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T oday the congregation numbers 2,300 members on five continents and 40 countries. The diversity and innovation which marked the early years in the life of the congregation are still characteristic of its approach to ministry today.
In the first ten years there were 60 professed members in the new religious community; after 20 there were 130; and on the 50th anniversary of its founding the Congregation of the Priests of the Sacred Heart had almost a thousand members. 
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In Montréal, Father Claude Bédard has opened a hospice for AIDS patients, at which he oversees a staff of over 90 professionals and volunteers.
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On the island of Mindanao (Philippines) an SCJ priest has set up a group home for girls who were sexually abused by family members; many of the other priests there are involved in promoting reconciliation between the Christian and the Muslim populations.
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In India, a complete seminary and formation program has been put in place so that native clergy will be able to serve the needs of the small but growing Catholic population of the country.
F ather Dehon frequently reminded his companions that the congregation was not founded to do one specific type of ministry. Rather, his dream was to bring the love of Christ to those people and places in society that were most neglected and abandoned, those which were in the greatest need of feeling the healing touch of His compassionate care. That remains the common ideal that unites the members of the congregation in the great diversity of their works.
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