What we do - Missionaries of the Sacred Heart

A video message from Fr Alan in South Sudan

Mar 19, 2026

Our own Fr Alan Neville MSC has been in touch from Rumbek, South Sudan, with a special message for our mission friends and benefactors here in the Irish Province of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart.

Last summer, our mission friends here helped us to raise funds to support Fr Alan and the team at the Catholic University of South Sudan in Rumbek in their untiring efforts to support education, particularly for young women, in the region. In a country that has suffered so greatly, young people, especially young women, need to work extremely hard for their education, yet the benefits will help to build a brighter and stronger future for the next generation in Rumbek and beyond.

“This is a message of thanks to everybody who has been so generous in supporting the Mission Support Centre appeal last year for the Catholic University here,” says Fr Alan. “As you can see in the background, we are currently digging the foundations for a new teacher education block. Education here has a long way to go, there have been many decades of under-investment during the time of the Sudan government, and now the people are working very hard to build up primary and secondary education, and here we are working too to train secondary school teachers so they can go back to their communities and they can really lift up the young people they have there to help them to build their country.”

We join our voices with Fr Alan’s in thanking you all for your generosity and your solidarity, and we look forward to hearing more from the university as the progress continues.

MSCs sharing joy in Ecuador

Mar 11, 2026

While we are now well into spring, time, distance, and technical difficulties mean that we have just received these wonderful Christmas pictures from our MSC brothers in Ecuador, and they are a joy to see at any time of year!

MSCs have been ministering in Ecuador for almost 30 years, since 1998. Currently, Fr Marcelo Campoverde and Fr Jose Baak are working across two mission areas in the parishes of San Francisco de Asís and San Juan Evangelista, ministering to more than 30,000 people across over 50 communities. These indigenous communities are extremely poor and live in very isolated rural locations, and our MSCs work to support them through many and varied challenges including malnutrition (especially in children), poor educational and employment opportunities, and the difficulties of living in remote areas with harsh desert climate.

In recent years, our mission friends and benefactors here in the Irish Province of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart have been greatly compassionate in their support of our mission in Ecuador, raising funds for a new parish kitchen, repairs to the church, pastoral centre, and parish house, and food baskets for hungry families.

“I send warm greetings from Ecuador,” writes Fr Marcelo, who himself comes from an indigenous background. “It may have been a long time, but I wanted to share with you all some of the activities we’ve had during Christmas, as you are such generous supporters of our parish.”

“Now we are in another beautiful season, and I wish you a blessed Lent.”

All images were kindly sent from our Ecuador mission by Fr Marcelo Campoverde MSC.

A bright new year in the Philippines for the MSC Centre for the Poor

Mar 5, 2026

It’s always a joy to share updates from the MSC Centre for the Poor in the Philippines, where sustainability and hope are at the heart of everything they do.

One of the current programmes running at the centre focuses on urban gardening, growing vegetables to supplement a nutritious diet in people’s home in a city environment. “With limited space and increasing awareness about sustainability, health, and food security, more people are turning balconies, rooftops, backyards, and even windowsills into productive green spaces,” the Centre shared on a post on their Facebook page.

The outreach programme promotes the growth of fresh, healthy food for a sustainable source of nutrition, while also saving money, encouraging physical and mental wellbeing, and building a sense of community in busy urban spaces.

“Urban vegetable gardening proves that you don’t need a large plot of land to grow your own food. Whether you have a single pot on a fire escape or a thriving rooftop garden, every little bit counts. It’s a step toward more sustainable living, better nutrition, and stronger communities—all while adding a little green to the gray of city life,” says the CFTP community, encouraging all those interested to contact them for further information and support.

Urban gardening at the MSC Centre for the Poor in the Philippines. (Image: via @CenterFTPoorMSC on Facebook.)

The community at the MSC Centre for the Poor welcomed the new year with a “meaningful and grace-filled” retreat focusing on Spirituality of the Heart, with particular emphasis on meditation. The programme was led by Fr Richie Gomez MSC, “creating a space of shared reflection, silence, and attentive listening”.

The team at the MSC Centre for the Poor in the Philippines began 2026 with a wellness retreat led by Fr Richie Gomez MSC. (Image via @CenterFTPoorMSC on Facebook.)

Over the course of three days, participants reflected on the heart “as a sacred place of encounter, healing, and commitment,” a reminder that “true spirituality begins within and flows outward into our mission, relationships, and daily service.”

“Through moments of stillness, reflection, and guided meditation, participants were encouraged to listen attentively to the movements of the heart,” said a post on the Centre’s Facebook page. “We were reminded that true spirituality is not merely about doing more, but about being present—allowing God’s love to gently transform our thoughts, emotions, and actions.”

“When we pray, reflect, and listen as one, our hearts become more attuned to wisdom, clarity, and peace,” posted the MSC Centre for the Poor.

January ended with a planning session for the year ahead, with Fr Richie Gomez and Mam Joy Bungabong leading the community in a discussion about different programmes and initiatives to take place throughout the year ahead. “With renewed clarity and shared direction, we look forward to a year filled with meaningful service, strengthened collaboration, and a deeper commitment to our mission for the poor and the communities we accompany,” shared the Centre’s Facebook page.

We have no doubt that the year ahead will be a fruitful and enriching one for all involved, with every blessing to the CFTP community in the Philippines for a positive and powerful 2026!

Images via the Facebook page for the Center for the Poor – MSC.

Powering a parish in the Equatorial forest of Cameroon

Feb 17, 2026

As we settle into the new year, we’re sharing news of one of our latest mission projects, which will fund solar panels for a very poor mission station in Cameroon.

