Today we celebrate World Mission Sunday, a moment when Catholics worldwide unite in prayer and generosity to support the Church’s mission.
This year’s theme, “Missionaries of Hope Among the Peoples,” was chosen by Pope Francis and now carries new meaning under Pope Leo XIV, who spent most of his priestly ministry as a missionary in Peru. His witness reminds us that the Pontifical Mission Societies are the Church’s primary way of awakening missionary responsibility among all the baptized.
Just as American Catholics once relied on missionary aid to grow the Church here, today it is our turn to extend that same generosity. The second collection supports the Pope’s missions in over 1,100 mission territories across Asia, Africa, Latin America, Oceania, and the Middle East.
Through our prayers and offerings, we provide for seminarian and religious formation, catechist training, Catholic education for children, medical care, and the building of churches and parish centers.
Your prayers and sacrifices make Christ’s love present in places of poverty and persecution, ensuring that the Gospel reaches the ends of the earth.
Let us respond with open hearts, united as one Church and one family, and go forth as Missionaries of Hope to a world longing for God’s mercy and peace.
May Jesus, through the intercession of Mary, grant you peace and joy,
As we prepare to celebrate World Mission Sunday on October 19, 2025, I invite you to join me in renewing our commitment to the Church’s missionary mandate. This year, the late Pope Francis called us to be "Missionaries of Hope Among the Peoples," bringing Christ’s love and mercy to the world’s most vulnerable communities. It is a call that deeply resonates with our new Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV, who spent most of his priestly ministry as a missionary in Peru, serving communities in the Andean highlands and rural villages, always with humility, joy, and pastoral closeness.
World Mission Sunday, promoted by the Society for the Propagation of the Faith—one of four Pontifical Mission Societies—was established by Pope Pius XI in 1926 as the day of prayer and giving for missions. From its inception, this day has been rooted in the work of our foundress, Blessed Pauline Jaricot, who established prayer circles through which she sent thousands of pennies to the Church in the United States throughout the 19th century.
At The Pontifical Mission Societies, we work through local bishops, churches, and missionary congregations to ensure that resources go directly from the United States to the seminaries, parishes, and dioceses to which they are allocated.
The World Mission Sunday collection supports 1,124 mission territories—places where the Church is young, growing, poor, persecuted, and in need of support. This collection funds the formation of seminarians, catechists, and religious sisters, builds churches and schools, and sustains healthcare and social outreach programs.
As a priest, you play a crucial role in encouraging your parishioners to embrace a missionary spirit. I ask you, please, to consider the following:
Preach about the missions on World Mission Sunday. You can find suggested talking points, inspiring stories and videos, WMS message, parish and bulletin announcements, Prayers of the Faithful, and even suggested musical selections to animate the liturgy by clicking here.
Encourage your parishioners to pray for missionaries and the communities they serve. An inspiring way to do this is with the World Mission Rosary: Would you consider praying it in your parish every Friday in October, which is also the month of Our Lady of the Rosary? Click to find out more about the World Mission Rosary.
Display the posters, envelopes, and prayer cards you should have received in the mail to remind the faithful about World Mission Sunday ahead of this day of prayer and giving. Kindly return any completed envelopes along with your parish’s World Mission Sunday donation check made payable to the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, so that we may personally thank each donor. You will find all resources by clicking here.
In his message for this World Mission Sunday, Pope Francis urged the community of the baptized to “participate actively in the common evangelizing mission of the Church by your witness of life and prayer, by your sacrifices and your generosity.” Pope Leo XIV, echoing that call, reminds us that the Pontifical Mission Societies are “the primary means for awakening missionary responsibility among all the baptized [and for] supporting ecclesial communities in areas where the Church is young.”
We need your help to ensure that every person in every land has access to Christ, his Good News, and to the Church’s faith, hope, and love for him.
Thank you for your support in making World Mission Sunday a success. May God bless your ministry and your efforts to inspire missionary discipleship.
