MESSAGE OF THE HOLY FATHER PAUL VI
FOR WORLD MISSION DAY 1972

To all our Brothers and Sons of the Catholic Church!

In directing you this message for the next Mission Day in October 1972, we cannot fail to recall, giving thanks to God, the threefold jubilee commemoration of this year.

Three Anniversaries

Three hundred and fifty years ago, in 1622, during the Pontificate of Pope Gregory XV, the Sacred Congregation “de Propaganda Fide” was established in Rome, which ushered in a new era in the history of the missions; era characterized by a deeper sense of unity and catholicity in the directives and structures of the missionary apostolate, by a notable apostolic renaissance of the ancient religious Orders, by the foundation of new Institutes dedicated to the evangelization of the non-Christian world and by growing popular cooperation in favor of the missions.

The flowering of missionary cooperation initiatives throughout the 19th century is largely the result of this missionary rebirth initiated by the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda.

In 1822 – 150 years ago – thanks to the missionary zeal and love for the Church of the young French Pauline Jaricot, the Society called the Propagation of the Faith was born in Lyon, with a clear program of spiritual and material help for all the missions.

A century later, in 1922 – we are commemorating its fiftieth anniversary today – Pius XI, making the thought of Benedict XV his own, transformed the Society for the Propagation of the Faith into “the proper organ of the Apostolic See” ( Romanorum Pontificum ) to help all Catholic missions, and he also declared Pontifical ( Ibid .) the Society of Saint Peter the Apostle for the Indigenous Clergy and the Society of the Holy Childhood, charging the bishops to promote them in their dioceses through the Missionary Union of the Clergy ( Ibid . ) .

In memory of this triple event, we wish that this year’s World Mission Sunday constitutes a warm act of admiration, gratitude and help towards the Sacred Congregation “de Propaganda Fide”, now called for the Evangelization of Peoples, for the very wide contribution it has made to the development of the Church’s missionary activity, and towards the Pontifical Mission Societies, which have promoted a truly universal and missionary spirit among all the People of God, greatly facilitating the aforementioned Congregation the implementation of his apostolic plans.

We hope that this year Mission Sunday will mark a decisive step forward for all the People of God in understanding their missionary duties and in their collaboration in these universally important Organizations which, called Pontifical par excellence, are also truly Episcopal.

Among quite a few Catholics there exists the danger of not caring at all about the evangelising activity of the Church among non-Christian peoples. For this task – they apologize – the Pope has a special Dicastery at his disposal, and there are also missionary institutes, with their collaborators and supporters.

It is true that the precept prescribes not all Christians to go and preach the Gospel to the Gentiles. For this task, the Lord chooses a specific number of priests, men and women religious and lay people who are then sent on missions by legitimate authority. But it should be kept in mind that these are “sent” in the name of the whole People of God, since “they assume as their specific duty the task of evangelization, which concerns the whole Church (Ad gentes divinitus, 23 ) .

 Severity and Urgency of the Problem

However, we must not forget the repeated and solemn affirmations of the recent Popes on the seriousness, urgency and universality of the missionary duty, which the Second Vatican Council underlined in a particular way.

In fact, it affirms that the People of God “constituted by Christ for a communion of life, charity and truth, is also assumed by him to be an instrument of the redemption of all, and, as the light of the world and salt of the earth, is sent to the whole world” (Lumen Gentium, 9), that the Church is missionary, by her nature and by mandate (Ad gentes divinitus, 2, 35), and therefore the missionary duty concerns each and every one of her members and each and every one of her Churches and local communities ( Lumen Gentium , 9 ) .

This duty primarily and immediately concerns the Pope and the Bishops (Ad gentes divinitus , 29, 38), and in a particular way priests, men and women religious, for their consecration to the service of God and the Church ( bid . 39, 40); but no faithful Christian should believe himself exempt from this duty, since through baptism he has been incorporated into an essentially missionary Church (Ibid. 36). Indeed, all Christians are obliged to cooperate in the missions according to their abilities: some will be able to do it with the word, others with the pen, these with money, those with manual work, others, finally, will dedicate their time to the missions. Everyone has the opportunity to offer their prayers, their tribulations, their joys, their pains for the missions.

And this universality of the missionary duty is so clear that the Council, dealing with Christian initiation among catechumens, orders that, before receiving baptism, they “learn to cooperate actively in evangelization and in the building up of the Church” (Ad gentes divinitus, 14).

The Highest and Most Sacred Duty of the Church

With regard to the young Churches, then, which as such are generally very poor in personnel and means, the Council adds that it is convenient that “they participate as soon as possible and in fact in the universal mission of the Church . . . Communion with the universal Church will in a certain sense reach its perfection only when they too take an active part in the missionary effort directed towards other nations” (Ibid . 20).

This duty of cooperation in the work of the missions might seem to some – given the announcement of an Annual Mission Day – that only one day a year should be fulfilled. Far from it. It is not a question of a marginal recommendation, but of a fundamental duty of the People of God, inherent in the very nature of being a Christian (Ibid . 36); the “highest and most sacred duty of the Church” (Ibid . 29).

