Mission Sunday message from Pope Leo

World Mission Sunday stands as a powerful testament to our shared Catholic identity. Held annually on the second to last Sunday of October, this special day unites Catholics across continents in a singular purpose: supporting the Church where it faces its greatest challenges. Instituted by Pope Pius XI nearly a century ago, this collection remains unique as the only worldwide effort directly sustaining 1,124 mission territories where the Church is nascent, vulnerable, or facing persecution.

World Mission Sunday calls Catholics worldwide to support the Church where it’s young or challenged. Your prayers and donations provide essential resources for communities that cannot sustain themselves—funding church construction, pastoral care, education, and healthcare. When your parish participates, you join Catholics everywhere in making possible the work of missionaries who build churches, train seminarians, support catechists, and serve vulnerable communities. Together, we fulfill our baptismal call to share the Gospel and become one Church bringing hope to all peoples.

In this new video message, the Holy Father reflects on a century of prayer and generosity for the missions.  He also references his personal connection to World Mission Sunday!  He speaks about how the fruits of this celebration helped prepare his heart to become a missionary, and how later he experienced its support firsthand as a missionary in Peru. 

What began in 1926 has helped accompany extraordinary growth in the missionary Church. Today, the Church's 1,131 mission territories are home to more than 346 million Catholics, 41,000 parishes, 124,000 Catholic schools and 26,000 social institutions.

You can watch the video here: