This morning, in the Vatican Apostolic Palace, the Holy Father Leo XIV received in audience the participants in the General Assembly of the Pontifical Mission Societies.

The following is the address delivered by the Pope to those present during the course of the meeting:

Address of the Holy Father

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Peace be with you.

Your Eminence,
Your Excellencies,
Dear General Secretaries and National Directors,

It is with joy and thanksgiving that I greet all of you, gathered in Rome this year for your annual General Assembly, a year truly rich in missionary milestones.  This year marks 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 my predecessor Pope Pius XI.  For one hundred years, 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. On this day, every Catholic community is invited to pray and offer spiritual and material sacrifices for the missionary efforts in areas of first evangelization and for the support of young churches. I am happy to express my gratitude to all of you and to everyone who works with you throughout the world, for all of your efforts, great and small, in promoting World Mission Day in every ecclesiastical circumscription in the universal communion of the Church.

If I might add, 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 Pontifical Society of the Propagation of the Faith is able to 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. They also support the administration of five colleges in Rome for the ongoing formation of priests, and consecrated women and men, who come to the eternal city 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.

This year also marks the one hundred and tenth anniversary of the founding of the Pontifical Missionary Union by Blessed Paolo Manna, declared Pontifical by Pope Pius XII and described by Saint Paul VI as the “soul” of the other Pontifical Mission Societies. I encourage all to participate in its mission of fostering among all the baptized an ever more fervent missionary spirituality and a deeper commitment to the Church’s universal mission of evangelization in this new missionary age.

It is also providential that this year, on 24 September, in Saint Louis Missouri, a renowned National Director of the Pontifical Mission Societies in the United States of America, the Venerable Fulton J. Sheen, will be beatified. Archbishop Sheen was a light of faith, hope, and love that shone through the radio and television media for decades. I myself am a witness of his evangelization when I was growing up. His broadcasts touched millions with the hope of the Gospel and his initiatives and efforts resulted in enormous spiritual and material aid to the Churches in areas of first evangelization. May our new Blessed be an example for all of the National and Diocesan Directors of the Pontifical Mission Societies throughout the world.

In a world increasingly marked by division, war and conflict among nations and peoples, the four Pontifical Mission Societies, entrusted to the Dicastery for Evangelization, the Section for First Evangelization and New Particular Churches, render an invaluable service to the Church’s mission of proclaiming Christ, the Prince of Peace and the incarnate revelation of Divine Love for humanity. In this regard, the Pontifical Mission Society of the Holy Childhood carries out a particularly precious mission by bringing the light of faith and the consolation of Christian charity to children throughout the world, especially in regions afflicted by hatred and violence. Equally important is the Pontifical Mission Society of Saint Peter the Apostle, which promotes and sustains the formation of indigenous clergy and consecrated religious in territories of first evangelization. In many places, without the assistance of this Society, seminarians and novices would lack the necessary means for their human, spiritual and pastoral formation.

The theme for this year’s World Mission Sunday - One in Christ, united in mission - highlights the unity of believers and marks the 100th anniversary of this global celebration. It invites all of the members of the Church to a deeper communion in Christ and to a fuller unity in his divine mission of love. It reflects the profound desire of the Lord expressed in his prayer to the Father before his Passion (cf. Jn 17:20, 21, 26). These aspects, expressed in this year’s theme, call for a missionary renewal in the Church in the years ahead. I therefore encourage you to keep this teaching in mind, to live an authentic spirituality of missionary unity and communion centered on Christ, and to promote it through your activities among the faithful.

My dear brothers and sisters, the Second Vatican Council insisted that the “Church on earth is by her very nature missionary since, according to the plan of the Father, it has her origin in the mission of the Son and the Holy Spirit” (Ad Gentes, 2). Mindful of this, I invite you all to appreciate the urgency of embracing an ongoing missionary conversion and to look together for ways of being a missionary Church for the healing of our world, so fraught with tensions, conflicts and wars. In this important task, the work of the the Pontifical Mission Societies remains essential. Let us therefore continue our missionary journey with joy and renewed zeal. In all that we do for the work of evangelization, may we always place Jesus Christ at the center, embracing the beautiful Gospel principle expressed by John the Baptist: “He must increase, but I must decrease” (Jn3:30).

Entrusting all of you, your collaborators, benefactors and all who share in this vital missionary work to the maternal intercession of the Mother of God, Mary - Queen of Missions - and that of all the missionary saints, I cordially impart my Apostolic Blessing. Thank you.

And let us pray together as Jesus taught us: “Our Father…