people. One can thus find us for example, in parishes, retreat houses, in missionary formation, preaching, social justice and other pastoral ministries, and universities. Our work situates us throughout Canada, from coast to coast.
“No ministry is alien to us as long as we never lose sight of the main purpose of the Congregation: the evangelization of the most abandoned.”
(Oblate Constitutions & Rules)
Oblates also work in missions throughout the world, on all six continents. There we work for the growth of the local churches. We are in solidarity with their missionary action and provide them with various forms of support.
The term “missionary” is often used to mean somebody who works far away in a foreign country in order to proclaim the Good News and build up the local Church. But the literal sense of the word “missionary” means “to be sent”. Consequently, wherever he finds himself, the Oblate is in a missionary situation: whether in Canada or elsewhere, he is a missionary.