During the course of the
Mexican Revolution, soon followed by the
Cristero War, thousands of citizens of that nation fled the violence of those conflicts in the United States, many settling in
Texas. A local member of the Sisters of the
Congregation of Divine Providence in
Houston, Sister Mary Benitia Vermeersch, C.D.P. (1880–1975), saw the poverty of both the refugees and the long-established members of the
Mexican-American population there. She organized a group of Hispanic girls in the 8th grade of the local
parochial school where she was the principal, who were eager to teach catechism to public school children in their own language. She called them the Catechists of Divine Providence. As the girls grew to an age where they could make a commitment to
consecrated life, Vermeersch sought the approval of the group as a new religious community in the Catholic Church, committed to serving the Hispanic population where they were in most need. In 1934 the
Bishop of Galveston,
Christopher Edward Byrne, granted this approval. When her own congregation assigned her to
San Antonio in 1938, Vermeersch continued her organization and recruitment for this community. She obtained a home to serve as the
motherhouse of this new group. The Missionary Catechists were approved as a fully autonomous religious congregation by
Pope John Paul II on December 12, 1989. ==Current status==