As a Catholic priest, our founder, Father Luigi Butera, was aware of the urgent need for the people of God to be evangelized. Yet, he also understood the daily responsibilities priest have and how challenging it is for them to dedicate more time to this task. He pondered on a solution. In 1972, as a Combonian priest, he had the opportunity to visit Bangkok, Thailand. There, he saw young Buddhists standing in a line and asked if they had a special consecration. They answered that throughout a year, they served as laypeople before becoming religious. Over time, an idea developed in his mind to train lay ministers as missionaries.

When Father Luigi looked into the education and formation of Mormons in Mexico, he asked himself, “Why don’t we do something similar in the Catholic Church?” After prayerful discernment, he concluded, “We must prepare Catholic laity to serve in missions.