EDITORIAL

CELEBRATING THE GIFT OF OUR MISSIONARY CALL

BY Rafael Armada | EDITOR

EVERY OCTOBER, we celebrate Mission Month. During this month, we commemorate the lives of various missionary saints, such as St Thérèse of Lisieux, St Daniel Comboni, or St Teresa of Ávila, to name a few. They remind us of our call, as baptised, of being missionary disciples who bring the Good News of the Gospel to the world with ‘a sense of urgency’. We carry “our treasure in earthen vessels” (2 Corinthians 4:7). Mission Sunday will be celebrated this year on the 19th of October, and its theme—chosen by the late Pope Francis—is Missionaries of Hope Among All Peoples, in line with the 2025 Jubilee Year.

On 22 May 2025, Pope Leo XIV, addressing the National Directors of the Pontifical Mission Societies (PMS), he stated: “Our world, wounded by war, violence, and injustice, needs to hear the Gospel message of God’s love and to experience the reconciling power of Christ’s grace.”

Recalling his homily for the Mass at the Beginning of his Pontificate, on 18 May 2025, he stressed: “The Church herself, in all her members, is increasingly called to be a missionary Church that opens its arms to the world, proclaims the word and becomes a leaven of harmony for humanity.”

He also emphasized: “We are to bring to all peoples, indeed to all creatures, the Gospel promise of true and lasting peace, which is possible because, in the words of Pope Francis, ‘the Lord has overcome the world and its constant conflict by making peace through the blood of his cross.’” (Evangelii Gaudium, 229). 

Pope Leo requested the PMS National Directors “to give priority to visiting dioceses, parishes and communities, and in this way to help the faithful to recognize the fundamental importance of the missions and supporting our brothers and sisters in those areas of our world where the Church is young and growing.”

“As PMS committed to sharing in the missionary mandate of the Pope and the College of Bishops”, Pope Leo reminded the audience, “you are called to cultivate and further promote the vision of the Church as the communion of believers, enlivened by the Holy Spirit, who enables us to enter into the perfect communion and harmony of the blessed Trinity. Indeed, it is in the Trinity that all things find their unity.”

In this edition of Worldwide, we celebrate its 35th birthday. It is a moment to express profound gratitude to God, but also to those who have contributed to this endeavour run by the Comboni Missionaries in South Africa. Starting with the readers and subscribers, parish communities who have always welcomed us when we presented Worldwide to the congregations, the multitude of contributors, lay designers and proofreaders, Comboni missionaries who have dedicated years and so much energy to the production, administration, and promotion of Worldwide. We cannot mention everyone by name, as the list would be endless and some names would undoubtedly be overlooked, but our deepest gratitude goes to all for sustaining this instrument of evangelization during the last 35 years. Happy birthday, Worldwide!