
In 1854, a French parish priest, Jules Chevalier, gathered a small group of like-minded priests and formed the MSC congregation under the protection of Our Lady of the Sacred Heart. Their concern was global, but they began with efforts to restore the vitality of the faith in rural France. On September 1, 1881, the first missionaries left for Papua New Guinea, the fulfillment of a dream that Fr. Chevalier already had as a seminarian.