The Pope to the Pontifical Mission Societies: Let us walk together in an “ongoing missionary conversion”

by Marie-Lucile Kubacki

Vatican City (Fides News Agency) – The urgency of embracing an ongoing “missionary conversion” was at the heart of the address Pope Leo XIV delivered in English to the participants in the General Assembly of the Pontifical Mission Societies (PMS), whom he received in audience today, Monday, June 1, in the Clementine Hall of the Apostolic Palace. The hall welcomed more than one hundred national directors of the PMS network from all five continents, along with Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, officials from the Dicastery for Evangelization, and members of the PMS International Secretariats, whose headquarters are located in the Palace of Propaganda Fide.

The “Missionary Milestones” of 2026

The Pope recalled that the current year is “truly rich in missionary milestones,” beginning with the centenary of the institution of World Mission Day by Pope Pius XI, “at the request of the Pontifical Society of the Propagation of the Faith.” For one hundred years, the penultimate Sunday of October, has been set apart “for prayer, reflection and contributing to the Church’s mission of evangelization, especially in areas where the proclamation of the Gospel is only just beginning and where the Church is still young.”

The Bishop of Rome emphasized the concrete dimension of this commitment: “On this day,” Pope Leo XIII affirmed, “every Catholic community is invited to pray and offer spiritual and material sacrifices for the missionary efforts in areas of first evangelization and for the support of young churches.” This is a universal commitment that expresses the communion of the entire Church. “I am happy,” the Pope confessed, “to express my gratitude to all of you and to everyone who works with you throughout the world, for all of your efforts, great and small, in promoting World Mission Day in every ecclesiastical circumscription in the universal communion of the Church.” Leo XIV also wished to highlight an often forgotten but essential aspect: “If I may add,” he said, “one of the particular services of World Mission Sunday is to remind people in the older churches, if you will in the established churches, how important it is that they too join in the missionary spirit of the whole Church.”

The Pope also focused on the specific role of each of the Pontifical Mission Societies, a work sustained by the offerings collected worldwide during the Sunday celebrations of World Mission Day. Through the Pontifical Society for the Propagation of the Faith (POPF), apostolic activity is supported in more than 1,130 ecclesiastical circumscriptions within the territories under the jurisdiction of the Dicastery for Evangelization, Section for First Evangelization and New Particular Churches. “This Section, the Pope added, also supports the administration of five colleges in Rome for the ongoing formation of priests, and consecrated women and men, who come to the eternal city for studies and become precious resources for their local Churches to which they return after completing their studies. These and many more missionary initiatives are possible thanks to the generosity of the faithful on World Mission Sunday.”

The upcoming beatification of Venerable Fulton Sheen
He also referred to the upcoming celebration of the beatification of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, which will be presided over by Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle on September 24 in Saint Louis, Missouri. The Venerable was a renowned National Director of the Pontifical Mission Societies in the United States. “Archbishop Sheen,” recalled Pope Leo XIV, offering his own personal testimony, “was a light of faith, hope, and love that shone through the radio and television media for decades. I myself am a witness of his evangelization when I was growing up. His broadcasts touched millions with the hope of the Gospel and his initiatives and efforts resulted in enormous spiritual and material aid to the Churches in areas of first evangelization.”

The “essential work” of the Pontifical Mission Societies

The Pope also noted that 2026 marks the 110th anniversary of the Pontifical Missionary Union, founded by Blessed Paolo Manna and defined by Saint Paul VI as “the soul” of the other Pontifical Mission Societies. In this context, he encouraged all the baptized to participate in “an ever more fervent missionary spirituality and a deeper commitment to the Church’s universal mission of evangelization in this new missionary age.”

In a world marked by conflict, the Pope reiterated that the four Pontifical Mission Societies entrusted to the Dicastery for Evangelization “render an invaluable service to the Church’s mission of proclaiming Christ, the Prince of Peace and the incarnate revelation of Divine Love for humanity.” “The Pontifical Mission Society of the Holy Childhood,” the Pope continued, adding references to the work of the individual Societies, “carries out a particularly precious mission by bringing the light of faith and the consolation of Christian charity to children throughout the world, especially in regions afflicted by hatred and violence.” For its part, the Pontifical Mission Society of Saint Peter the Apostle “promotes and sustains the formation of indigenous clergy and consecrated religious in territories of first evangelization. In many places, without the assistance of this Society, seminarians and novices would lack the necessary means for their human, spiritual and pastoral formation,” the Pope explained.

The “missionary renewal” in the years ahead

The theme for this year’s World Mission Sunday 2026 – “One in Christ, united in mission” - as Leo XIV recalled in the final part of his address - invites all of the members of the Church to “a deeper communion in Christ and to a fuller unity in his divine mission of love,” within the horizon of a “missionary renewal” in the Church in the years ahead.
The Second Vatican Council – the Successor of Peter recalled, citing the conciliar decree Ad Gentes on mission– reaffirmed that “Church on earth is by her very nature missionary since, according to the plan of the Father, it has her origin in the mission of the Son and the Holy Spirit.” Therefore, the present time is also marked by the urgency of “embracing an ongoing missionary conversion and to look together for ways of being a missionary Church for the healing of our world, so fraught with tensions, conflicts and wars.” A task in which, the Pope emphasized, “the work of the the Pontifical Mission Societies remains essential.” A missionary journey that must continue “with joy and renewed zeal,” out of love for Christ and not to satisfy personal ambitions or sterile self-promotion. He also urged everyone to pray constantly “that all that we do for the work of evangelization, may we always place Jesus Christ at the center, embracing the beautiful Gospel principle expressed by John the Baptist: ‘He must increase, but I must decrease’.” (Fides News Agency, 1/6/2026)

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