With our Bethlehem Mission Society, SMB for short, we are active on four continents. In our work, we aim to combine the proclamation of the message of Jesus and development cooperation.
The Bethlehem Mission Society SMB is a community of brothers and priests who, in response to God’s call, have dedicated their lives to God and their neighbours. The origins of our Society go back to the year 1895.
We feel called to cooperate in the missionary service of the Church. As a Society of Apostolic Life, we are not a religious order, but are directly subordinate to the Dicastery (Department) for Evangelisation (Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle). However, we are committed to living according to the evangelical counsels of poverty, obedience and celibacy.
The participants of the 2023 General Chapter of the Bethlehem Mission Society.
Our motherhouse is located in Immensee in the canton of Schwyz (Switzerland) where we are currently realising a housing estate for communal living that is open (Website in German) to all. We are the only Catholic missionary organisation in Switzerland and are strongly anchored and networked in the local and international Church.
What we do
In our work, we aim to combine the proclamation of the message of Jesus and development cooperation. In doing so, we are guided by the following principles:
- We proclaim and celebrate the God of life.
- We place ourselves at the service of the disadvantaged and marginalised.
- We promote exchange between religions and cultures.
Our community is currently active in several countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Europe. Wherever we are, we work closely with the local church. We are active in pastoral care, teaching, training, the press – wherever we are needed and our services are in demand.
