Our story · Since 1911
Rooted in faith.
Sent in mission.
For more than a century, Maryknoll priests and brothers have crossed borders and cultures to share God’s love with communities around the world.
Fr. Thomas F. Price and Fr. James A. Walsh
Our story · Since 1911
Rooted in faith.
Sent in mission.
For more than a century, Maryknoll priests and brothers have crossed borders and cultures to share God’s love with communities around the world.
Fr. Thomas F. Price and Fr. James A. Walsh
A shared calling
Two priests.
One bold vision.
When two American priests from distinctly different backgrounds met in Montreal in 1910, they discovered a conviction in common: the Church in the United States was called to serve beyond its borders.
Father James Anthony Walsh, a priest from Boston, and Father Thomas Frederick Price, the first native North Carolinian ordained to the priesthood, imagined a seminary that would prepare American men for foreign mission.
They believed that encountering the faith of others could transform both missioners and the Church that sent them.
Milestones
A century of going forth
From a hilltop in New York to communities across Africa, Asia, and Latin America, Maryknoll’s story is one of responding wherever the need is greatest.
A New Mission Society Is Born
On June 29, Pope Pius X gave his blessing to form the Catholic Foreign Mission Society of America—now known as the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers.
The First Maryknoll Brother
Thomas McCann felt called to mission, but not to priesthood. His vocation established the vital tradition of Maryknoll Brothers.
The First Mission to China
Fathers James E. Walsh, Francis X. Ford, and Bernard F. Meyer departed for China with Father Thomas Price as their superior, beginning Maryknoll’s overseas mission.
“Mary’s Knoll” Becomes Home
The Society established its seminary on a hilltop farm in Ossining, New York. Construction began in 1920, and the place called “Mary’s knoll” became Maryknoll.
Mission Expands Across Continents
As war and unrest reshaped the world, Maryknoll answered new calls—beginning mission in Latin America in 1942 and Africa in 1946.
The Mission Continues
Maryknoll priests and brothers continue to serve alongside communities around the world through evangelization, pastoral care, education, healthcare, advocacy, and human development.
One mission · Many places
Called beyond borders
Maryknoll’s history is still being written—in partnership with the people, parishes, and communities its missioners serve.
Go deeper
Explore the Maryknoll Mission Archives
Discover photographs, publications, correspondence, and firsthand accounts preserving more than a century of Catholic mission history.
