“In this special year you have gathered in Lyon, the city where the Pontifical Missionary Societies originated and where the beatification of Pauline Jaricot, will be celebrated,” writes Pope Francis in a message to members of the Pontifical Mission Societies who are marking a series of anniversaries including the 200 years from the foundation of their institution.
Pauline Jaricot was a French laywoman who felt the call to missionary life and founded the association of the “Propagation of the Faith” which was approved by Pope Pius VII in 1823.
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