Société des missions étrangères de la province de Québec

The bishops of Québec decided during a conference held in Québec City in 1921 to respond to the appeal for the propagation of the faith launched by Pope Benedict XV (apostolic letter Maximum illud of 30.XI.1919) and to play a collective role in the Catholic missionary movement by founding a society of French Canadian diocesan priests dedicated to foreign missions. Canon Avila Roch, parish priest of the cathedral in Joliette, Québec, was put in charge of the new society and served as its superior general until his death (1940). The first missionaries departed in 1925 for China (Manchuria). The society spread as well to Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Honduras, Japan, Peru and the Philippines. In 1996 there were 202 members.