Last Sunday parish communities across Australia and throughout the world celebrated World Mission Sunday. As part of this celebration Pope Francis has called for a renewed focus on the immense task of mission. Photo: Tony Gentile.
Last Sunday parish communities across Australia and throughout the world celebrated World Mission Sunday. As part of this celebration Pope Francis has called for a renewed focus on the immense task of mission.
On 30 November, 2019, the Catholic Church will celebrate the hundredth anniversary of the promulgation of the Apostolic Letter Maximum Illud, with which Pope Benedict XV sought to give new impetus to the missionary task of proclaiming the Gospel.
As a response to this momentous anniversary, Pope Francis has called an Extraordinary Missionary Month, which will be celebrated around the world in October 2019.
This Missionary Month has as its aim to foster an increased awareness of the missio ad gentes (mission to the people) and takes up again with renewed fervour the missionary transformation of the Church’s life and pastoral activity.
Pope Francis has encouraged local Churches to see the Missionary Month of October 2018 as a good preparation for this celebration, ‘by enabling all the faithful to take to heart the proclamation of the Gospel and to help their communities grow in missionary and evangelising zeal’.
National Director of Catholic Mission, Father Brian Lucas said that this anniversary will be a new opportunity to invigorate the faithful with a sense of the missionary call that belongs to all Christians.
“While it is only natural that we focus concern on local issues and our own needs, the Pope is reminding us that the Church is missionary by its very nature and we are called to share the Good News with the wider world both in our words and through our ‘faith in action’,” he said.
“This Extraordinary Mission Month 2019 will be a unique opportunity to renew our baptismal call to mission, a call that each of us have no matter what our state in life,” Fr Lucas said.
Local activities will be planned through the National Office of Catholic Mission, with Diocesan celebrations to take place around the country.