VATICAN - Pontifical Society for the Propagation of the Faith: work all year round, at all levels, to promote prayer, reflection and charity

Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - "The Pontifical Mission Societies continue to feel the effects of the current Covid-19 pandemic. Last year, three of our National Directors died, two of whom due to the effects of the virus. We mourn their death and pray with great hope that they will receive the reward of faithful laborers in the Lord's vineyard.
The restrictions of the pandemic have prevented many Christians from gathering in their parish churches for World Mission Day Mass, while others have been strictly limited to a few faithful. However, these challenges, have not diminished our hope and our commitment to the mission that we must carry out". With these considerations, Fr. Tadeusz J. Nowak, OMI , Secretary General of the Pontifical Missionary Society for the Propagation of the Faith (POPF), introduced his report to the General Assembly of the Pontifical Mission Societies (PMS), on 2 June.
After reaffirming the role of the International Secretariat of the POPF "to coordinate the efforts of the Society in its mission of promoting evangelization and helping to support the local Churches in the mission territories", Fr Nowak underlined how the pandemic, with its strict limitations, has seriously affected the ordinary work of missionary animation and also the collection of offerings from the faithful, since in many places the churches have been closed because of the Covid.
The crisis following the pandemic has highlighted that "we cannot count on the efforts concentrated on a single Sunday a year for the prayer and charity of the Church for missions. The pandemic has launched a renewed challenge to the national and diocesan Directors of the PMS to go out and work all year round - day after day - to promote prayer, reflection and charity for mission at all levels: family, parish, diocese and nation", said the Secretary General, urging "to involve everyone in this fundamental task of the Church. Let's move forward with courage, creativity and hope".
The amount raised by the Universal Solidarity Fund, which is made up of offerings collected for World Mission Day and other donations, was much less in 2020 than in 2019, especially in many countries in Western Europe and North America. Therefore, for this year's distribution there is US $ 23,804,166.54 less than the previous year. This drastic reduction of 26%, due to the effects of the pandemic, has posed a considerable challenge in responding to the needs presented by the Ordinaries for both extraordinary projects and for the subsidies of catechists. This reduction has occurred on all continents, although some have experienced a more significant decline than others.
In absolute terms, the greatest decrease in funds made available to the Universal Solidarity Fund was recorded in the Americas, where the decrease was almost 16 million US dollars (-40%), mostly in the United States of America.
Donations from Europe recorded a decrease of just over 5 million dollars (-14%). Asia recorded a decrease of just over $ 2 million (-27%), while Africa had only a small deficit of about $ 400,000 (-14%). Oceania, on the other hand, recorded a slight increase.
In this situation, POPF has made a considerable effort to maintain a high percentage of ordinary subsidies for catechists in order to meet the needs of the local Churches in the mission territories. However, this year hundreds of extraordinary subsidies for projects in the local Churches had to be put in "Dilata" due to the lack of available funds.
As of June 1, the gross offerings collected in 2020 by the National Directors and made available to the Universal Solidarity Fund for the year 2021 are: US $ 63,303,842.00. Donations collected in 2020 are less than those collected in 2019 by US $ 24,750,000.00 when calculated at a rate of 1.10.
Despite the difficulties caused by the pandemic, POPF has continued to support, as tradition, the five Roman Colleges of Propaganda Fide that welcome priests and religious from mission countries for their formation in pontifical universities, as well as assigning a contribution to the Congregation for the Eastern Churches for its missionary activities. (SL) (Agenzia Fides, 4/6/2021)

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