BENEDICT XVI: NEWS, PAPAL TEXTS, PHOTOS AND COMMENTARY

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Dear brothers and sisters!

Today, the third Sunday in October, we celebrate the World Day for Missions, which constitutes for every ecclesial community and for every Christian a strong reminder of the commitment to announce and bear witness to the Gospel to everyone, particularly those who do not know it.

In the message that I wrote for this occasion, I was inspired by an expression in the Book of the Apocalypse, which in turn echoes a prophecy of Isaiah: "The nations will walk in his light" (Ap 21,24).

The light referred to here is that of God, revealed by the Messiah and reflected on the face of the Church, represented as the new Jerusalem, a wondrous city where the glory of God shines in its fullness.

It is the light of the Gospel, which orients the journey of the people of God and leads them towards the realization of a great family, of justice and peace, under the fatherhood of the the only good and merciful God.

The Church exists to announce this message of hope to all mankind, which in our time "has made stupendous conquests, but seems to have lost its sense of ultimate realities and of its own existence" (John Paul II, encyclical Redemptoris missio, 2).

In the month of October, especially on this Sunday, the universal Church highlights its own missionary vocation. Led by the Holy Spirit, she knows she is called on to continue the work of Jesus himself by announcing the Gospel of the Kingdom of God, which is "justice, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit" (Rom 14,17).

This Kingdom is already present in the world as the power of love, of freedom, of solidarity, of respect for the dignity of every man; and the ecclesial community feels in its heart the urgency of working so that the sovereignty of Christ may be fully realized.

All her members and articulations cooperate in this plan, according to their different stations in life and their charisms. On this World Day for Missions, I wish to recall the missionary men and women - priests, religious and lay volunteers - who consecrate their existence to bring the Gospel to the world, facing hardships and difficulties, and sometimes, even outright persecution.

I think, among others, of Fr, Ruggero Ruvoletto, a fidei donum priest who was recently killed in Brazil; of Fr. Michael Sinnot, a religious missionary, who was abducted a few days ago in the Philippines.

And how can we not think of what is emerging from the current Synodal assembly of bishops on Africa, in terms of extreme sacrifice and love for Christ and his Church?

I thank the Pontifical Missionary Works for the precious service that they render towards missionary inspiration and formation. And I invite all Christians to an act of material and spiritual sharing in order to help the young Churches in the poorer countries.

Dear friends, today, October 18, is also the feast of St. Luke the Evangelist, who, besides the Gospel, wrote the Acts of the Apostles recounting the expansion of the Christian message to the limits of the known world in his time.

Let us invoke his intercession, along with that of of St. Francis Xavier and St. Therese of the Child Jesus, patrons of the missions, and of the Virgin Mary, so that the Church may continue to spread the light of Christ among all peoples.

I ask you also to pray for the special assembly for Africa of the Bishops' Synod, which is taking place these days here at the Vatican.


After the prayers, he said this in English:

I extend a cordial welcome to all the English-speaking pilgrims present for this Angelus.

Today’s liturgy reminds us that Jesus, fully sharing in our humanity, sympathises with our weakness and understands our struggle against temptation.

On this World Mission Sunday, let us turn to him in prayer and approach his throne of grace, so that we may receive his mercy and proclaim the Gospel of Love throughout the world!


In Spanish, he acknowledged the presence of Peruvians celebrating a religious feast today:

I affectionately greet Spanish-speaking pilgrims, particularly the faithful members of the Hermandad del Senor de los Milagros (Brotherhood of the Lord of Miracles) in Rome, the members of the Hermandad de la Virgen de la Amargura (Brotherhood of the Virgin of Bitter Sorrows) form Lorca, and the group of young Spaniards and Latin Americans who do pastoral work in defense of life.

On this Sunday, the Church celebrates the World Day for Missions. I invite everyone to pray for all the many priests, religious and laymen who have given their life to evangelizing other peoples.

Let us commend all the missionaries of the world to the maternal protection of the Most Blessed Mary, whom we specially invoke this month as Our Lady of the Rosary, so that they may never lack for our spiritual and material support in their difficult apostolic work.


Among the Italian pilgrims, he had special words for
"the Clerks Regular of the Mother of God, who are in Rome for the conclusion of the 4th centenary observance of the death of their founder, St. Giovanni Leonardi, as well as representatives of pharmacists' guilds, who have the saint for their patron; and along with them, the students of all the training colleges of Propaganda Fide, with Cardinal Ivan Dias, Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples", and for "members of the Comunita Cenacolo who for years have been helping young people, particularly those who have fallen into the abyss of drug use, as well as the participants of a conference on the Motu proprio Summorum Pontificum which took place this week in Rome".

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