Florida Catholic | World Mission Sunday

World Mission Sunday is Oct. 21

Catholics around the world are invited to participate in the important missionary work taking place throughout the world.

STAFF REPORT

Published: 10.19.07

Catholics are encouraged to spiritually and financially support the work of missionaries throughout the world who attempt to bring Christ and his peace into a world beset by many problems.

The theme selected this year for World Mission Sunday, now in its 81st year, is "All the Churches for All the World." Special collections are planned at parishes to support the Catholic Church's worldwide missions through the Society for Propagation of the Faith.

"World Mission Sunday gives us the opportunity to reach out in faith to more than two-thirds of the world's people who have yet to hear the 'good news' of Jesus Christ, their Savior, or to experience — through the world and witness of missionaries — his abiding love," Bishop Gerald M. Barbarito wrote in a letter to parishes and pastors this month. "On World Mission Sunday, within the context of the Eucharist, we can offer our prayers and support through the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, for the mission of making Jesus known to the ends of the earth."

The Society for the Propagation of the Faith was founded in Lyons, France, in 1822 by Pauline Jaricot, a young woman inspired to help and pray for missionaries after she heard stories about missionary work in China. She felt called to help the Catholic Church's worldwide missionary work even though she never traveled to the missions.

From this effort emerged the Society for the Propagation of the Faith. The general fund of the society is supported by gifts from Catholics from around the world, and it is the basic means of support for the Catholic Church's worldwide missions.

In the Diocese of Palm Beach, Father John Barrow, pastor of St. Andrew Parish in Stuart, is the diocesan representative for the Propagation of the Faith Missionary Cooperative Plan. The principal purpose of the office is to inspire people, young and old alike, to develop an authentic missionary spirit.

As part of the program, the office coordinates representatives from the missions to speak at various parishes. The missionaries have the opportunity to visit and tell of their work, witness to the faith and make an appeal on behalf of their mission.

The visits "give people an opportunity to hear what's happening firsthand in other parts of the world, this country and in our own diocese, and provides a way for them to help those missionaries who bring the 'good news' to those around the globe," said Merke Baroni, who assists Father Barrow in the Propagation of the Faith office. "We receive hundreds of requests from missionaries from more than 1,150 dioceses throughout Asia, Africa, the Pacific Islands and remote regions of Latin America."

Bishop Barbarito encourages the faithful of the Diocese of Palm Beach to be generous as possible in their support of the church's missionary activity.

Return to Diocese of Palm Beach Front Page

World Mission Sunday is Oct. 21

Catholics around the world are invited to participate in the important missionary work taking place throughout the world.

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