The Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend will mark a transition in its missionary outreach leadership at the end of March, as Kay Schneider retires after 17 years as director of the Pontifical Mission Societies and Meg Distler prepares to assume the role April 1. The change comes after decades of ser vice by Schneider, whose ministry in Catholic education and parish life preceded her work with the mission office. Appointed director in 2008 by Bishop John M. D’Arcy, Schneider first became involved in 2003 as coordinator of the Holy Childhood Association. The Pontifical Mission Societies, under the direction of the Holy Father, support the Church’s missionary activity worldwide by fostering prayer, promoting missionary awareness, and providing material assistance to mission territories. Kay Schneider In her role, Schneider helped coordinate the diocese’s participation in the Church’s worldwide missionary efforts, particularly through the Society for the Propagation of the Faith. A central part of that work included organizing the Missionary Cooperative Program, which connects parishes with visiting missionaries from around the world. Each year, Schneider reviewed hundreds of requests from missionaries seeking to visit parishes. Working with diocesan leadership, she helped prioritize those appeals and match them with local communities, ensuring parishioners could hear firsthand about the needs of the universal Church. She also supported diocesan participation in World Mission Sunday each October, helping foster awareness of the Church’s global mission and encouraging both prayer and financial support. Reflecting on her years of service, Schneider said: “It has been extremely exciting and humbling for me to communicate with bishops, priests, and sisters from all over the world. It has been a blessing to work with so many wonderful people in our diocese over these many years.” Schneider’s broader ministry in the diocese spans decades. She served as a teacher at St. Charles Borromeo School, later as principal at St. Henry School, and for 27 years as director of religious education at St. Joseph Parish in Roanoke and St. Catherine Parish in Nix Settlement. Meg Distler Her successor, Meg Distler, brings extensive experience in Catholic leadership and philanthropy. Distler recently retired as executive director of the St. Joseph Community Health Foundation, where she spent 30 years in ministry with the Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ, supporting initiatives for vulnerable populations, including pregnant women, infants, and immigrants. Distler also serves on several diocesan and Catholic boards, including the Catholic Community Foundation and the diocesan finance council, and is a parishioner at St. Gaspar del Bufalo Catholic Church in Rome City. She said her own faith journey and experience within the diocese helped inspire her to take on the new role. “I have been blessed to experience a peace in my life in large part because I have been able to grow my relationship with God through our diocese, which is abundantly rich with Catholic resources,” Distler said. “We have many opportunities to meet God on many different fronts with our parishes, religious communities, Catholic education system, retreat centers, shrines, and our clergy and active lay ministry.” Distler said the Pontifical Mission Societies are operated by the pope as a gateway for the faithful to help missionaries establish “these types of resources globally through prayer and financial support.” She hopes to expand opportunities for young people to engage in missionary life. She pointed to recent participation by local Catholic school students in the Missionary Childhood Association, where children created World Mission rosaries representing the five continents. “I hope we can expand upon that opportunity for more children to participate,” she said. Regarding the transition in local leadership of the Pontifical Mission Societies, Father Mark Gurtner, vicar general of the diocese, said: “It has been such a joy for me as vicar general to work with Kay all these years in her role as diocesan director of the Pontifical Mission Societies. I wish her the fullness of God’s blessing in her retirement. It is also a joy for me to welcome Meg Disler as the new director. I have had the honor of working with Meg on various things and am well familiar with her expertise and her zeal for the mission of the Church.” The post Diocese Announces Leadership Transition for Local Pontifical Mission Societies appeared first on Today's Catholic. ...read more read less