WHAT IS WORLD MISSION SUNDAY? (PART – 1)

This will be the first World Mission Sunday under Pope Leo XIV, the first pope from the United States and the first in modern times to have spent most of his priestly life as a missionary. His pastoral experience in Peru gives weight to his words when, on May 22, 2025, he described the Pontifical Mission Societies as “the primary means for awakening missionary responsibility among all the baptized [and for] supporting ecclesial communities in areas where the Church is young.” We see this mission expressed in the work of the four Pontifical Mission Societies: The Society for the Propagation of the Faith, which provides pastoral support, catechesis, church construction, healthcare, and education. The Missionary Childhood Association (Holy Childhood), which supports faith formation and care for the needs and protection of children. The Society of Saint Peter the Apostle, which supports vocations to the priesthood and religious life in the missions. The Pontifical Missionary Union, which forms clergy, religious, and lay faithful for missionary discipleship. (To be continued…)                                                                  Father Maria Joseph Kodiganti