Welcome to the Spiritan world!

It is a wonderful place of great diversity and ample opportunities to be of service to others. I invite you to explore who we are and what we are about through this website; but, more importantly, I challenge you to respond to the promptings of the Spirit in your own life to follow in the footsteps of the Lord in whatever way is appropriate for you.

The Spiritans have been in the business of evangelization and serving those in need for more than 300 years. Our first founder, Claude Poullart des Places, felt God tugging at his heart and wanted to do something to help the poor. He gathered together a small group of needy seminarians on the feast of Pentecost in 1703 in France, and three centuries later the Holy Spirit is continuing to surprise us in ways that Claude could never have imagined.

Francis Libermann, who we consider our second founder because of the renewal that he brought to the community in the mid-nineteenth century, had a special concern for the recently freed slaves of his time. His deep spirituality and openness to the Spirit continue to mark our community to this day.

Spiritans are now working in over 60 countries around the world bringing the Good News to those who have not yet heard or have scarcely heard the Gospel.

From working in international refugee camps to inner city parishes, from teaching in schools around the world to providing a home for orphans in France, Spiritans are about the business of proclaiming the reign of God with their lives and through their works. The new mission in the Dominican Republic, recently started in the North American-Caribbean region, is a sign of the continual need to respond to the call of the Holy Spirit as we seek out those who need us the most. This new mission on the center of the island of Hispaniola is on the border of the Dominican Republic and Haiti. In a very poor area, Frs. Don McEachin and Jonas Rivera are part of an exciting new initiative that reminds us who we are and why we do what we do as Spiritans. Walking in the footsteps of des Places and Libermann, they are living the Gospel in response to today's needs and building community in a part of the world that is often neglected. This is just one small example of what Spiritans are doing around the globe.

I hope and pray that this website will give you a little glimpse into our life and what we do. I give thanks to God each and every day for the opportunity to be a part of this community, and I am extremely grateful to everyone who helps us accomplish this mission through their prayers and support. It is an amazing story, and it is God who initiates and inspires all that we do. To God be all praise and honor!