World Mission Sunday

A message from Bishop David M. O'Connell, C.M. on
World Mission Sunday 2025:

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

As we celebrate World Mission Sunday, we are reminded of our shared responsibility to proclaim the Gospel to all nations. This day is a powerful call to unite in prayer and solidarity, supporting the Church's missionary work worldwide.

This year's theme, "Missionaries of Hope Among the Peoples," resonates deeply, echoing the vision of Pope Leo XIV, whose own missionary journey in Peru exemplified the hope and renewal the Church brings to the most isolated communities. As he said, the Pontifical Mission Societies are "the primary means for awakening missionary responsibility among all the baptized." His example calls us to renew our commitment to the mission of the Church—both near and far.

Let us remember that the Catholic Church in the United States was once a mission territory, nurtured by the sacrifices of Catholics from Europe and beyond. Today, we are called to extend that same generosity to the Church's 1,124 mission territories, where priests, religious, and lay leaders work in areas of poverty and persecution to bring the Gospel to those in need.

The second collection today supports the Pontifical Mission Societies, the Pope's official means of assisting these communities. Your contribution will support the formation of seminarians and religious, the training of catechists, education for children in Catholic schools, 

medical care in Church-run hospitals, and the construction of churches and centers for worship.
Your prayers and sacrifices today ensure that the light of Christ reaches even the farthest corners of the world. The mission is not just for those who serve in distant lands—it is the responsibility of all of us, by virtue of our baptism.

I encourage you to give generously, knowing that your support will make a real difference in the lives of those who might otherwise never hear the Gospel. May this World Mission Sunday deepen our commitment to the mission of the Church and inspire us to live as Missionaries of Hope in all we do.

Sincerely in the Lord, 

Most Reverend David M. O'Connell, C.M.
Bishop of Trenton
 

I offer a warm welcome to all of you, who have gathered from over one hundred and twenty countries to take part in the annual General Assembly of the Pontifical Mission Societies. I want to begin by expressing my gratitude to you and your associates for your dedicated service, which is indispensable to the Church’s mission of evangelization, as I can personally attest from my own pastoral experience in the years of my ministry serving in Peru.

The Pontifical Mission Societies are effectively the “primary means” of awakening missionary responsibility among all the baptized and supporting ecclesial communities in areas where the Church is young (cf. Decree Ad Gentes, 38). We see this in the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, which provides aid for pastoral and catechetical programmes, the building of new churches, healthcare, and educational needs in mission territories. The Society of the Holy Childhood, too, provides support for Christian formation programmes for children, in addition to caring for their basic needs and protection. Likewise, the Society of Saint Peter the Apostle helps to cultivate missionary vocations, priestly and religious, while the Missionary Union is committed to forming priests, religious men and women, and all the people of God for the Church’s missionary activity.

The promotion of apostolic zeal among the People of God remains an essential aspect of the Church’s renewal as envisioned by the Second Vatican Council, and is all the more urgent in our own day. Our world, wounded by war, violence and injustice, needs to hear the Gospel message of God’s love and to experience the reconciling power of Christ’s grace.  In this sense, the Church herself, in all her members, is increasingly called to be “a missionary Church that opens its arms to the world, proclaims the word … and becomes a leaven of harmony for humanity” (Homily, Mass for the Beginning of the Pontificate, 18 May 2025). We are to bring to all peoples, indeed to all creatures, the Gospel promise of true and lasting peace, which is possible because, in the words of Pope Francis, “the Lord has overcome the world and its constant conflict ‘by making peace through the blood of his cross’” (Evangelii Gaudium, 229).

Hence we see the importance of fostering a spirit of missionary discipleship in all the baptized and a sense of the urgency of bringing Christ to all people. In this regard, I would like to thank you and your associates for your efforts each year in promoting World Mission Sunday on the second-to-last Sunday of October, which is of immense help to me in my solicitude for the Churches in areas which are under the care of the Dicastery for Evangelization.

Today, as in the days after Pentecost, the Church, led by the Holy Spirit, pursues her journey through history with trust, joy and courage as she proclaims the name of Jesus and the salvation born of faith in the saving truth of the Gospel. The Pontifical Mission Societies are an important part of this great effort. In their work of coordinating missionary formation and animating a missionary spirit on the local level, I would ask the National Directors to give priority to visiting dioceses, parishes and communities, and in this way to help the faithful to recognize the fundamental importance of the missions and supporting our brothers and sisters in those areas of our world where the Church is young and growing.

Before concluding these words with you this morning, I would like to reflect with you on two distinctive elements of your identity as Pontifical Mission Societies. They can be described as, communion and universality. As Societies committed to sharing in the missionary mandate of the Pope and the College of Bishops, you are called to cultivate and further promote within your members the vision of the Church as the communion of believers, enlivened by the Holy Spirit, who enables us to enter into the perfect communion and harmony of the blessed Trinity. Indeed, it is in the Trinity that all things find their unity. This dimension of our Christian life and mission is close to my heart, and is reflected in the words of Saint Augustine that I chose for my episcopal service and now for my papal ministry: In Illo uno unum. Christ is our Saviour and in him we are one, a family of God, beyond the rich variety of our languages, cultures and experiences.

The appreciation of our communion as members of the Body of Christ naturally opens us to the universal dimension of the Church’s mission of evangelization, and inspires us to transcend the confines of our individual parishes, dioceses and nations, in order to share with every nation and people the surpassing richness of the knowledge of Jesus Christ (cf. Phil 3:8).  

A renewed focus on the Church’s unity and universality corresponds precisely to the authentic charism of the Pontifical Mission Societies. As such, it should inspire the process of renewal of the statutes that you have initiated. In this regard, I express my trust that this process will confirm the members of the Societies worldwide in their vocation to be a leaven of missionary zeal within the People of God.

Dear friends, our celebration of this Holy Year challenges all of us to be “pilgrims of hope.” Taking up the words that Pope Francis chose as the theme for this year’s World Mission Day, I would conclude by encouraging you to continue to be “missionaries of hope among all peoples.” Commending you, your benefactors and all associated with your important work to the loving intercession of Mary, the Mother of the Church, I cordially impart my Apostolic Blessing as a pledge of lasting joy and peace in the Lord.

Dear Friends in our Mission Family,
Peace to you and your loved ones!
 
World Mission Sunday will be celebrated this year on the weekend of October 19 and 20.  Our diocesan celebration will take place in Saint Benedict Church, Holmdel, on October 20th at the 11 AM Mass.
 
Frankie Picciolo, a student from the Religious Education Program of Saint Benedict’s, is one of 24 young people from throughout the country to have his artwork selected as a winner in the National Christmas Card Art Contest of the Missionary Childhood Association.  It will be an honor for me to present the award to Frankie during the Mass.
 
As Bishop O’Connell has shared in his message to us, the “call to mission resonates deeply with our faith's core, urging us to share God's love with the world.”
 
We all participate in this momentous event on World Mission Sunday particularly our collection for the Society for the Propagation of the Faith.  Through our thoughts, prayers, and financial support to the missionary work of the Church, we have contributed and are continually helping this so worthy and noble cause. 
 
Please share and give as your means allow to the second collection on World Mission Sunday. The funds we generate are entirely devoted to evangelization efforts, including the support of seminaries, future religious sisters, catechists, Catholic schools, and healthcare centers that offer life-changing education and care to those most in need.
 
We have always been generous in the past years with our offerings.  On behalf of our missionaries serving here and abroad, I humbly and sincerely thank you.
 
United with you in prayer and faith,
 
Rev. Peter James Alindogan