History
The Society of the Divine Word was founded in 1875 in Steyl, Holland, by a German priest, Fr. Arnold Janssen, who created a missionary training center there. Within four years, he sent the first Divine Word Missionary, Fr. Joseph Freinademetz, SVD, to China. Janssen also helped to found two religious sister orders within the Society: the Sisters Servants of the Holy Spirit (SSpS) and the Sisters Servants of the Holy Spirit of Perpetual Adoration (SSpSAP). In 1895, Brother Wendelin Meyer, SVD, went to America. By 1909, the Society had established the first seminary in the United States with the mission of training priest and brother candidates for service in foreign missions. Both Janssen and Freinademetz were canonized by Pope John Paul II in 2003.
Today there are over 6,000 Divine Word missionaries working in more than 70 countries worldwide.
Read more about this topic: Divine Word College
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