In their words and actions Claretians strive to evangelize through their witness to the Word of God.  Throughout all of their many ministries,  Claretian spirituality helps them listen to the weary of the world with their hearts.

The Claretians walk with people who are in need. In the U.S. and Canadian province, Claretians are present in poor neighborhoods where young people live in the shadow of gang violence. We've built housing for seniors and families who otherwise couldn’t afford a home of their own. We minister to students on college campuses, helping them build strong faith communities. We sponsor a vibrant publishing ministry, Claretian Publications, and foster devotion to St. Jude through the National Shrine of St. Jude.  We are building our presence in the United Nations, giving a voice to the voiceless around the world.  We serve in a variety of medical and hospital ministries.  We foster community organizing from the inner city to the needs of campesinos (fieldworkers).  We have brought evangelization into the digital world with our internet radio station RadioClaret and in community after community, we are a singular resource for latino Catholics, the fastest growing population in the American Catholic Church.  

The Claretians’ diverse ministries are a reflection of their founder, Saint Anthony Claret. He strove to spread the Good News of the Gospel by any means possible. Claret crossed his native Spain by foot giving sermons wherever there were people to listen. A prolific writer, Claret published more than 200 books and pamphlets. He remained in touch with the people even as an archbishop in Cuba, where he fought the effects of slavery and racial inequity and founded credit unions for the poor. 

 

“I have so much love for the missionaries that I would pour out my blood for them, I would offer them any service, deprive myself of food for the body if this would help support them in their labors. When I consider how they are working to make God better known and loved, and that souls be saved and not condemned, I am possessed by I do not know what kind of longing and impatience.” - Saint Anthony Claret 

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Learn about our 

Mission and Vision 

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Learn about our

ministries by 

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Here are some highlights from our Chapter Document, JOYFUL COMMUNITIES IN PROPHETIC MISSION, which was drafted after all our Province Missionaries met in the summer of 2017. This can give you and idea of where our heart is, and why we do what we do.

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"As Claretian Missionaries, we gather for our Chapter in the Province of the United States and Canada and amid a world suffering with political, economic, and intercultural tensions, we see the importance of people of different backgrounds learning to get along with one another. In a political climate that fosters fear, anxiety, and polarization we want our presence to be a sign of fraternal communion.

  

Some people are experiencing economic hardships, unable to afford urgent medical care or repay student loans. Countries are struggling to adjust to the worldwide migration and refugee phenomena caused by a world plagued by war and violence. At the same time, the Church has a declining relevance, especially for young adults. This is largely due to a loss of credibility in the mishandling of the sexual abuse crisis and the perception of not being in touch with reality in the areas of sexuality and family life.

 

Mass attendance has declined throughout North America, affecting the communities where we minister. As evangelizers we know that our message must go beyond the walls of churches and reach out to the new Areopagus of our society, be it the migrant fields of California or the vast reaches of the Internet, wherever people gather to work, play or share ideas.

  

Our congregational documents continue to call us to many forms of “shared mission”. This means working as a team in ministry. We recognize the importance of a better understanding of “team dynamics” and pastoral collaboration. We want to avoid a minimalistic approach to ministry which only results in a culture of individualism and a lack of professionalism. We can do so much more when we learn how to work as a team. That spirit that motivated the creativity and innovations of our founder, St. Anthony Mary Claret so many years ago is with us still.

 

 Like the ancient Hebrews fleeing Egypt, yet still longing for the familiar, we are called to trust in the Lord who leads us and shows us the way. It is in the barrenness of the desert where prophets are born and offer a word of hope that new life is possible. Our founder was such a prophet, who survived persecution, slander and physical attacks. On his behalf our Congregation calls on us to renew our missionary identity, to strengthen our community life and to seek out those ministries that are most urgent, timely, and effective. Our community life is a prophetic response to the Gospel call to move from the “I” to the “We” when addressing the hopes and pains of the modern world.

  

Called to have “one heart and one mind,” and “to share all in common” (cf. Acts 4:32), far from asking each one to abandon who he is, the Gospel invites us to open up ourselves to that sharing for which we have been created; our community life strengthens, enriches, and deepens our personal self; I am because We are. Our missionary community – a precious gift – nourished fully in the Eucharist, is a privileged place that strengthens and facilitates our personal fulfillment (cf. CC 10-12 / Witnesses and Messengers of the Joy of the Gospel, #26). The Congregation challenges us to care for one another as witnessed by the apostles and the first Christian communities. It is the Spirit who shapes our fellowship and forms us into disciples-missionaries among the people of God. Our communities – inter-generational and inter-cultural (cf. CC 17) – are called to be a parable of communion, an eschatological sign, an evangelizing word, in today’s world” (Ibid, 46). We have listened to and been enlivened by the words of Pope Francis, who has joined his voice to the words of the prophets proclaiming the joy of the Gospel.

 

Pope Francis invites us to live out the joy of the Gospel by walking with those who live on the peripheries, accompanying those we encounter there, and with them adoring God in the Christ from whom all our activities flow. We are called to be creative in adapting to the new realities in the church and society. In this time of political upheaval and polarization, our intercultural communities, lived in fraternal communion, become a much-needed prophetic witness to our society. We acknowledge and celebrate the complexity and diversity of our world, our countries and even our own communities. We invite others to join our Congregation of Claretian Missionaries in listening to God’s call to be a prophetic presence in this world. 

 

We are men committed to the ideals of St. Anthony Mary Claret; men on fire with God’s love, men who live in community with joy, love, and service - proud to say with one voice:

 

 

WE ARE MISSIONARIES!"

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