Pope Leo XIV invites Church to participate in World Mission Sunday

"On World Mission Sunday, every Catholic community is invited to pray and offer spiritual and material sacrifices for the missionary efforts in areas of first evangelization and the support of young Churches."

Pope Leo XIV expressed this when welcoming those participating in the General Assembly of the Pontifical Mission Societies in the Vatican on Monday.

The Holy Father began his address retracing their rich history and recalling the Societies' meaningful contribution to the Church and throughout the world for several decades, and recalling that 2026 marks several missionary milestones for PMS, especially the hundredth anniversary of establishing, at the request of the Pontifical Society of the Propagation of the Faith, the penultimate Sunday of October as World Mission Sunday by Pope Pius XI.

"For one hundred years," Pope Leo observed, "this day has been set apart for prayer, reflection, and contributing to the Church’s mission of evangelization, especially in areas where the proclamation of the Gospel is only just beginning and where the Church is still young."

"If I might add," Pope Leo said, "one of the particular services of World Mission Sunday is to remind people in the older churches, if you will in the established churches, how important it is that they too join in the missionary spirit of the whole Church."

Thanks to the funds raised on World Mission Sunday, the Holy Father noted, the Pontifical Society of the Propagation of the Faith can provide necessary help to the over 1,130 ecclesiastical circumscriptions that depend on the Dicastery for Evangelization, Section for First Evangelization and New Particular Churches, to help them establish necessary ecclesiastical infrastructures and support diverse missionary initiatives.

He also recalled that the funds support the administration of five colleges in Rome for the ongoing formation of priests, and consecrated women and men, who come to Rome for studies and "become precious resources for their local Churches to which they return after completing their studies."

"These and many more missionary initiatives are possible thanks to the generosity of the faithful on World Mission Sunday," he said.