Divine Word Missionaries

The Society of the Divine Word is an international Congregation of catholic missionary priests and brothers whose members work primary where the Gospel has not been preached at all or only insufficiently, and where the local Church is not yet viable on its own.
	From Constitution 102: "As members of the Society of the Divine Word, we consider it our duty to proclaim the word of God to all, to bring new communities into being within the people of God, to foster their growth and to promote communion among them as well as with the whole church. We work first and foremost where the Gospel has not been preached at all or only insufficiently and where the local church is not viable on its own."

In the Caribbean we have been working since 1970 when an SVD bishop, originally from Dominica was transferred from Accra in Africa to be the first bishop of newly created Diocese in the Leeward Islands with its seat in Antigua. When Bishop Donald Reece was appointed the bishop of St. John's - Basseterre we have stayed continuing the work of evangelization and Lay leadership training. Among our other apostolate there are school work and work with Hispanic minorities.
			We came to Jamaica in 1993 at the invitation of Archbishop S. Carter SJ to work in rural evangelization in the Parish of St. Thomas. Our concentration here is on Youth Ministry, Biblical Apostolate, and Human and Social development among others. As we get more young and older members who are interested to work in the Caribbean we may widen the ministry and undertake also other ministry in Jamaica in the near future.

Though we have started in Europe, our first missionaries went to Asia and presently about a half of our members come from the Asian region; mainly from India, Philippines and Indonesia. We work on every continent, in more than 60 countries. We are over 100 years in North America. Our initial work in the United States was among the African American communities. We were one of the first religious orders along the Josephites to recruit and train African American priests and brothers. At that time we also got some vocations from the Caribbean.
Those who want to join, first enter Divine Word College Seminary in Epworth, Iowa, U.S.A. There the student indicates if he is interested in being a Brother or Priest. If the person feels called to Priesthood, he has to complete a BA degree in either Philosophy or Cross-Cultural studies at the Seminary College. If he chooses Brotherhood, he completes an AA degree in Mission Preparedness, then goes to Wendelin House in Washington D.C. Wendelin House, named after the first Divine Word Missionaries to come to America, Bro, Wendelin Meyer, is our residence for Brother candidates, and Brothers in Temporary Vows. There they, live and attend one of the many Colleges/Universities in the Washington, D.C. area developing their talents in a professional way.