Benedict XVI:
Pontifical mission societies are
sowing seeds of new humanity
May 12, 2012
“Evangelization today impels the Church to work with ever quickening steps on the path of the world, to bring knowledge of Christ to every man”, said Pope Benedict XVI Friday as he received the national directors of the Pontifical Mission Societies (in Italian, Pontificie Opere Missionarie, known in several countries as Missio) during the annual meeting of their Board of Governors. Emer McCarthy has the report:
The Pontifical Mission Societies include the Pontifical Society for the Propagation of the Faith, the Pontifical Society of St. Peter the Apostle, the Pontifical Society of the Holy Childhood and the Pontifical Missionary Union. They all fall under the governance of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples.
The Pontifical Mission Societies to help bring the Good News of Christ to the world, especially in countries where the Church is new, young or poor. The Societies care for and support the younger churches until they are able to be self-sufficient.
The four organisations also play a crucial role in combating poverty, disease, injustice and exploitation.
In his remarks to the group, Pope Benedict said: “Every man and every people has the right to receive the Gospel”. This because “only in the Truth, in fact, that is Christ Himself , can humanity discover the meaning of existence, to find salvation and grow in justice and peace. "
Even today, he continued, there is a need for mission, although "in this phase of economic, cultural and political change, where often the human being feels alone, in anguish and despair, the messengers of the Gospel, even though announcers of hope and peace, continue to be persecuted like their Master and Lord".
He said that the proclamation of the Gospel often "brings misery and suffering - the growth of the Kingdom of God in the world, in fact, often comes at the cost of the blood of its servants... But, despite the problems and the tragic reality of persecution, the Church is not discouraged, she remains faithful to her Lord's command, the awareness that "throughout Christian history, martyrs, that is, witnesses, have always been numerous and indispensable to the spread of the Gospel"(John Paul II, Redemptoris missio, 45). The message of Christ, past and present, can not conform to the logic of this world, because it is prophecy and deliverance, it is the seed of a new humanity that is growing, and which only at the end of time will have its full realization. "
"Evangelization, which is always urgent, in these times impels the Church to work with ever quickening steps on the path of the world, to bring knowledge of Christ to every man. Only in the Truth, in fact, that is Christ Himself , can humanity discover the meaning of existence, to find salvation and grow in justice and peace. "
The Pope said he was "very pleased to encourage the project of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples and the Pontifical Missions Societies in supporting the Year of Faith. This project provides a worldwide campaign, which, through the prayer of the Holy Rosary, accompany the work of evangelizing the world and for many of the baptized to rediscover and deepen the faith".
In his address, the Pope mourned the sudden passing of the longtime secretary of Propaganda Fide, Italian missionary priest Fr. Massimo Cenci PIME, who died this morning. He was 68. He said “May the Lord reward him for all the work he accomplished in mission and service of Holy See."
The Pontifical Mission Societies has 120 offices worldwide and is the only organisation which supports every one of the 1,069 mission dioceses of the world, exclusively through the generosity of Catholics.