<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/thedialog.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/08120045\/20261007T1030-POPE-LEO-WORLD-MISSION-SUNDAY-1827910-scaled.jpg\" "\\"POPE")
<\/a><\/p>\n
<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\nThe aim of World Mission Sunday (Oct. 18), established 100 years ago by Pope Pius XI, has \u201cborne fruit in my own life,\u201d said Pope Leo XIV.<\/p>\n
The pope reflected on the annual observance in a video message posted by Vatican News to its YouTube channel Oct. 7. A transcript of the message was also published on the Vatican\u2019s website.<\/p>\n
In January, Pope Leo XIV announced he had chosen the theme \u201cOne in Christ, united in mission\u201d for this year\u2019s celebration, with his message for the day encouraging \u201cthe whole Church to continue its missionary journey with joy and zeal in the Holy Spirit.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\nEstablished by Pope Pius XI in 1926 and universally observed by 1927, World Mission Sunday<\/a> is a dedicated day of \u201cprayer and missionary promotion throughout the Catholic world,\u201d according to its founding decree.<\/p>\n Held on the next-to-last Sunday of October, the observance also includes a collection that serves as the primary financial support for the Pontifical Mission Societies, a worldwide network operating at the service of the pope and consisting of four organizations designated as pontifical by Pope Pius XI in 1922.<\/p>\n The Society for the Propagation of the Faith supports the evangelization efforts of the local church; the Missionary Childhood Association educates children about their part in the church\u2019s missionary outreach; the Society of St. Peter the Apostle trains the next generation of missionary clergy and consecrated religious; and the Pontifical Missionary Union focuses on forming clergy, religious and pastoral leaders more deeply in their role as evangelizers.<\/p>\n In his video message, Pope Leo<\/a> said, \u201cLooking back on my youth, I can see how the prayers offered to the Lord of the harvest mysteriously helped prepare my heart to hear Jesus\u2019 call to follow him as an Augustinian missionary.\u201d<\/p>\n The future pope served for years in Peru, a country particularly blessed by missionary priests, said Father Anthony D. Andreassi, a priest of the Oratory of St. Philip Neri in Brooklyn, New York, and a researcher for the Pontifical Mission Societies USA.<\/p>\n In an Oct. 5 interview with OSV News, Father Andreassi explained how the 20th century saw an uptick in the number of North American priests, both diocesan and religious, assigned to Latin America, where the Church already had a 500-year presence, but \u201cnever enough of a native clergy.\u201d<\/p>\n The Augustinian Order \u201cstarted sending people into Peru in the 1960s,\u201d said Father Andreassi. \u201cAnd then, all of a sudden, you see Robert Prevost\u201d \u2014 who would eventually become Pope Leo XIV \u2014 \u201cthere in the 1980s.\u201d<\/p>\n In his video message, Pope Leo said \u201cthe prayers and contributions of the faithful encouraged and sustained my missionary work in Peru, as well as that of countless others throughout the world.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFor this reason, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to everyone who has supported World Mission Sunday over the years,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n