Solar panels will provide safe, reliable electricity for this very remote parish in the Equatorial forest in Bengbis, Cameroon

The parish of Our Lady of the Assumption was founded in Bengbis, Cameroon, in 1937. It is the third oldest parish in the Diocese of Sangmelima, and is extremely isolated, situated in the heart of the Equatorial forest. Its population is made up of four groups: the Yekombo, the Yetchang, the Maka, and the Pygmies in the Dja canton.

In this extremely rural community, the electrical system is powered by a generator that is not sufficient to meet the needs of the entire area. This means that the town constantly struggles with low voltage that is insufficient to reliably power lighting, the community’s large appliances, and the operation of the local well, which provides drinking water. Most notably, the parish medical centre is affected dreadfully by these lapses in power, which is highly detrimental to its vital work in serving local regions. “When the power fails because of a lack of generator fuel or sustainable power, critical services in the clinic suffer,” writes parish priest Fr Gadam Dieudonné Valentin MSC. In addition, the location of the parish means that it is so far from nearby towns, a regular and sustainable supply of fuel can never be assured, adding to the unreliability of the electricity supply.

“Faced with this critical and urgent situation, it is wise, sustainable, and imperative, to resort to alternative means of electrification, such as solar panels,” writes Fr Gadam. Coming in a cost of just under €10,000, these solar panels will provide a reliable and sustainable supply of electricity to the area. This is vital to the efficient running of the medical centre and the provision of good quality drinking water to the local community, as well as the general facilitation of a dependable and functional electrical supply for the region.

Solar panels will be invaluable for this very remote community, ensuring the provision of safe, clean drinking water and keeping a steady supply of electricity to the local medical centre

Thanks to the loyal support of our mission friends and benefactors here in the Irish Province of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, we are glad to be able to help our MSC brothers in the Cameroon with funding for the solar panels, which will be hugely benefit the quality of life of communities in the region. As always, we thank you for your continued friendship, which means so much to so many, all over the world.

A walk down Memory Lane… January 2026

Jan 29, 2026

This year, our MSC Missions Office on the Western Road, Cork, marks 60 years in operation. Together, we’re celebrating 60 years of prayer, of fundraising (in countless creative shapes and forms!), of local and global outreach, of friendship, of unity, of faith, of hope, and of love. Many of the mission friends that support us today are carrying on the long-standing tradition of their parents and grandparents, and we are so blessed and privileged to benefit from generations of this friendship and support, with our sincere and heartfelt gratitude.

The MSC Missions Office on the Western Road, Cork, celebrates its 60th anniversary in 2026.

In the spirit of our anniversary year, we will take a look back through the archives over the coming months, and explore just some of our missionary work and local activities throughout the years.

We begin in the Spring of 1981, when the MSC Message featured a piece on our Venezuelan mission, which had begun 13 years previously. Fr John Jennings MSC was among the team out there at the time, and now, over 40 years later, he continues to live with the people of Maracaibo and Caracas, accompanied by Fr Tom Jordan and Fr Tom O’Brien in his daily ministry.

Article from the MSC Message newsletter, Spring 1981

Our Spring 1981 newsletter also provided recipes for scrambled eggs and homemade pizza – an interesting precursor to today’s vigilance around the necessity of fresh foods over processed!

Finally, a familiar face pops up in an edition of the MSC Message covering the events of 1982/1983… Our very own Fr John Fitzgerald, current director of the MSC Missions Office, is pictured taking a break for tea. It’s nice to see that some things don’t change!

The MSC Missions Office is not a stand-alone entity, but rather a real and living part of our extended Sacred Heart family – a family that includes our missionaries all over the world, the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, lay workers and volunteers, and the mission friends and benefactors that make it all possible. It is quite simple – without your support, we could not do what we do, and for that, we are so truly grateful.

Welcoming 2026 at the Holy Family Care Centre

Jan 14, 2026

As another new year begins, we’re glad to share news from Sr Sally and our friends at the Holy Family Care Centre in South Africa.

The Holy Family Care Centre is located in Ofcolaco, in the Limpopo Province of South Africa, and is run by the Daughters of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart with a dedicated team who provide residential care for up to 80 sick and vulnerable children. Many of these children are living with chronic illnesses such as HIV/AIDs, TB, and other critical conditions. Many of the children have lost their parents, and all are extremely vulnerable, so the Holy Family centre is a true home to them. Here in the Irish Province, our mission friends and extended Sacred Heart family are glad to be able to provide long-standing friendship and support to Sr Sally and the OLSH Sisters in Ofcolaco.

The new toddler room at the Holy Family Care Centre, supported by the generosity of our mission friends and benefactors in the Irish Province

Throughout 2025, our mission family and benefactors here at home have given invaluable support to our friends at Holy Family, with our Camino pilgrimage in September raising €13,000 for the children in their care. The generosity of our mission friends in the Irish Province has also contributed to a special new dormitory dedicated to the toddlers and pre-schoolers at the centre, who had previously been sharing a room with older children up to the age of 10. Sr Sally has sent us a wonderful video of the Holy Family toddlers enjoying their new space, and their smiles and songs say it all!

It hasn’t been all fun and games at the centre, as January has brought with it rain and floods that have blocked the road leading to the facility, certainly making life more challenging for the Holy Family team

As we begin to journey together through another new year, we thank you, with grateful hearts, for your continued friendship and support of our mission projects, and we wish Sr Sally and all the Holy Family community a happy and healthy 2026