In the year 1874-1875 Arnold Janssen made his decision to found a mission seminary inspite of the difficulties posed by the Kulturkampf to the German Catholics. He was well aware of the difficulties but interpreted them differently from the majority of his contemporaries. He saw in the apparently hopeless situation a call, a challenge to look beyond the confining and restrictive conditions and move out into the universal Church, that is, to become more catholic. 

In the June 1874 issue of his magazine, Arnold Janssen declared: “We turn to the priests and to students who are just about to be ordained. Is there not one among them in the whole of Germany who feels called to dedicate himself to the mission cause? How would it be if German priests were to work together to organize a German mission seminary in some safe place? … To the best of our knowledge Germany, this great country with so many genuine Christian families, has until now not even one. [...] We believe this situation must be and can be corrected.” 

The goals of the seminary were clear in Arnold’s mind. In a petition presented to Archbishop Melchers in Cologne, he presented the following three points: 1. “Accordingly, the goal of the house would be to train, equip and send out missionaries for the mission countries, and in general work in an appropriate way to promote in our fatherland a constantly growing apostolic spirit and interest for the propagation of the kingdom of God on earth.” 2. “Apart from this main goal, a secondary goal would be for the teachers of the house to cultivate Christian science, allowing them sufficient time for this purpose.” 3. “If the project is to be fruitful, then like other mission seminaries, we will not be able to dispense with the foundation of a religious institute.  

The founding of the mission seminary was realized on September 8, 1875 in an inn for travelers in Steyl, a small village in Holland, just across the German border. A few years later, it would become the Society of the Divine Word.

 The constitutions of the Divine Word Missionaries states: “As members of the Society of the Divine Word, we consider it our duty to proclaim the word of God to all, to bring new communities into being within the people of God, to foster their growth and to promote communion among them as well as with the whole church. We work first and foremost where the gospel has not been preached at all or only insufficiently and where the local church is not viable on its own. Other tasks must be oriented towards these primary aims. Whoever joins our Society must be ready to go wherever the superior sends him in order to fulfill our missionary mandate even if this entails leaving his own country, mother tongue and cultural milieu. Such readiness is an essential characteristic of our missionary vocation”. (Constitution 102).

As members of the Society, we understand that the mission is not ours.  We take part in the mission of the universal Church, which is participation in the mission of God.  Mission is born of the Triune God, “God as Communion”, who takes the initiative and communicates Himself to us so that we may come to know Him, enter in a relationship with Him and live as his children and messengers of His love. Thus understood, the mission of the church is the continuation of the process of God’s communication with us, understood as the way and the process to communion with the Kingdom of God. The model is the incarnation of the Word and its horizon, the Trinity. 

Every six years representatives of the Society from all over the world gather for what is called a general chapter. Ongoing reflection and lived experience led the chapter of 1994 to express the goal of mission in the Society as: communion among ourselves, communion with people of other faiths and cultures and communion with the poor and marginalized. We seek communion through dialogue. The ultimate goal is the full communion of all in the love of God. We Divine Word Missionaries see our role in the world and in the church as servants of this communion. We thus follow the example of the Divine Word who became incarnate in a particular people and culture in order to form communion with us. Only in this communion are we able to attain the fullness of life. 

The 15th. General Chapter defined dialogue as “the deepest and best understanding” of our missionary vocation. This dialogue concretizes itself as prophetic dialogue, as an attitude of solidarity, respect, and love that is to permeate all of our activities. Our dialogue has four groups of people as privileged partners:

- people who have no faith community and faith-

  seekers;

- the poor and marginalized;

- people of different cultures;

- people of different religious traditions and secular ideologies.  

Limited as we are by our personal and cultural viewpoints, none of us has attained the whole truth contained in God and revealed fully in Christ. In dialogue we search together for this truth.  

Dialogue presupposes two things. On the subjective level it presupposes that I respect the other person as a subject with autonomy and freedom as myself. From this perspective dialogue is the basic attitude of respectful listening to others and of openness to communicate oneself to others. On the objective level it presupposes that every person and every human community has some valuable experience of the ultimate meaning of life which they can share with others. If I from my part am convinced that I can share my faith or my experience of the ultimate meaning of life in God with others, I must be prepared to listen to the others as well. The ultimate Truth is always greater than my own experience and knowledge, and no one, no institution, can claim to possess the whole truth.  

In our one world, yet one that is torn apart and divided, we believe that we have a message to share and a project to propose. The message is about the love of God for all of humanity, which should be shared and reflected in all his sons and daughters. The project we propose is the communion of all, with due respect for the differences which enrich us all… A concert never relies just on one note. A symphony consists in the harmonious relationship between many notes and different instruments… Would anybody like to join the orchestra?