World Mission Day

The primary aim of World Mission Day is to arouse interest in the missions and solicit their generous support for the missionary cause, while the role of missionaries is to spread the message of Christ, establish new Christian communities and look after the welfare of the people in them.

Territories where the Catholic missions are present do not just consist of churches, convents and chapels. But missionary zeal caters for the running of schools, hospitals, clinics, homes for the children and elderly.

A whole army of priests, male and female religious people and lay missionaries are engaged in an unrelenting battle against malaria, cholera, leprosy, meningitis, blindness and other endemic diseases, which afflict Third World nations.

In recent decades, various initiatives to assist Aids victims have added to the workload of the personnel at missionary stations, who make an earnest effort to combat ignorance and illiteracy on a grand scale. Missionaries have to cope with huge humanitarian problems. And their charitable and social work is not just for Catholics but without any discrimination for all those in need.

The way we can make a valid contribution towards the success of the campaign against global poverty is by heeding the appeal of the Church to come to the aid of her missions.

However, it would be a mistake to think that the sole objective of Mission Day is to collect money; far more important is the other end to make the faithful more aware of their duty to help, financially and spiritually, the effort of the Church to keep her missionary projects going. However, even generous people who are inclined to help the poor in other countries entertain a disturbing question: Does the aid we offer really reach those for whom it is intended? In the case of the missions, people should put their minds at rest.

Besides the religious orders that man their own missions and provide for their needs, the Catholic Church has a worldwide network based in Rome which looks after the funds raised for the missions and the fair distribution of what is collected: the Congregation for the Evangelisation, flanked by the Pontifical Missionary Societies. The Congregation for the Propagation of Faith is concerned with everything connected with the missionary world, for whose needs it also provides. This department of the Vatican originated as far back as the 17th century and its role today is that of "directing and coordinating throughout the world the work of evangelisation and missionary cooperation". Its jurisdiction extends to all Asia, except, the Philippines, the continent of Oceania, excluding Australia, the whole of Africa, with the exception of Egypt and Tunisia, and some areas of Europe, such as Albania and Montenegro.

Annexed to this Congregation are the Pontifical Mission Societies, namely the Society for the Propagation of Faith, the Society of the Holy Childhood, and that of St Peter the Apostle for the native clergy. These three societies are directed by a supreme council, presided over by the Congregation's secretary, and have members and contributors from all over the world. They have been founded to plead for the missionary cause and provide for the aid necessary for humans to live and develop.

The Society for the Propagation of Faith founded in Lyons, France, in 1822 aims to make the needs of the missions known to the faithful so that they may help the missionaries to proclaim the Gospel. The Society of St Peter, the Apostle, established in 1890, seeks to emphasise the importance of the recruitment and formation of native clergy for the purpose of ministering to the new communities. The Pontifical Society of the Holy Childhood, since 1843 has endeavoured to support and promote all works of assistance and education in favour of children. In countries with a long standing Catholic tradition, children under the age of 12 are encouraged to have a missionary spirit and offer prayers, sacrifices and contributions to help children like themselves in the mission lands.

The diocesan directors of these societies, and their collaborators collect gifts and offerings and send them to the Roman Congregation and its supreme council is tasked with the role of distribution to the mission territories, according to need.

As Christians, we have a duty to the people of the mission lands to give them the chance to enjoy faith and life.