Holy Childhood Association

"Some give to Mission by going
Some go to Mission by giving
Without both, there is no Mission"

Sister Mary Ellen Burns CSJ

What it is

Holy Childhood or "Children Helping Children" is a branch of the Pontifical Mission Society that encourages elementary school children to learn about, pray for and share with children in developing countries.

History

The church created this association in the mid-19th century, seeing the value of asking children to take an active part in missionary work. In 1933, Holy Childhood was first established in English Canada in the Archdiocese of Vancouver. Sister Mary Ellen Burns CSJ, pictured at right, was asked to serve as the Diocesan Director of this group in 1995. The mandate is to encourage mission awareness and missionary zeal in children with a view to assisting the whole Catholic community to become more outreaching and mission-driven.

Ministry activities

Sister Mary Ellen, in her ministry, does the following:

• contacts the pastors, principals, teachers and catechists in the 39 elementary schools and 75 parish religion programs with visits and mailings
• prepares mission material for use in their programs
• encourages children to help meet the needs of children in other lands
• speaks at various functions, schools and parish religion classes
• displays mission materials at gatherings
• organizes an annual Mission Day Mass to which representatives of all the schools are invited
• attends the annual meeting of the Pontifical Mission Directors
• reports to the archbishop, the Mission Director and the national H.C.A Office on her activities