Renewing our commitment to the Church’s missionary calling

Dear Friends in our Mission Family,

As we approach World Mission Sunday on October 19, 2025, I invite you to join our fellow Catholics across the globe in renewing our commitment to the Church’s missionary calling.

This year’s theme, “Missionaries of Hope Among the Peoples,” calls each of us to be bearers of Christ’s love–especially to the world’s most vulnerable communities. It’s a theme that beautifully reflects the life and example of Pope Leo XIV, our newly elected Holy Father, who spent many years as a missionary priest in the mountains and villages of Peru. His pastoral ministry was marked by humility, joy, and a deep closeness to those he served–especially the poor.

World Mission Sunday, established in 1926 by Pope Pius XI, is a global day of prayer, solidarity, and sacrificial giving. Inspired by Blessed Pauline Jaricot, who united faithful Catholics through small prayer groups and generous giving, this day reminds us that even the smallest offering, when given with love, can have a tremendous impact.

Today, your participation in World Mission Sunday helps support over 1,100 mission dioceses around the world–places where the Church is still growing and often in great need. Your generosity helps fund:

-The training of seminarians, catechists, and religious sisters,

-The building of churches, schools, and pastoral centers,

-Medical care, nutrition programs, and social outreach to the poor.

This is the heart of missionary discipleship: sharing not only our material blessings but also our prayers, our concern, and our faith with those who long to know the hope we have in Christ.

How You Can Help:

-Pray for the missions: October is the month of the Holy Rosary, and you are encouraged to pray the World Mission Rosary, lifting up the needs of the Church in each continent.

-Give generously during the World Mission Sunday collection at your parish on October 19. Every gift–large or small–makes a real difference.

-Learn more and get involved by visiting www.pontificalmissions.org/wms, where you can read stories from missionaries, find prayers, and discover how your support changes lives.

In the words of the late Pope Francis, we are all “called to participate actively in the common evangelizing mission of the Church.” Together, we can bring the light of the Gospel to those who have yet to hear it.

Thank you for your prayers, your generosity, and your missionary heart. May God bless you and your families, and may we all continue to be Missionaries of Hope in our world today.

In Christ’s mission,

Rev. Peter James Alindogan,

Diocesan Director, The Pontifical Mission Societies