Bishop Larry Silva has appointed Father Mark Gantley, the diocesan judicial vicar, as director of the diocese’s Mission Cooperative Plan, the program which supports the missionary work of the universal church. The diocese did not have the position prior to Father Gantley’s appointment. The appointment, announced in this Hawaii Catholic Herald, is effective immediately.

Father Gantley will be responsible for clearing and coordinating annual parish visits by representatives of the Pontifical Mission Societies or other church mission societies.

The Pontifical Mission Societies are the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, the Holy Childhood Association, the Society of St. Peter Apostle and the Missionary Union of Priests and Religious. Their primary purpose is to promote a universal missionary spirit among Catholics through their prayers, personal sacrifices and financial support of Catholic missions.

Visiting mission representatives to Hawaii will be permitted to speak at weekend parish Masses and take up special collections.

The church teaches that the church itself is fundamentally missionary in nature and that all Christians have an obligation to support the missions.