Harmony of the Members of the Mystical Body

Just as breathing can never stop, on pain of death, so missionary anxiety cannot be limited to a single annual day, if we do not want to run the risk of compromising the future of the Church and our own Christian existence. For this reason, in the important Post-conciliar document Ecclesiae Sanctae ( Ecclesiae Sanctae , III, 3), with which the conciliar norms are applied to pastoral practice, it is affirmed that World Mission Day must be the spontaneous expression of a missionary spirit, kept alive every day through daily prayers and sacrifices. The spiritual asphyxiation, in which so many individuals and institutions are sadly struggling today within the Catholic Church, will it not perhaps have its origin in the prolonged absence of an authentic missionary spirit?

Sometimes immediate problems, of very limited transcendence, make us forget the formidable problem of the universal mission of the Church. How many internal tensions, which weaken and tear apart some Churches and local institutions, would disappear in the face of the firm conviction that the salvation of local communities is won through cooperation in missionary work, so that this may be extended to the ends of the earth! ( Ad gentes divinitus , 37)

There is an affirmation of the Second Vatican Council which we wish to be meditated upon carefully: “There is such harmony and compactness of the members (in the Mystical Body of Christ) that a member who does not work for the growth of the body according to his own energy should be considered useless for the Church and for himself” (Apostolicam Actuositatem, 2 ) .

There is a circumstance which makes this missionary responsibility of the People of God even more urgent and serious. We are referring to the many possibilities that today’s world offers for a universal and simultaneous penetration of the Gospel Message. We see the historical presence of the Church among all peoples happily converted into reality. Although there are countries that voluntarily close themselves off to the Gospel, it is an evident fact that all peoples are increasingly seeking each other, and therefore also establish a relationship with the Church.

This new and providential situation of the Church in the world makes us understand the great duties and advantages that are offered to us today in the field of missionary cooperation for a worldwide diffusion of the missionary ideal and for vast assistance to all the Church’s missions.

It was the ingenious intuition of this fact that led our predecessor Pius XI to institute World Mission Sunday in 1926, an initiative that became a powerful and indispensable aid for the missions dependent on the Sacred Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.

The Pontifical Works

All the children of the Church and all her institutions are called to collaborate in the preparation of this great Missionary Day: diocesan priests, missionaries, men and women religious, and members of all lay apostolate works; but they address in particular the Pontifical Societies which, as we have said, we can also consider as truly Episcopal, namely: the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, the Society of Saint Peter the Apostle for the Indigenous Clergy, the Society of the Holy Childhood and the Missionary Union of all consecrated souls, the soul of the first three.

Although the Society for the Propagation of the Faith is especially called to promote and organize this Day, under the direction of the Holy See and the Bishops, the whole pontifical missionary system collaborates actively in its preparation. The priests of both clergy, the religious and lay brothers congregated in the Missionary Union, the children associated with the Holy Childhood, the young students who promote the Society of Saint Peter the Apostle, although they celebrate their special days during the year, in accordance with their own norms, nevertheless they must consider World Mission Day as the culminating moment of their constant missionary activity.

Fifty years after the elevation of the Mission Societies to Pontifical Mission Societies, we wish to show them our very special affection, our profound gratitude for the services rendered to the Holy See and to the entire Church, and to proclaim them once again as the principal instrument of the Holy See and of the Episcopate in the field of missionary cooperation, “because – as the Council affirmed – they constitute so many means both for instilling in Catholics, from an early age, a truly universal and missionary spirit, and for encouraging an adequate collection of subsidies for the benefit of all the missions and according to the needs of each” (Ad gentes divinitus, 38). Moreover, regarding these institutions, which are so dear to us, already in our first message for World Mission Sunday 1963, we affirmed that “although they do not exclude other initiatives to help the missions and for particular purposes, they evidently surpass all other institutions in terms of direct and more complete expression of the concern of the Supreme Shepherd of the flock of God for all the Churches”.

The correct ordering of missionary cooperation, which must be directed by the Bishops at the national and diocesan level, will therefore take into account the special pontifical-episcopal structure of these Societies and the need to coordinate with them the rights and initiatives of religious institutes and particular missionary societies.

Apostolic Universalism

Since their inception, these Works have been characterized by the purest missionary universalism, and precisely this peculiar quality was the main reason that elected them to be converted into an “official instrument” of the See of Peter to help all the missions (Romanorum Pontificum ) .

“Precisely because we are Catholics – declared the first President of the Work for the Propagation of the Faith 150 years ago, the same year in which the Work was founded by Paolina Jaricot – we do not want to support this or that mission in particular, but all the missions of the world”.

Missionary universalism must also be the dominant motif which animates all the events organized around World Mission Day, which we announce.

Finally, know that this Day, by virtue of the founding document, is also intended for the promotion of the Pontifical Mission Societies, and in particular for the Society for the Propagation of the Faith.

We know the difficulties encountered by these Works on their journey, especially in our times; but we are greatly comforted by the thought that, despite everything, these Pontifical Mission Societies, taken as a whole, not only have not slowed down their journey, but in some countries they have surpassed their ancient records.

Let us pray to the Lord that the Pontifical Mission Societies, whose structures have been renewed, in accordance with the pastoral guidelines of the Second Vatican Council, and under the guidance of the humble Vicar of Christ and the Bishops, may begin in this year 1972 a new era of fullness and development and implement their program of incorporating all the People of God, effectively and consciously, into the missionary work of the Church.

And with this hope, We impart to all Our Brothers in the Episcopate, to priests and religious, and to the faithful of the Catholic laity, Our Apostolic Blessing, as a pledge of deep gratitude and fervent encouragement for their generous collaboration.

PAUL VI

Credit: Dicastery for Communication, to the Holy See