By Vatican News
In a world of ever-deepening conflict, the proclamation of the Gospel calls for peaceful hearts and reconciled spirits, able to nurture unity.
That’s the message that Pope Leo XIV has shared ahead of the 100th World Mission Day, established a century ago by Pope Pius XI.
The World Day will be celebrated on Oct 18, under the theme “One in Christ, united in mission.”
READ THE FULL TEXT OF POPE LEO XIV’S MESSAGE FOR WORLD MISSION DAY HERE
Christianity: not a set of practices, but a life of union
At the heart of mission, the Pope writes, is the “mystery of union with Christ.”
The Church’s very identity is to be “a communion that flows from the Trinity, and continues to be sustained by the Trinity. A communion at the service of fraternity among all human beings and harmony with all creation.”
The primary responsibility of the Church in mission, the Pope writes, is the renewal of spiritual and fraternal unity among its members – and he therefore expressed his hope for increased ecumenical engagement between Christian Churches.
No baptized person is excluded from the mission
This unity is not an end in itself, but oriented toward mission. It is in communion, the Pope affirms, that the proclamation of the Gospel “acquires its full communicative power.”
“No baptized person,” the Pope writes, “is exempt from or indifferent to mission: everyone, each according to their own vocation and condition of life, participates in the great work that Christ has entrusted to his Church. As Pope Francis repeatedly reminded us, proclaiming the Gospel is an action that is always harmonious, communal and synodal.”
Love as the substance of evangelization
“If unity is the condition of mission, love is its essence”, writes the Pope.
The Good News to be proclaimed, he says, is not an abstract ideal but “the Gospel of God’s faithful love, incarnated in the face and life of Jesus Christ”
Throughout the centuries, countless Christians — martyrs, confessors, missionaries — have given their lives to make this divine love known to the world.
“The world still needs these courageous witnesses of Christ,” the Pope writes, “and the ecclesial communities still need new missionary vocations, for which we must always pray to the Father. May He grant us the gift of young and adult people willing to leave everything to follow Christ in the path of evangelization to the ends of the earth!”
