Leaders of the Pontifical Mission Societies recently gathered in Rome for their annual assembly. Supporting Catholic missions in over 120 countries they’re work raises prayer, awareness, and funds to help churches where the faith is new or faces challenges. Throughout the assembly, mission directors exchanged stories and discussed how to inspire a new generation to embrace the missionary call.

FIND THE POPE’S BIOGRAPHY HERE

On May 22nd, the group was welcomed by Pope Leo XIV — a historic and deeply personal moment for many meeting the pontiff for the first time. Pope Leo addressed the group in English, thanking them for their work and highlighting the importance of unity and universality:

“I would conclude by encouraging you to continue to be missionaries of hope among all peoples.”

“So his message was fundamentally gratitude for the work of the Pontifical Mission Societies throughout the globe,” commented Mons. Roger J. Landry, National Director of Pontifical Mission Societies USA. “He particularly said how important our work is with regard to World Mission Sunday to help him complete his work as the chief missionary in the church and supporting those churches that are too young, too poor or too persecuted to be self-sustaining.”

Fr. Tadeusz Jan Nowak, Secretary General of Pontifical Mission Societies, explained, “The Pontifical Mission Societies are engaged all over the world, in every diocese of the world, in Europe, in the United States and Canada, all over. And our mission is to to promote and help bring about a stronger missionary spirit in the hearts of all the baptized, in the hearts of the bishops, priests, religious, and lay people all over the world, so that they have a sense and a desire to evangelize by their witness of their lives, and then to share of their goods, for their poor brothers and sisters who need the help to maintain or establish and develop ecclesial infrastructures in young churches.”

Fr. Karl Wallner, National Director of “Missio” Austria, had a special encounter with the new pope:

“When I met him, I was really nervous. I’ve been with so many popes, but this time I was really nervous because I gave him a big book with prayers and wishes, more than thousands of people have written it, and made a book out of it. And then I was so nervous. And when I see the photos now, he was smiling, smiling, smiling. That makes me very happy, because I was so nervous that, then, I didn’t give the book to him after the photo. I gave it directly to his secretary and he said he looked and then he said, thank you very much.”

The assembly closed with a renewed spirit of unity and mission—one family reaching out to the world.

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Adapted by Jacob Stein

Produced by Alexey Gotovskiy; Camera by Gianluca Gangemi; Video Edited by Alessio di Cintio; Special thanks & Credits to Pontifical Mission Societies