Vatican (Agenzia Fides) - There are many different World Mission Month initiatives that the National Directions of the Pontifical Mission Societies (PMS) around the world have launched in these months of preparation for World Mission Day 2023 which is celebrated next Sunday, October 22nd. “Hearts on fire, feet on the move” is the theme of the Day dedicated to the Missions, indicated by the Holy Father and which takes inspiration from the story of the disciples of Emmaus, in the Gospel of Luke (see LK 24:13-35). The quote from the Gospel of Luke returns as a leitmotif in the prepared working materials and the catechesis offered and in the activities proposed on the different continents. This year too, thanks to the collaboration of various National Directions (led by the Maltese and Australian National Directions), a video was created to celebrate World Mission Day 2023, which is part of the "@wearestillhere" campaign launched four years ago, at the height of the pandemic, was launched.
Contributions from missionaries, religious and lay people attempt to illustrate what it means to travel with a “burning heart and walking feet”. The Italian, Scottish and Canadian national Directions each report in their own video productions about the lives of many missionaries who work in their own cities as well as in the most remote corners of the world. Among them is Sister Mary, who works in the Kibera slum in Kenya and is reporting on her work as part of the British World Mission Sunday fundraising campaign. Until October 22nd, "El Domund al descubierto" ("World Outdoor Mission Day") will be on display in Pamplona, a "format" conceived by the Spanish National Direction nine years ago with the intention of promoting mission among the people to make it known through an exhibition and corresponding events.
In Africa, work is underway to ensure that all countries receive the message of World Mission Day in their national language. This year, the National Direction in Guinea-Bissau is providing all work materials in the Creole language. In Cameroon, on the other hand, the focus is on the formation of seminarians who will raise awareness of the issue in each diocese on the upcoming World Mission Sunday, while in Nigeria the World Mission Month will end with the V National Missionary Congress in Owerri scheduled for 24 to 27 October 2023. In South America the Venezuelan leadership has chosen to focus the missionary animation campaign on the theme "missionaries who share bread and share life", in Costa Rica, as in many countries around the world, the Holy Mass from a mission parish is broadcast on national television; In Brazil, the theme of World Mission Sunday was conveyed starting with the campaign logo, in which the visual representation of the heart in which a cross appears is also inspired by the indigenous culture of the Amazon region. This is intended to express the search for new ways of missionary activity based on the experiences of the Church in Amazonia. In Asia, in addition to the initiatives of the Taiwanese National Direction (see Fides 13/10/2023), the catechetical series of the Indian National Direction and the commitment of the Japanese National Direction in the translation and dissemination of the working materials also deserve special mention. (EG) (Agenzia Fides, 18/10/2023)
