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• CICM


  Congregation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary
• CICM arrived in Japan

  1946
• CICM in Japan


  • Missionaries from Belgium, Congo, Philippines, Indonesia
  • One Japanese missionary who served in the Philippines
• CICM's work in Japan

  1. Teaching English/French in schools

  2. Spreading Christian values

  3. Starting kindergartens

  4. Oriens Institute for Religious Research
• In the 1980s, Congolese and Filipino confreres were assigned to Japan
• Over 75 years, several CICM missionaries became professors in institutes of higher learning to reach out to the larger Japanese society
• In 1950s, Fr. Jozef Spae founded the Oriens Institute for Religious Research
• Oriens played an essential role in bringing about the aggiornamento and deepening of the faith via writings and discussion groups, especially among the non-Japanese missionary priests and sisters
• Oriens also promoted ecumenism and made first contacts with other religious traditions
• In the 1950s, groups of the Jeunesse Ouvrière Chrétienne (Young Christian Workers) were started in various CICM parishes
• In the 1960s, a center for workers was founded in Takasago, mainly due to the efforts of Fr. François Mouchet
• Fr. Edgar Gacutan, CICM, was appointed Bishop of the Diocese of Sendai (Japan) on December 8, 2021
• CICM arrived in Mongolia

  1992
• CICM is present in Mongolia because the Holy See wanted it that way, rather than CICM deciding to be the first religious congregation to arrive in the mission field
• The first group of CICM missionaries in Mongolia comprised Wenceslao Padilla, Gilbert Sales, and Robert Goessens
• Saints Peter and Paul's Parish, the first parish in Mongolia, was officially established in 1996
• Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral was inaugurated in August 2003
• Good Shepherd Parish, the second parish, was erected in Ulaanbaatar in 2003
• Pope Saint John Paul II appointed Bishop Wenceslao Padilla, CICM, as the first bishop of Mongolia
• The Verbist Care Center (VCC) was started in 1994 to work with street children in Ulaanbaatar
• My Home Kindergarten (MHK) was started in Erdenet in 2002 to assist underprivileged children
• The Antoon Mostaert Center (AMC) was founded in 2003 to reach out to Mongolian intellectuals and promote Mongolian studies
• CICM arrived in Hong Kong in 1950 as missionaries from Mainland China on their way to other missions or to Belgium
• CICM established the religious CICM Province of Sinica, including the religious districts of Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore, in 1956
• CICM first came to Makassar, Indonesia in 1937 and focused on evangelizing the Torajas in the mountains
• After the war, as Christianity grew rapidly in Toraja land, an increasing number of lay people were called upon to help in pastoral work
• CICM missionaries are respected and appreciated by the majority of Indonesian Muslims because they have given the population education, health and hope for better life
• Saint Paul Agricultural School in Makale, founded in 1969 by Fr. Roger Leleu, CICM, has been influential in improving the lives of thousands of Toraja farmers
• The first CICM missionary to Singapore, Fr. Richard Quintens, arrived in 1931
• CICM Bishop Carlo van Melckebeke was appointed Apostolic Visitator of the Overseas Chinese and set up his office in Singapore in 1953
• CICM members founded the Church of the Holy Spirit and the Church of Christ the King in Singapore
• The Marriage Encounter movement was introduced to Singapore with the help of a CICM member, Fr Jean-Pierre Benit
• CICM has welcomed two Singaporeans, Fathers Peter Koh and Anthony Lim, who have served in mission fields like Zambia
• CICM is a co-founder and active member of ACMA (Archdiocesan Commission for Missionary Activity) and promotes local evangelization, especially through RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults)
• Accents of CICM missionary presence

  • In Europe, there is a search for missionary integration
  • In Africa, the accent is on communion and solidarity
  • In Asia, the emphasis is on evangelization and attempts to dialogue with the great religions of the region
  • In America, the accent is on solidarity in the struggle for liberation
• Photos of certain structures in mission areas where the CICM missionaries are working are to be flashed on the screen for the students to guess where these structures are found
• Jesus went from one place to another
• The mission of Jesus


  A mission of love and service to humanity and the whole of creation
• Jesus' self-giving love


  Unconditional caring that has the safety of His friends as its core value, does not turn back when trouble comes, dies so that His friends might live
• The Good Shepherd


  The shepherd dies, the sheep are safe. The Father's life, which is essentially love flows into Jesus, and the life of the Father and Jesus flows into Jesus' friends