Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
photo R.Zgheib
Sacrofano (Agenzia Fides) - The "epochal change" that is taking place in the world also calls into question the nature and specific mission of the Pontifical Mission Societies (PMS), which are called to "carefully read what is happening in society in order go forth once again to meet the profound needs of people today", said Archbishop Emilio Nappa, Adjunct Secretary of the Dicastery for Evangelization and President of the Pontifical Mission Societies, in his address at the opening of the 2024 General Assembly of the Pontifical Mission Societies, which began this afternoon, Friday May 24th, at the “Fraterna Domus” in Sacrofano, near Rome.
In his address, Archbishop Nappa addressed some of the fundamental questions that current change poses for the Church's missionary work. "Can evangelization," the President of the Pontifical Mission Societies asked himself, "continue to concern only the areas of the first evangelization, or should the areas of the Christian tradition also be re-evangelized? The answer is obvious", the Archbishop continued and pointed to the growing phenomenon of priests formed in the seminaries of young Churches being called to these countries to exercise their priestly ministry. "With several bishops' Conferences that we met during their ad limina visits, we are thinking about finding places and times for this particular type of formation for these priests," said the President of the Pontifical Mission Societies.
In his address, Archbishop Nappa also pointed to an increasing decline in the visibility of the Pontifical Mission Societies and their specific mission, a phenomenon that is also due to the emergence of "so many organizations with the same characteristics and objectives as ours". Based on these reflections, the President of the Pontifical Mission Societies called on all members of the Pontifical Mission Societies to revive the particular dynamism of the work they carry out on behalf of the Pope at the service of the young Churches. "We are not simple wage earners, we are workers in the Lord's vineyard," said the Archbishop.
The General Assembly of the Pontifical Mission Societies, which runs until Friday, May 31, will be attended by the General Secretaries of the international secretariats and around 120 National Directors from all continents.
In the dense program, said Archbishop Nappa in his opening address, the participants in the Assembly will discuss important issues for the present and future of the PMS, such as the search for new strategies to promote fundraising, the revision of the Statutes and the strengthening of the exchange of information between the various national Directions regarding projects to be financed in all parts of the world. (Agenzia Fides, 24/5/2024)
