World Mission Sunday, organized by the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, is a day set aside for Catholics worldwide to recommit themselves to the Church’s missionary activity through prayer and sacrifice. In 2012, World Mission Sunday is celebrated on October 21.
Annually, World Mission Sunday is celebrated on the next-to-last Sunday in October.
Special meaning this year
In his message for World Mission Sunday this year, Pope Benedict XV said, “This year the celebration of World Mission Day has a very special meaning. The 50th anniversary of the beginning of the Second Vatican Council and of the opening of the Year of Faith and of the Synod of Bishops on the theme of the New Evangelization contribute to reaffirming the Church’s desire to engage with greater courage and zeal in the missio ad gentes so that the Gospel may reach the very ends of the earth.
“The Second Vatican Council, with the participation of Catholic bishops from all the corners of the earth, was a truly luminous sign of the Church’s universality, welcoming for the first time such a large number of Council Fathers from Asia, Africa, Latin America, and Oceania.
“Scattered among non-Christian peoples, missionary bishops and indigenous bishops, pastors from communities brought to the council the image of a Church present on all the continents and interpreted the complex realities of what was then called the ‘Third World.’ Enriched by their experience of being pastors of churches, young and in the process of formation, motivated by passion for spreading the Kingdom of God, they contributed significantly to reaffirming the need and urgency of the evangelization ad gentes, and hence to placing the Church’s missionary nature at the centre of ecclesiology,” says Pope Benedict XVI.
Needs in mission areas grow
The Holy Father points out in his message, “Today this vision is still valid, indeed, it has experienced a fruitful theological and pastoral reflection and, at the same time, is presented with new urgency because the number of those who do not know Christ has grown.”
Indeed, every year the needs of the Catholic Church in the missions grow — as new dioceses are formed, as new seminaries are opened because of the growing number of young men hearing Christ’s call to follow him as priests, as areas devastated by war or natural disaster are rebuilt, and as other areas, long suppressed, are opening up to hear the message of Christ and his Church.
That is why the involvement and commitment of Catholics from around the world is so urgently needed. Offerings from Catholics in the United States are combined with offerings to the Propagation of the Faith worldwide.
Mission dioceses — about 1,100 at this time — receive regular annual assistance from the funds collected. In addition, these mission dioceses submit requests to the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples for assistance, among other needs, for catechetical programs, seminaries, the work of Religious communities, for communication and transportation needs, and for the building of chapels, churches, orphanages, and schools.
The world’s national directors of the Propagation of the Faith vote on these requests, matching the funds available with the greatest needs. These funds are then distributed, in their entirety, to mission dioceses throughout the world.
Msgr. Delbert Schmelzer is director of the Propagation of the Faith for the Diocese of Madison. Contributions to the Propagation of the Faith may be made at the parish or may be sent to: P.O. Box 44983, Madison, WI 53744-4983.