“You shall be my witnesses”

The theme of Pope Francis’ Message for World Mission Sunday 2022 is “You shall be my witnesses.” In it, he reflects on the final words of Jesus before he returns into heaven, “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). Read his complete message, which is available from the Vatican website:

2022 Message for
World Mission Sunday

“… to the ends of the earth”

In his message for World Mission Sunday this year, Pope Francis recalls the history of this annual collection. This appeal traces its origin back to the founding of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples founded 400 years ago, on June 22, 1622, by Pope Gregory XV. Pope Gregory wanted the missionary work of the Church to be free of national colonial aspirations, which were often at odds with the Church. For example, recall that St. Junipero Serra—the great missionary friar to California—was in frequent conflict with the Spanish authorities on the treatment of the Native Americans.

Two hundred years ago later, Blessed Pauline Jaricot founded The Society for the Propagation of the Faith in Lyon, France. She was distressed to learn her brother, a seminarian, that the Society of Foreign Missions did not have enough money to support its missionary activities in Asia. She organized people to collect money every Friday on the streets of Lyon for the missions. In his message, Pope Francis tells us more about her persistence: “Albeit in poor health, she accepted God’s inspiration to establish a network of prayer and collection for missionaries, so that the faithful could actively participate in the mission ‘to the ends of the earth’. This brilliant idea gave rise to the annual celebration of World Mission Day, in which the funds collected in local communities are applied to the universal fund with which the Pope supports missionary activity.”

Help Pope Francis support the missions by giving to the World Mission Sunday collection. To give online, visit the Propagation of the Faith web page. To explore special projects you can help throughout the world, visit missio.org.

Do not forget to pray for missionaries in your daily prayers.

The Pontifical Missionary Societies

The missionary work of the Catholic Church is carried out by The Pontifical Missionary Societies, which has four branches:

1. The Society for the Propagation of the Faith: founded in Lyon, France in 1822 by the Bl. Pauline Jaricot, to promote missionary cooperation.   This aim was widened to include collecting material help for the missions, the promotion of missionary vocations, and educating Christians with a missionary spirit.  Noteworthy in this is its initiative of missionary masses in October, most notably World Mission Sunday, on the third Sunday in October.
2. The Society of Saint Peter the Apostle: founded by Madame Bigard of Caen, France in 1889, to provide financial help for the formation of local clergy in missionary Churches, as well as to the formation of religious, both male and female.
3. The Pontifical Society of the Missionary Childhood. This work was founded in 1843 by Most Rev. De Forbin Janson, bishop of Nancy, France, with the goal of “children helping children”; educating children with a missionary spirit, so that they pray and sacrifice for their brothers and sisters in need around the world.
4. The Pontifical Missionary Union: founded in Italy by Fr. Paolo Manna in 1916, to help Catholics better understand their baptismal responsibility for the Church’s missionary work.

In the United States, the website for The Pontifical Missionary Societies is missio.org.