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 to the Mission Co-op 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 contact person must submit either an Application Form 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 mail address of the contact person, and relevant information regarding the mission speaker.

Guidelines Application Form

2. You must include a Letter of Introduction from the local Ordinary or the community’s Superior General which grants authority to the contact person to represent the group for mission appeals. If the application letter is sent by an Ordinary or Superior, then the introduction letter is not necessary.

Applications are received July 1 – October 1 to be considered for the following year. However, PLEASE NOTE that only 35-40 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 for the following year’s program. Therefore, it is highly recommended that you submit your application early in the time period in which applications are accepted. Missions approved to participate in the program will be notified in February.

Submit the Application

Mail application form and the Letter of Introduction to:
Archdiocese of Denver
Office of Pastoral Outreach
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 current and past mission co-op groups here.