About Us

SEDOS Office

SEDOS: Service of Documentation and Research on Global Mission

Office Address: Via dei Verbiti, 1, 00154 Rome (Italy)

Phone Number: +39-06-5741350

Office Hours: Weekdays from 9.00 am to 10. 45 am, and from 11.15 am to 1 pm.

Office Email Address: redacsed@sedosmission.org

Secretary: Sr. Celine Kokkat, CJMJ

BODY OF CHRIST Documentary

“For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.”

Body of Christ is a short movie made by the Belgian artist Koen Van Loocke at the request of SEDOS to portray the inter-Congregational effort of SEDOS. The member Congregations form a collective body in the world, the Body of Christ, who promote His values, His Mission, in the world of today.

SEDOS Team

Fr. John Paul Herman, SVD Executive Director View Profile

Sr. Celine Kokkat, CJMJ Secretary

Sr. Christina, CJMJ Digital Assistent

SEDOS Executive Committee

SEDOS Members 2024

88 members

SEDOS Goals and Identity

SEDOS (Service of Documentation and Study on Global Mission) is a forum open to Institutes of Consecrated Life, which commit themselves to deepening their understanding of global mission. It encourages research and disseminates information through its Bulletin and Homepage, the annual SEDOS Residential Seminar (beginning of May), public conferences, and workshops.

SEDOS began during the Second Vatican Council when nine missionary societies began to meet in an informal way in Rome to exchange information and opinions on mission in the Church. The guiding light was Father Hein Mondé, Superior General of the Society of African Missions (SMA), together with other eight Superiors General. The group made a significant contribution to Ad Gentes at the Second Vatican Council, which was greatly influenced by their discussions with members of the Roman Curia.

In 1964 the nine societies wished to have a permanent secretariat. Father Johan Schütte, Superior General of the Society of the Divine Word Missionaries, generously made available the spacious premises on the SVD College grounds, in Rome. Even today, these offices host the SEDOS secretariat and library.

In 1969, SEDOS was already made up of 30 member societies of sisters, brothers, and priests. In December 1995 the number reached 88. At the moment, 2017, we have about 80 members. Many of the members have their Mother House in Rome, others in Ireland, England, France, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Canada, the United States of America, and Mexico. Many of them are major religious missionary societies of the Catholic Church.

In 1981, SEDOS organized an international seminar on “WHY MISSION?”. The idea that immerged, in the words of Father Ferrari, Superior General of the Xaverian Missionaries, then President of SEDOS, are now recorded in the Statutes of many of our member institutions and others. He said that SEDOS is, and has been, an extraordinary catalyst of the missionary energy of its members. The reports of the seminar is reported in the book published by SEDOS, Mission in Dialogue (Orbis Books 1982), and they are still relevant to missiological thought today.

SEDOS published Trends in Mission (Orbis Books 1991), to celebrate its 25 years of Mission activity. It contains a selection of conferences given over the preceding eight years which illustrate the development of theology and mission practice during that period. This text was chosen by the International Bulletin of Missionary Research as one of the most meaningful texts on the study of mission published in 1991. In 1994, during the Special Synod of Bishops for Africa, SEDOS organized a special theological symposium with the bishops and the African theologians. This conference led to a new book on the Church in Africa, entitled: Africa – The Kairos of a Synod. To celebrate the 50 years of SEDOS a booklet on the history of SEDOS and its founders was published: The biographies of the nine Founders of SEDOS (1964-2014).

Interreligious dialogue and Ecumenism are important subjects for SEDOS.

The Commission on World Mission and Evangelization within the World Council of Churches (WCC) has already invited SEDOS several times to their International conferences (e.g. Melbourne 1980, San Antonio 1989, Greece, 2005, Tanzania 2018). For the Commemoration of the 500 Years of the Reformation this year, we are organizing an Ecumenical Celebration at the Lutheran Church in Rome.

Also for interreligious dialogue SEDOS has taken different initiatives, the last one was last year, 2016, with an Interreligious Pilgrimage through the Holy Door: https://vimeo.com/193203862

The place of women, an argument taken into little consideration at the initial meetings, now holds an important place. In fact, the Executive Committee of SEDOS is now made up of 50% men and 50% women. And in accord with SEDOS Statutes, a Superior General, man or woman, alternates in holding the position of President for a period of three years.

SEDOS’ primary prerogative is the deepening and understanding of world mission. To accomplish this, it organizes various seminars, conferences, workshops, every year which are open to the public. The speakers are chosen among those with a wide experience in the missionary field and with a sufficient knowledge on how to deal with missionary challenges.

In addition, SEDOS welcomes groups and facilitates meetings periodically at the Secretariat, to analyze and share particular experiences and situations in different missionary areas. For this reason, SEDOS also cooperates with other groups, such as Justice and Peace committee or IRD committee within the USG-UISG.

SEDOS library has an important collection of books and magazines. It publishes the bi-monthly SEDOS Bulletin with articles in four languages, and manages a Homepage which circulates interesting information, articles, books, and links on missionary experiences /studies from diverse parts of the world.

SEDOS welcomes all new members with an open heart and an open mind!

Biographies of nine founders of SEDOS

Biographies of the 9 Founders

Statutes of SEDOS

Statutes of SEDOS Revised English version

HOW TO BECOME MEMBER OF SEDOS ?

SEDOS is a forum open to Roman-Catholic Institutes of Consecrated Life
which commit themselves to deepening their understanding of global mission.

The requirements to become a member are stipulated by our SEDOS Statutes:

Art. 5 – The Constitutive Members

In order to become a constitutive member of SEDOS, an institute must satisfy the following conditions:

• It must be involved in missionary work;
• It must make an official request to the President;
• It must be accepted by the unanimous vote of the Executive Committee or the
  absolute majority of the General Assembly.
• It must agree to pay the annual subscription.
• It must agree to participate in the activities undertaken by SEDOS.

The constitutive members have the right:

• To present to the Assembly specific proposals in relation to joint projects.
• To participate in all SEDOS activities;
• To receive all documents prepared by the Secretariat;
• To request information from the Executive Director.

The Annual Subscription Fee has been decided by the General Assembly in the following way:

Institutes with less than 500 members contribute yearly 600 Euro;

Institutes with more than 500 members contribute yearly 1200 Euro.

If the Congregation/Society agrees to all this, your request can be send to the Executive Director of SEDOS, and it will be discussed at the next Executive Committee Meeting, and approved at the General Assembly by the end of the year. The payment of the Annual Subscription will start the following year.

You can find more concrete information, e.g. concerning the right for printed copies of the SEDOS Bulletin and the way to pay the membership fee, in the document “Application Form for Membership”.