Vocations and the Future

As the first Edmundites extended charity to the needy, the poor and the fallen away, the Society’s mission continues in Vermont, Alabama, and Connecticut. At its June 2022 general chapter, lay representatives highlighted the solid foundations on which the Society’s ministries will continue to build.

Although the general chapter elected for a second term Father David Cray, S.S.E., to serve as Superior General, it recognized that given the Society’s current size and age, it has entered its “completion”  phase and no longer accepts candidates for membership. As a canonical congregation of pontifical rite, however, the Society of St. Edmund will exist until the last member dies or renounces his vows.

During the coming years, the Edmundites will work closely with the boards and lay leaders of its various entities to identify concrete steps to honor its heritage and continue the legacy of the Society and of its works into the future.

The Society of St. Edmund intends to live out its mission, adopted in 1986. That mission recognizes lay participation in the life and mission of the church is vitally needed. The Society’s original mission endeavored to engage the alienated and estranged and bring them back into communion with God and the Catholic Church. That task is never finished or completed.

In the words of the founder of the Edmundite Missions, “We will do the best we can, with what little we have, to serve those most in need.”