The Redemptorists of the Baltimore Province have a rich legacy of service through international missions. Province confreres contributed to the growth of the Church in the Dominican Republic, Brazil, Paraguay, and the US territories of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. Presently, the Province’s international missions are focused on three islands nations in the English-speaking Caribbean: the Commonwealth of Dominica, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. In each location there are international communities of Redemptorists (Dominican, Haitian, and US priests and brothers) serving in parishes and engaging in extraordinary preaching.
From St. Clement House in the Commonwealth of Dominica, the Redemptorists serve the parishes of St. Ann and St. Joseph in the villages of Massacre and St. Joseph, along with six other village chapel communities that extend the parish boundaries.
From Blessed Seelos House in St. Lucia, the Redemptorists serve the parish of Our Lady of the Assumption in Vieux Fort, along with three village chapels neighboring that most southerly town on the island.
Our newest international mission is on the island of St. Vincent, part of the nation of St. Vincent and the Grenadines. We began ministry in the northern section of St. Vincent, at the parish of St. Benedict, Georgetown, in 2019. Like the ministries in Dominica and St. Lucia, this parish also saw the Redemptorists ministering at multiple chapel communities that were part of the parish. However, due to the eruption of the La Soufriere volcano beginning in April of 2021, our men have had to evacuate the parish, along with all their parishioners. The Redemptorists have taken temporary refuge with the bishop in the diocesan pastoral center on the south of the island, where they are currently helping with disaster relief efforts and seeking ways to accompany those who have had to flee their homes for emergency shelter.
Beyond “ordinary” parish ministry in all these locations, the Redemptorists make a point of engaging in extraordinary preaching of the Gospel through retreats, revivals, and parish missions throughout the English-speaking Caribbean. We minister far beyond the islands on which we live, and in doing so we continue the wonderful tradition of Redemptorists going forth from the familiar to reach the abandoned and be witnesses of the Redeemer in a wounded world.