October 15, 2025 at 10:19 a.m.

POPE LEO: 'THE ENTIRE CHURCH IS MISSIONARY'

Pope adds that Catholics cannot leave the work to others: “This precious service involves each one of us, within the limits of our own means.”

The future Pope Leo XIV visits with Augustinian sisters in Peru in this undated photo. As an Augustinian priest, then-Father Robert F. Prevost spent many years as a missionary in Peru and also served as bishop of that country's Diocese of Chiclayo. A Chicago native, he was elected pope May 8, 2025, at the Vatican, becoming the first American pope in history. (OSV News photo/courtesy Augustinian Sister Carmen Toledano) (Courtesy photo of Sister Carmen Toledano)

By Cindy Wooden | Comments: 0 | Leave a comment

The joint celebration of the Jubilee of the Missions and the Jubilee of Migrants was an opportunity to remind all Catholics that the duty to welcome and assist migrants is also part of each person’s obligation to share God’s love, Pope Leo XIV said.

“Brothers and sisters, today a new missionary age opens up in the history of the church,” the pope said during a Jubilee Mass in St. Peter’s Square earlier this month with tens of thousands of missionaries and migrants from around the world.

What is World Mission Sunday?
Imagine a world where billions of people have never heard the name of Jesus. Imagine villages where people walk miles to attend Mass because there’s no church nearby. Imagine communities where faith is alive but fragile, challenged by poverty or isolation. Imagine churches packed every Sunday, even when those taking part know they are targets of terrorists because of their faith.
Make a difference!
Celebrated every year on the second-to-last Sunday of October, World Mission Sunday is the day when Catholics around the world unite to support the missionary work of the Church. Established by Pope Pius XI in 1926, it remains the only annual global collection that directly supports the 1,124 mission territories where the Church is young, struggling or persecuted. On this day, every parish, in every diocese, in every country, joins in prayer and giving to ensure that missionaries can continue their vital work — building churches, forming priests, supporting catechists and serving communities in need.
Pontifical Mission Societies
Throughout the year, the Pontifical Mission Societies support the proclamation of the Gospel, the building of the Church, and the work and witness of mission priests, religious sisters and brothers, and lay pastoral leaders. These missionaries provide food, education, and medical care to the most vulnerable communities in the Pope's missions. Through their work, they reveal the compassionate heart of Jesus. Help support their efforts — and be right there with them, offering hope. The Missionary Childhood Association helps children support peers in mission areas through prayer, learning, and giving — forming young hearts for global Catholic mission work. The Society for the Propagation of Faith funds missionaries, churches and catechists in developing regions to spread the Gospel and strengthen the Catholic Church worldwide. The Society of Saint Peter Apostle trains and supports seminarians and novices in mission countries — building a strong, local Church led by native clergy and religious. The Pontifical Missionary Union is dedicated to deepening the missionary awareness of all Catholics — bishops, clergy, religious and laity — by fostering a commitment to faith, prayer, witness and charity.
Your World Mission Sunday donation contributes to the universal fund of the Pontifical Society for the Propagation of the Faith, supporting:
82,498
Seminarians
8,749
Shelters and Orphanages
11,992
Health Centers
843,785
Lay Catechists
258,540
Religious Sisters
1,124
Mission Dioceses
***
“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.” — Pope Leo XIV
Source: https://pontificalmissions.org

For centuries Catholics have thought of missionaries as people who leave their homelands and set off for distant lands to minister with people who live in poverty and do not know Jesus, said the U.S.-born pope who served for decades as a missionary in Peru.

“Today the frontiers of the missions are no longer geographical, because poverty, suffering and the desire for a greater hope have made their way to us,” Pope Leo said.

“The story of so many of our migrant brothers and sisters bears witness to this: the tragedy of their flight from violence, the suffering which accompanies it, the fear of not succeeding, the perilous risk of traveling along the coastline, their cry of sorrow and desperation,” he said. “Those boats which hope to catch sight of a safe port, and those eyes filled with anguish and hope seeking to reach the shore, cannot and must not find the coldness of indifference or the stigma of discrimination!”

Leading the recitation of the Angelus after Mass, Pope Leo said that “no one should be forced to flee, nor exploited or mistreated because of their situation as foreigners or people in need! Human dignity must always come first.”

The pope had said in his homily, “mission is not so much about ‘departing,’ but instead ‘remaining’ in order to proclaim Christ through hospitality and welcome, compassion and solidarity.”

Being missionaries at home, he said, means not hiding in the comforts of one’s own life and turning a blind eye to “those who arrive from lands that are distant and violent,” but rather opening “our arms and hearts to them, welcoming them as brothers and sisters, and being for them a presence of consolation and hope.”

Pope Leo praised the “many missionary men and women, but also believers and people of good will, who work in the service of migrants, and promote a new culture of fraternity on the theme of migration, beyond stereotypes and prejudices.”

However, he said, Catholics cannot leave the work to others. “This precious service involves each one of us, within the limits of our own means.”

In its efforts to fulfill Jesus’ mandate to share the Gospel with all people, the Catholic Church has relied on “missionary cooperation” with people in traditionally Christian lands supporting the foreign missions with prayer, donations and personnel.

Pope Leo called for a new form of missionary cooperation that taps into the lively faith of many migrants and refugees.

“In the communities of ancient Christian tradition, such as those of the West,” he said, “the presence of many brothers and sisters from the world’s South should be welcomed as an opportunity, through an exchange that renews the face of the church and sustains a Christianity that is more open, more alive and more dynamic.”

He also asked missionaries called to depart for foreign lands “to live with respect within the culture they encounter, directing to the good all that is found true and worthy, and bringing there the prophetic message of the Gospel.”