Father John Anthony Hardon, S.J.
Servant of God
Founder, Marian Catechist Apostolate
The History of the Apostolate
In the early 1980’s, his Holiness, Pope John Paul II, lamented the fact that so many people were living and dying without the knowledge and love of Christ. He asked Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta to prepare her congregation of Sisters, the Missionaries of Charity, not only to attend to the immediate material needs of the poor, but also to evangelize them—to teach them about God’s immeasurable love for them and His desire to be united with them for all eternity in Heaven.
Pope John Paul II directed Mother Teresa to the Servant of God, Father John Anthony Hardon, S.J. for the help she needed to prepare the Sisters to catechize the poorest of the poor. Father Hardon, a theologian and master catechist, began to teach the Missionaries of Charity, while at the same time preparing texts that would eventually become a home study course used to teach the richness of our Catholic Faith and its practice. The Missionaries of Charity continue to use Father Hardon’s course to prepare themselves to catechize the people with whom they live and work.
In time, lay people began to study Father Hardon’s course; this led to the establishment of the Marian Catechist Apostolate, which Father Hardon saw as a response to Pope John Paul II’s call for a New Evangelization.
Before his death in December of 2000, Father Hardon asked then Bishop Raymond L. Burke of the Diocese of La Crosse to assume leadership of the Marian Catechist Apostolate. Now, as Archbishop, he has been called to serve the Church as Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura in Rome. Along with his new duties, Archbishop Burke remains the Episcopal Moderator of the Apostolate, and our International Director.