The seal of the Society of the Catholic Apostolate
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Abbreviation | S.A.C. |
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Motto |
Latin: Caritas Christi urget nos English: The love of Christ impels us |
Formation | 4 April 1835 |
Type | Roman Catholic Institute of Apostolic Life |
Headquarters | Piazza San Vincenzo Pallotti, 204 Rome, Italy 41°53′35″N 12°28′17″E / 41.89306°N 12.47139°ECoordinates: 41°53′35″N 12°28′17″E / 41.89306°N 12.47139°E |
Membership
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1,648 priests, 2,379 brothers (2010) |
Rector General
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Very Rev. Jacob Nampudakam, S.A.C. |
Website | www |
The Society of the Catholic Apostolate (Latin: Societas Apostolatus Catholici, abbreviated S.A.C.), better known as the Pallottines, are a Society of Apostolic Life within the Roman Catholic Church, founded in 1835 by the Roman priest Saint Vincent Pallotti. Pallottines are part of the Union of Catholic Apostolate and are present in 45 countries on six continents. The Pallottines administer one of the largest churches in the world, the Basilica of Our Lady of Peace of Yamoussoukro in Côte d'Ivoire.
Saint Vincent Pallotti was born in Rome in 1795. Together with a group of associates and collaborators, he developed in the city of Rome a large structure of apostolic activity, while striving to unite and co-ordinate such activity. From this effort arose the idea of founding a new institution, that is, “the Union of Catholic Apostolate”, to unite all of his apostolic initiatives. Vincent Pallotti died on January 22, 1850, without having seen the full development of his work. His closest collaborators continued his mission, ensuring further development of the Society. Vincent Pallotti was beatified in 1950 and canonized in 1963 during the Second Vatican Council.
The charism of the Pallottines is to assist all in finding and living their apostolic vocation in life. St. Vincent Pallotti believed that all are called to revive faith, rekindle charity, and be apostles. The Pallottines assist people in living these virtues.
One example of their work was the Pallottine mission to Kamerun, established in 1890 in the German colony of Kamerun, today's Cameroon. From the late 1840s, when St. Vincent sent priests of the Society to St Mary Star Of The Sea, Hastings, England, to the present with the addition of Taiwan and the Philippines, the Pallottines have been expanding their missionary apostolate. The Union administers diverse schools such as: Bishop Eustace Preparatory School in Pennsauken, New Jersey; St. Vincent Pallotti High School in Laurel, Maryland (run by the Pallottine Missionary Sisters); and the St. Paulusheim Gymnasium in Bruchsal, Germany. The Pallottines also founded and direct the Catholic Apostolate Center in Washington, D.C., which develops programs to help strengthen the Society's mission.