Our Missionary Model
Radical Discipleship. Local Leadership. Faithful Communion.
A Missionary Model Built for the Universal Church
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Mission Moves in Every Direction
Mission is not just wealthy countries sending help to poorer ones. Every local Church can become a sending Church. A Costa Rican may serve in Nicaragua; an Ecuadorian in Peru; a Canadian among First Nations communities. We want to see the Gospel move in every direction.
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Foreign Pioneers, Local Leaders
Foreign missionaries help start the work, but they were never the whole plan. They come as co-laborers—listening, living simply, and handing off real responsibility to the local leaders who will carry the mission forward long-term.
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Gospel Simplicity & Solidarity
Our missionaries live inside the neighborhoods they serve, not above them. We shop at local markets, walk the same streets, and share meals—because the Gospel was never meant to be delivered from a distance.
Ecclesial Communion
We do not begin a mission on our own authority. The Francis Institute exists and serves entirely within the Catholic Church—never above her, never apart from her.
WRITTEN PERMISSION
We never enter a diocese without explicit, written permission from the local Bishop.
PARISH APPROVAL
The local pastor approves every missionary serving in his parish and remains their shepherd throughout the mission.
“The lay faithful are given a share in the secular initiative and mission of the Church... called to take an active, conscious, and responsible part in the mission of the Church in this present hour.”
— St. John Paul II, Christifideles Laici, no. 3
Formation & Discernment
Formation Through Life
Missionaries need more than information. They need to learn how to pray, live in community, proclaim Christ, serve the poor, and navigate cultures. That kind of formation happens through life—not a classroom.
1. PRAYER
Growing in intimacy with Christ through Scripture, Eucharist, Reconciliation, and spiritual direction.
2. COMMUNITY
Learning to live the Gospel with others through shared life, sacrifice, and fraternity.
3. MISSION
Learning by doing—serving, evangelizing, and taking real responsibility for the work.
Discernment
Formation prepares a missionary to listen. Through prayer, spiritual direction, community, and conversation with Church leadership, our missionaries discern where God is calling them—home, nearby, across a country, or across the world.
The destination is never predetermined; it is discerned.
The Costa Rican Formation House
Launching January 2027
SCOPE
Serving lay Catholics in the Americas from Canada through Argentina.
STRUCTURE
1 Year of Spiritual, Human, Community, and Apostolic Formation.
GOAL
Live missionary life for a year—then go and be sent.
International Mission Formation Centers
The Americas
Costa Rica Center
Launching 2027
Asia
The Philippines Center
Future Vision
Africa
Kenya Center
Predevelopment
Be part of the mission.
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Prospective Missionaries
Come experience the work of full-time missions on a discernment mission.
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Mission Partners
Support the work of mission and sending Catholic missionaries into the field.
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Bishops & Clergy
Learn how a Francis Institute lay missionary team can serve and strengthen your diocese.