What is the SPA?

• Who we are

  • The Society of St Peter the Apostle (SPA) is one of the four Pontifical Mission Societies (PMS) and under papal patronage since 1922. The SPA has an office in many countries worldwide and each is headed by a National Director. Here the National Director is Father John Dale. Its principal aim is to encourage prayer and financial help for vocations to the priesthood and religious life in the missions.
     

• What we do

  • Through the financial donations given by our members, we support the running costs, and sometimes the building costs, of seminaries and novitiates around the world, ensuring that mission dioceses do not have to turn vocations to the religious life away through lack of funding. The SPA in England and Wales also has a sponsorship scheme Link for seminarians in major seminaries in five countries (currently India, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria and Sri Lanka) where members can sponsor those training for the priesthood for their final four years, and enjoy, if they wish, a personal correspondence with their student/s.
    Through prayer and personal sacrifices we can support the growth of mission vocations, thereby enabling us to fulfil our own duty as Christian missionaries to the Church.

•  Where we are

  • All four societies of the PMS of England and Wales are based at 23 Eccleston Square, London SW1V 1NU
     

• How did the SPA begin?

  • In 1889, the French missionary bishop of Nagasaki, Japan, wrote to Stephanie and her daughter Jeanne Bigard of Caen, France, asking for financial help so that he could keep his seminary open. The Bigards gathered a group of friends and supporters and collected the necessary funds for the bishop. Within five years of sending its first donation to Japan, the group was also helping seminaries in India, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Korea and China.
     

• How do I contact the SPA?

  • Please contact the SPA National Coordinator, Suzy Herron, or the PMS National Director, Father John Dale - details are given on the side menu of this page.
     

• How is SPA funding collected and distributed?

  • Funding is collected through personal, group and parish donations, and through legacies. The monies collected each year are distributed by agreement between Rome and the SPA National Directors worldwide who meet in Rome each year to discuss funding allocations.
     

• How do I donate?

  • Whom do I make cheques payable to?
    ’The PMS/SPA’

  • a one-off donation or regular payments by cheque/Postal Order/card/Standing Order, or online) by completing a donation form

  • sponsoring a seminarian - currently £500 per year for the final four theology years of a student’s training at a major seminary. For  information on the sponsorship scheme click here

  • Secure online donations can be made through Charity Choice – please go to our donations page which can be found by clicking on the Donations button at the top right of this page
     

• I would like to know more about Gift Aid

  • Request a Gift Aid form
     

• I would like to know more about leaving a legacy.

  • Request a Making a Will leaflet - Click here for information
     

How can I get involved?

• How do I find out more information on the SPA?

  • Please see the side menu for details of how to contact the SPA. The National Director is Father John Dale and the SPA National Coordinator is Suzy Herron. You can view a copy of our annual magazine Mission Tomorrow on line or request a copy from the SPA office. Mission Tomorrow gives further details of the work of the SPA.
     

• How do I become an SPA member?

  • There is no subscription to the SPA. Please contact the SPA office if you wish to become a member and be placed on our mailing list (you can ask to be taken off the mailing list at any time). Throughout the year you will be sent a summer newsletter, a copy of the latest Mission Tomorrow magazine and our yearly Christmas appeal (or the Lenten appeal if you are a member of the clergy or a religious community). We ask for your spiritual support for the continuing work of the SPA, and of course any financial support you may be able to offer. To sponsor a seminarian we ask for a commitment of at least £500 per year for four years.
     

What is the Sponsorship Scheme?

• Full details of the SPA sponsorship scheme

  • The SPA in England and Wales offers a sponsorship scheme for five seminaries. Donors who wish to provide the subsidy of £500 per year for one seminarian for four years become sponsors, and are given the name of a seminarian and asked to pray for him, and he for them. They may also correspond if they wish. Parishes and individuals are encouraged to take on the sponsorship of a seminarian as part of their Advent or Lenten programme.
     

• Which seminaries are chosen for the scheme?

  • Currently the SPA in England and Wales sponsors seminaries in India, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria and Sri Lanka. We are proud to be supporting the Sri Lankan seminary in Kandy where the very first SPA sponsored seminary was built.
     

• How much does it cost?

  • It currently costs £500 per year for four years (If the annual cost increases it will not affect those who have already made a commitment for £500 per year). This covers the basic costs of a student in his final four years of theology training in a major seminary. You can use a variety of methods of payment: cheque, postal order, CAF voucher, credit/debit card or standing order. You can pay in full or throughout each year – whichever way is best for you.
     

• What do I have to do?

  • Please contact Suzy Herron, the SPA National Coordinator for further information. You can decide whether or not to correspond with your student, you may prefer to offer only the spiritual and financial support. Some SPA supporters have made lifelong friends with their seminarian, now a priest, others prefer not to, or are unable to write to their seminarian but both sponsor and student have a strong spiritual friendship where they pray for each other.
     

• Can we sponsor a seminarian as a group?

  • Yes. We would encourage you to do so where possible so that you can pray together for your seminarian/s during their training. Please let Suzy know and arrange for one of the group to become the contact point for all correspondence. Many parishes and prayer groups sponsor one or more students and find that it is a positive way for the group to share both in the spiritual and practical aspects of sponsorship 
     

• When ordained, where do the priests serve?

  • Very often, seminarians are ordained and then serve in the dioceses where they were born and raised. Others are asked by the bishop of their diocese to serve in other areas of their countries or in other dioceses around the world.
     

• How many seminarians and religious are helped by the SPA?

  • Worldwide, there are over 30,000 major seminarians and 10,000 religious who are helped by the SPA through its benefactors.

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