We are CICM Missionaries, a Roman Catholic and international religious missionary Congregation founded by Théophile Verbist in 1862.
CICM is an abbreviation that came from the initial letters of the Latin name “Congregatio Immaculati Cordis Mariae,” which is Congregation of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in English. It is named after a religious Marian devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
The CICM Missionaries are also known by other names depending on the country where they are working.
In Europe and Africa, we are widely known as Scheut Missionaries or Scheutists. Scheut, Anderlecht, is a suburb of Brussels where the first headquarters of the Congregation was established.
In some places, like in the Philippines, CICM Missionaries were known as “Belgian Fathers” since the Institute was founded in Belgium, and most of its members were Priest. The Institute was never an exclusively Belgium Institute and includes both priests and brothers. Thus, this name has fallen out of use, especially as the Institute continues to expand internationally.
In North America, the Congregation is also known as “Missionhurst – CICM,” and its members are referred to as “Missionhurst Priests and Brothers.”
Hurst is an old English term for a small hill or a wooded rise. The headquarters of the missionary Institute in North America is located on a small wooded hill, thus becoming the Institute’s popular name in that part of the world.
“The Congregation is an international religious missionary Institute. It was founded by Theophile Verbist and is dedicated to the Incarnate Word, under the name and patronage of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Sharing in the mission of Jesus Christ, entrusted to the Church, the Institute carries out its particular mission under the supreme direction and coordination of the Pope and the College of Bishops united with him. It holds the status of a clerical Institute of pontifical right. As an exclusively missionary Institute it comes under the authority of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples” (CICM Constitutions, Art. 1). ----
