Missions Office
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One Family in Mission
The purpose of the Mission Office is the promotion of a universal missionary spirit – a spirit of prayer and sacrifice – among all baptized Catholics. We seek to assist missionaries and the people they serve. The Missions Office is the local office in the Diocese of Pittsburgh for the Pontifical Mission Societies in the United States. This supports the 1,100 struggling mission dioceses around the world. The Pontifical Mission Societies are institutions of the universal Catholic Church and of each local church. National offices exist in more than 120 countries around the world including the United States in New York City Central administrative offices are located in Rome, Italy, under the direction of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples and the Holy Father.
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Diocesan Mission in Chimbote Peru
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Our beginningIn the early 1960’s the Bishop of Pittsburgh sent priests of our diocese to Chimbote Peru. The Chimbote Foundation is an outgrowth of that missionary activity. It was created to provide a bridge of love, hope, faith and financial support to care for the poorest of the poor in Chimbote through the Center for Social Works – a maternity hospital, outpatient clinic, clinical laboratory, pharmacy and home for abandoned and neglected children – serving hundreds of thousands since the mid-1960s.
The Chimbote Foundation of the Diocese of Pittsburgh was formed in 1991. However, our work in Chimbote began much earlier. This photo shows Monsignor James Shanahan and Sister M. Benedicta, RSM, providing inoculations circa 1965.
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La Maternidad de MariaIn 1966, Monsignor Roos decided to open a life-saving maternity hospital where mothers could give birth in clean and comfortable surroundings. With the help of the Dominican Sisters of Grand Rapids, MI, he was able to make the hospital a reality. Designed by Pittsburgh architect, Ken Roos, brother of Monsignor Roos, the maternity hospital today is a 26-bed facility that delivers more than 300 babies each month. Mothers and fathers are taught the importance of good hygiene and prenatal care; and they return after delivery to learn healthcare techniques that will give their babies a better chance to survive in a harsh environment of poverty and suffering.
The first baby was born at the maternity facility on July 10, 1966 at 12:30 PM. Today, over 100,000 babies have been born with the help of the professional nurse & midwives at the Center.
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Nueva Posta MedicaThe “Nueva Posta Medica” opened in February 2018. The modernized and upgraded clinic increases patient capacity by five times over the original building. With ten clinical suites, the facility provides cardiology, dentistry, traumatology, ophthalmology, neurology, audiology, gerontology, and pediatrics services. This new two-story outpatient clinic also houses the pharmacy and pathology lab. Having both of these services on-site is critical. In fact, there is no other laboratory service available to the poor in Chimbote.
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Monsignor Roos (Padre Julio) Children's Center & ShelterIn the late 1990s, the COS was petitioned by the local orphans court to assume the care of the increasing numbers of babies abandoned during their first year of life. Some of the babies had significant mental or physical disabilities. In 2011, there were finally enough resources to create the Padre Julio Children’s Center & Shelter. The new center provides children their own crib or bed, a separate activity room for older children to play while the babies sleep, a full kitchen, and a physical therapy space for the physically disabled children.
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Chimbote Mission Dinner
Our Annual Chimbote Foundation Dinner honors the ministry of our Catholic medical missionaries in Chimbote, Peru. In October of 2023, we celerbated our 58th annual dinner. We are incredibly blessed to have hosted Bishop Angel Ernesto Zapata Bances, Bishop of Chimbite, accompanied by Mrs. Manuela Caceres and Revered Martin Salgado.
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"One Family in Mission"
The purpose of the Mission Office is the promotion of a universal missionary spirit – a spirit of prayer and sacrifice – among all baptized Catholics. We seek to assist missionaries and the people they serve.
The “family” of Pontifical Mission Societies include:
Missionary Cooperation Plan (MCP)
The Mission Office is the local office in the Diocese of Pittsburgh for the Pontifical Mission Societies in the United States. This supports the 1,100 struggling mission dioceses around the world. The Pontifical Mission Societies are institutions of the universal Catholic Church and of each local church. National offices exist in more than 120 countries around the world including the United States in New York City. Central administrative offices are located in Rome, Italy, under the direction of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples and the Holy Father.https://www.diopitt.org/missions-office.
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Contact Us
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tnocadiopitt.orgDirector of the Office for the Missions -
Selese Huthshuthdiopitt.orgAdministrative Assistant
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