full time catholic missionaries

Evangelizadores de Tiempo Completo

(ETC – Full-time Catholic Lay Missionaries)

Evangelizadores de Tiempo Completo (or ETCs) serves to fill in the huge gap of shortage of priests to serve the people particularly in remote villages in South and Latin America. Our ETCs or full-time missionaries have carried the Good News of the Gospel to 4,938 communities in Mexico alone. These foot soldiers for Christ traverse rural areas throughout Latin America, assisting parishes and priests, tending to people who are often lost and forgotten. ETCs are critical support, particularly in Mexico, where there is an average of 6,200 Catholics for each Archdiocesan priest, a 30% ratio increase over the past decade due to a decline in vocations.
Explore the work of the ETCs in the tabs below and learn how to give to Catholic missionary work.

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28: 19-20

Meet the Evangelizers & their families
Carlos playing guitar for kids

Carlos Davila Cardena
“Bartender to Evangelist”

Ignacio of Tuxtla
“A Selfless Missionary”

Medical Mission Chiapas

Alfredo Solis of Chiapas
“Aiding Migrants in Chiapas”

Sister Marisol
“God Alone Suffices”

Juan Antonio of Merida
“A Very Charismatic Missionary 

Memoriam headshot of Esaul Ortega, member of the evangekizadores de tiempo completo

Esaúl Ortega
“17 Years a Missionary” 

Juan Hernandez
“Prison Ministry Leads Man to Know Christ”

Alfredo of San Andres
“800 Home Visits”

Children and adults pray at a table of food

Gerardo Soria
“Our Lady of the Pillar: Victor & Maria”

Gerardo Soria
“It’s Never Too Late: Jose & Maria”

The Evangelizer’s Mission

Evangelizadores de Tiempo Completo (or ETCs) is a program uniquely designed to assist local priests and bishops in parishes through the selfless and untiring service of lay people serving as full time evangelizers who dedicate themselves completely to tending to the needs of thousands of Catholics throughout the country.  For more than 20 years ETCs have worked in all of the Mexican Republic, as well as other countries in South and Latin America developing an important role at the service of evangelization. We currently have 410 evangelizers working in 27 states and 49 Dioceses. Guided by the Holy Spirit, the evangelizers provide: pastoral support, catechist training, liturgical ceremonies and formative programs, assisting the limited number of priests serving a large population in the area. Many times the evangelizer traverses to areas in faraway communities, often at great risk to their personal safety, offering a helping hand to people who are not able to get to a church or be visited by a parish priest. The ETC program allows parish priests to tend to their work closer to home. Without the ETC program many people will not be educated in the faith and be served by the local church simply for lack of priests.

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