On Saturday, July 20th, during the 10th National Eucharistic Congress, the Pontifical Mission Societies USA held a special reception to present the materials most dioceses in the country will use to promote World Mission Sunday 2024, which will be celebrated on October 20th. This year’s theme, chosen by Pope Francis, is “Go and Invite Everyone to the Banquet.”
The event saw the attendance of nearly 50 bishops, including board members Archbishop Bernard A. Hebda of St. Paul and Minneapolis, and Archbishop Thomas G. Wenski of Miami. Also present was lay board member Barry Jackson. His Eminence Christophe Cardinal Pierre, Apostolic Nuncio to the United States and ex officio member of the board, and Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, Pro-Prefect for the Section of First Evangelization within the Dicastery for Evangelization, delivered inspiring addresses.
Father Anthony Andreassi C.O, National Secretary of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith emceed the event.
Cardinal Pierre emphasized the importance of the Pontifical Mission Societies and shared his personal experiences serving as a nuncio in various countries, many of which benefited from the societies’ support. “The collection we are preparing for on World Mission Sunday is crucial,” he noted. He highlighted the universal mission of the Church and the need for a collective effort to support the Pope’s mission. “We have to reawaken this dimension of the Church as a universal mission, and to support Pope Francis in these efforts, as the Pope is the first missionary.”
Cardinal Tagle echoed these sentiments, bringing greetings from Pope Francis and the Dicastery for Evangelization. He reflected on the grassroots origins of the mission societies, founded by committed laypeople and religious who sought to share the Good News of Jesus Christ. “The mission societies are rooted in a deep spiritual commitment to make Jesus known,” he said.
He emphasized the need to rekindle the missionary spirit within parishes, sharing information about what missionaries do in Asia, Africa, Oceania, the Amazon region and in the Apostolic Vicariates of Latin America, all of which are under the competence of the Dicastery for Evangelization. “Do we pray for the missions in our parish? Do we share information about the need of many peoples in the world to hear the Gospel, or have we reduced World Mission Sunday to a second collection?”
Cardinal Tagle also shared poignant stories from his experiences in many of the 1,150 territories that rely on World Mission Sunday. “Asia is the most populous continent in the world. Two-thirds of the world’s population is in Asia, but only three percent of the population in Asia is Christian,” he noted. He shared moving stories, such as a parish in Cambodia with only one parishioner, or an encounter with a priest in Nepal following the earthquake who had only five parishioners, scattered across a region equivalent to a third of Italy.
“I get calls from bishops from Asia and Africa, and often, during the first three minutes, I hear no words, just sobbing,” Cardinal Tagle said. “They are the ones who rely on World Mission Sunday. If you shared these realities and these stories with your people, I am sure that their hearts would be on fire. I know that they too would want to help share the Good News with so many people who desperately need it. And the greatest news is our Lord, Jesus Christ.”
Both Cardinals underscored the significance of World Mission Sunday as more than just a collection day. It is a day to renew the Church’s commitment to evangelization and to support missions worldwide. The materials presented at the event aim to inspire and mobilize the faithful to engage actively in missionary work.
About World Mission Sunday
World Mission Sunday, an initiative of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, one of four Pontifical Mission Societies, was instituted by Pope Pius XI in 1926, and the first worldwide collection took place the following year. Since then, it has been a day of universal solidarity.
Held globally on the next-to-last Sunday in October every year, World Mission Sunday is a unique effort for the entire Church to provide help for over 1,100 dioceses. Through the work of these churches, and their witness to Christ, the poor receive practical help and experience God’s love and mercy, His hope and peace.
This day of prayer and giving finds its roots in XIX century France, when lay woman Blessed Pauline Jaricot asked her friends to pray daily for the missions and give a penny a week. That first collection was sent to the great diocese of Louisiana, which then extended from the Florida Keys to Canada, as well as to Bardstown, Kentucky.
The Pontifical Mission Societies in the United States work through local Bishops, churches and missionary congregations to ensure that resources are distributed equitably and justly – based on the needs of individual churches. The money goes directly from the United States to the Bishops in the mission territories, allowing for a direct link between two local churches.
During World Mission Sunday 2023, $17,131,676 were raised in support of the Church in mission territories.
About Pontifical Mission Societies USA
The Pontifical Mission Societies (TPMS) are a worldwide network at the service of the Pope to support the missions and the young Churches with prayer and charity. These include the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, the Society of St. Peter the Apostle, the Missionary Childhood Association (MCA) and the Missionary Union of Priests and Religious.
