Beginnings

On July 2, 1958, Father Louis-Marie Parent, O.M.I., brought together ten young men at the Chapel of Our Lady of La Salette, in a suburb of Trois-Rivières, Quebec (Canada). This meeting laid the foundations of the Voluntas Dei Institute, an undertaking which had its beginnings in faith and poverty.

Developments

From the initial ten, the group grew rapidly. More young men joined from a variety of regions in Canada and the United States. A few years later, others arrived from Asia, the West Indies and South America.

In 1959, the first missionaries left for Laos. This foundation was followed by others in Bolivia, Haiti, Ecuador, India, Sri Lanka and the Dominican Republic.

Around 1965, a group of married men, Laotian catechists, were accepted into the Institute. Later, in 1974, the Institute welcomed married couples into its teams.

Recognition by the Church

The Voluntas Dei Institute was granted the status of Secular Institute of Diocesan Right in 1965. Twenty two years later, in 1987, the Voluntas Dei Institute was recognized as a secular institute of Pontifical Right.