apostolate
/əˈpɒstəleɪt
/noun
1(Chiefly in Roman Catholic contexts) the position or authority of an apostle or a religious leader.I suspect his bishop will still not be terribly happy to have him claiming to be a Catholic apostolate.
1.1A group of apostles or religious leaders: the male-only apostolate...
- These were the recognition of global diversity within the church, religious ecumenism, an emphasis on lay apostolates, and the re-definition of the relation between the Church and non-Christian religions.
- But laypersons should not hesitate to involve themselves in the intellectual apostolate.
- It is in this diversity that the Society is able to accomplish its work in schools, in parishes, in retreat houses, and in countless other apostolates: it leads not to degeneration but to generation.
1.2A form of evangelistic activity or work: their main apostolates lie in the areas of education or nursing services...
- Much the same as Pius X, he spurred on the laity through the apostolate of Catholic Action, which he had reorganized in 1923 and purged of party intrigue.
- During the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, project after project attempting to set on foot a crusade was made, and we refer to them merely to point out that the spirit of a militant apostolate continued to ferment in the soul of France.
- In 1981 he returned to Khon Kaen and was entrusted with the apostolate for leprosy patients and their families.
Origin
Late Middle English: from ecclesiastical Latin apostolatus, from apostulus (see apostle).