Missionary Cooperative Program

Office of Pastoral Outreach

The Missionary Cooperative Program (MCP) of the Archdiocese of Denver works to foster the spirit of mission in our parishes. Each year, in cooperation with the national office of the Society of the Propagation of the Faith, missionaries from Catholic organizations are invited to visit parishes to share their experiences and ask for financial support and prayers.

Saint John Paul II in his Encyclical Letter “On the Permanent Validity of the Church’s Missionary Mandate,” Redemptoris Missio, stressed the necessity of missionary cooperation:

… Local churches, although rooted in their own people and their own culture, must always maintain an effective sense of the universality of the faith, giving and receiving spiritual gifts, experiences of pastoral work in evangelization and initial proclamation, as well as personnel for the apostolate and material resources.”

How to Apply

Groups applying for participation in the MCP must be: 1) a Catholic diocese or eparchy or 2) a recognized Catholic missionary society in good standing serving in foreign countries or in a diocese in the United States that has been designated as missionary by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Home Missions Office.

1. The Application. Please review the Guidelines for complete information. The group’s mIssIon coordinator must submit either an Application (the preferred method) or a letter which includes a description of the mission work and location, a brief explanation of how MCP funds will be used by the mission group if selected, the email and mailing addresses of the mission coordinator and authorized secondary contact person for the mission, and relevant information regarding the mission speaker(s).

Guidelines Application

2. Letter of Introduction. You must include a Letter of Introduction from the local Ordinary or the community’s Superior General, or, if a lay organization, from one of its Executives, which grants authority to the mission coordinator and authorized secondary contact person to represent the group for mission appeals. If the application letter is sent by an Ordinary, Superior, or Executive then the introduction letter is not necessary.

Applications are received July 1 – October 1 to be considered for the following year. However, only 35 applications are approved each year to participate in the following year’s program. If this limit is reached prior to the October 1 deadline, no more applications will be accepted. Therefore, it is highly recommended that you submit your application early within the timeframe in which applications are accepted. Missions approved to participate in the program will be notified in February.

Submit the Application

Mail the application and the Letter of Introduction to:
Archdiocese of Denver
Pastoral Outreach Office
2830 Lawrence St.
Denver, CO 80205

The Current MCP Year

Assignments for the current year were made in February. You can view several thank you letters as well as videos from past MCP groups here.