Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate

Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate
Missionariorum Oblatorum Beatae Mariae Virginis Immaculatae
AbbreviationPost-nominal letters OMI
Established25 January 1816; 208 years ago (25 January 1816)[1]
FounderCharles Joseph Eugène de Mazenod
Founded atAix-en-Provence, France
TypeClerical Religious Congregation of Pontifical Right (for Men)[1]
HeadquartersGeneral House, Via Aurelia 290 Rome, Italy[2]
Region served
Worldwide 2020
Membership (2020)
3,786 (2,741 priests)[1]
Superior General
Luis Ignacio Rois Alonso
Motto
Latin: Evangelizare pauperibus misit me. Pauperes evangelizantur
English:
He has sent me to bring the Good News to the poor. The poor have received the Good News.
Mission
To bring the Good News of Christ to the Poor
Ministry
Parochial, Foreign mission, educational work
AffiliationsRoman Catholic Church
WebsiteOMI
Formerly called
Missionaries of Provence

The Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI) is a missionary religious congregation in the Catholic Church. It was founded on January 25, 1816, by Eugène de Mazenod, a French priest later recognized as a Catholic saint. (Oblate means a person dedicated to God or God's service.) The congregation was given recognition by Pope Leo XII on February 17, 1826. As of January 2020, the congregation was composed of 3,631 priests and lay brothers usually living in community.[3] Their traditional salutation is Laudetur Iesus Christus ("Praised be Jesus Christ"), to which the response is Et Maria Immaculata ("And Mary Immaculate"). Members use the post-nominal letters, "OMI".

As part of its mission to evangelize the "abandoned poor",[4] OMI are known for their mission among the Indigenous peoples of Canada, and their historic administration of at least 57 schools within the Canadian Indian residential school system.[5][6] Some of those schools have been associated with cases of child abuse by Oblate clergy and staff.[7]: 399–452 

  1. ^ a b c "Oblates of Mary Immaculate (Institute of Consecrated Life - Men) [Catholic-Hierarchy]".
  2. ^ "Oblates of Mary Immaculate (Institute of Consecrated Life - Men) [Catholic-Hierarchy]".
  3. ^ "Statistics of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate – 2020". OMI Lacombe Canada. 27 February 2020. Retrieved 9 June 2021.
  4. ^ "What we do: We are Missionaries". OMI Lacombe. Retrieved 24 June 2021.
  5. ^ Babych, Art; Gonzalez, Ramon (12 June 2000). "Oblates face bankruptcy". Western Catholic Reporter. Retrieved May 31, 2021.
  6. ^ Eugène LeBeuf, Marcel (2011). The Role of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police During the Indian Residential School System.
  7. ^ Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (2015), "Canada's Residential Schools: The History. Part 2, 1939 to 2000" (PDF), The Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, vol. 1, McGill-Queen's University Press, archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-04-19