Papal envoys unveil materials for World Mission Sunday 2024

At a special reception on the sidelines of the 10th National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis, Indiana, Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle and Cardinal Christophe Pierre highlighted the impact of support for World Mission Sunday, celebrated on October 20, for more than 1,100 struggling areas around the world.

July 23, 2024

National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis, Indiana

By Deborah Castellano Lubov
Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, pro-prefect of the First Evangelization Department of the Vatican Dicastery for Evangelization, and Cardinal Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States, call for a renewed missionary spirit to help believers everywhere in need.

During the 10th National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis, Indiana, on July 20, the cardinals presented at a special reception the materials that will be used this year in most dioceses of the United States to promote the 98th World Mission Sunday on October 20.

Pope Francis has chosen the theme for this year’s day: “Go and invite everyone to the banquet.”

According to a statement from the Pontifical Mission Societies in the United States, the papal envoys emphasized the importance of Sunday, which is more than just a day of collection, but an opportunity to renew the Church’s commitment to evangelization and support missions worldwide.

Nearly 50 bishops, including board members Archbishop Bernard Hebda of St. Paul and Minneapolis and Archbishop Thomas Wenski of Miami, attended the reception, along with lay board member Barry Jackson.

World Mission Sunday
Pope Pius XI instituted World Mission Sunday in 1926 as an initiative of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, one of the four Pontifical Mission Societies. The following year, the first worldwide collection took place and since then it has been a day of universal solidarity.

World Mission Sunday is observed every year on the penultimate Sunday in October around the world. It is a unique initiative of the whole Church to reach out to over 1,100 dioceses, and especially to provide practical help to the poor through local churches and their witness to Christ.

The roots of the day of prayer and giving go back to 19th century France, when a laywoman, Blessed Pauline Jaricot, asked her friends to pray daily for the missions and to give a penny a week. That first collection was sent to the Diocese of Louisiana, which then stretched from the Florida Keys to Canada, and also to Bardstown, Kentucky.

Pontifical Mission Societies in the US distribute directly to mission areas
The Pontifical Missionary Societies (TPMS) are a worldwide network at the service of the Pope to support the missions and the young Churches with prayer and charity. They 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.

The Pontifical Mission Societies in the United States work through local bishops, churches, and mission communities to ensure that resources are distributed fairly and equitably, based on the needs of the individual churches.

The money goes directly from the United States to the bishops in the mission areas, creating a direct link between the two local churches.

Cardinal Pierre: Missionary side of the Church must be revived
Cardinal Pierre, who also ex officio member of the PMS Board, emphasized in his speech the importance of the associations and shared his personal experiences as nuncio in different countries, many of which have benefited from the support of PMS.

“The collection we are preparing for World Mission Sunday is crucial,” he noted, stressing: “We must revive this dimension of the Church as universal mission and support Pope Francis in these efforts, since the Pope is the first missionary.”

Cardinal Tagle: Pray for missions
Cardinal Tagle expressed these sentiments after conveying greetings from Pope Francis and the Dicastery for Evangelization.

He reflected on the grassroots origins of the Mission Societies, founded by committed lay and religious people who wanted to share the Good News of Jesus Christ. “The Mission Societies are rooted in a deep spiritual commitment to making Jesus known,” he said.

He stressed the need to revive the missionary spirit within parishes and to share information about what missionaries are doing in Asia, Africa, Oceania, the Amazon region and the Apostolic Vicariates of Latin America, all of which fall under the jurisdiction of the Dicastery for Evangelization.

“Are we praying for the missions in our parish?” he asked. “Are we sharing information about the need of many people in the world to hear the Gospel, or have we reduced World Mission Sunday to a second collection?”

More than 1,150 territories
Cardinal Tagle also shared stories of his experiences in many of the 1,150 areas that depend 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, recalling a parish in Cambodia with only one parishioner, and a meeting with a priest in Nepal after the earthquake, who had only five parishioners, spread over an area equal to a third of Italy.

Those Who Trust in World Mission Sunday
“I get calls from bishops from Asia and Africa, and often for the first three minutes I don’t hear any words, just sobs,” Cardinal Tagle said. “They are the ones who are counting on World Mission Sunday.”

“If you were to share these realities and stories with your people,” the Vatican pro-prefect insisted, “I am sure their hearts would be set on fire.”

“I know that they too,” he said, “want to share the Good News with so many people who need it so much,” adding that “the greatest news is our Lord, Jesus Christ.”–Vatican News