Pope Leo and Blessed Fulton on 100th year of World Mission Sunday
World Mission Sunday marks its 100th anniversary, with Pope Leo XIV releasing a video for the occasion for the first time. The 2026 theme, “One in Christ, united in mission,” calls Catholics to pray for evangelization, encourage missionary vocations, and support the Pontifical Mission Societies. The October 18 observance includes a collection that helps fund missionary dioceses and infrastructure; the societies support more than 900 infrastructure projects on average each year. Blessed Fulton Sheen, who led the Pontifical Mission Societies in the United States from 1950 to 1966, called missions his greatest love and left part of his estate to missionary work. Pope Leo draws on his years serving as a missionary in Peru and says prayers and contributions helped sustain his vocation.
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World Mission Sunday marks its 100th year on October 18, with Pope Leo XIV urging Catholics to unite in prayer and support for evangelization. The occasion also highlights Blessed Fulton Sheen’s longtime work promoting the missions and the continuing need for missionary service.
Pope Pius XI instituted World Mission Sunday 100 years ago. This year’s theme, “One in Christ, united in mission,” calls for greater understanding of the Church’s missionary work, prayer for evangelization, encouragement of missionary vocations, and support for the Pontifical Mission Societies.
Pope Leo, who served as a missionary in Peru, released a video specifically for the occasion. He said that prayers and contributions from the faithful helped prepare him to become an Augustinian missionary and sustained his work in Peru, as well as that of missionaries worldwide.
Blessed Fulton Sheen described the Church’s missions as his “greatest love.” As national director of the Pontifical Mission Societies from 1950 to 1966, he helped expand their work in the United States, and he left a significant portion of his estate to missionary efforts.
Sheen urged Americans to share their resources with missionaries, arguing that the country’s prosperity carried an obligation to help those in need.
World Mission Sunday invites Catholics to pray for missionaries and the communities they serve, consider whether they are called to missionary work, and support people entering religious life. A second collection helps meet missionary needs, including the costs of running dioceses and building churches, seminaries, convents, and pastoral centers. The Pontifical Mission Societies report that donations fund an average of more than 900 infrastructure projects each year.
Michael Mitchell of the Pontifical Mission Societies described missionary work as part of Christian identity, connecting the day’s observance to Jesus’ command to make disciples of all nations.
Mitchell said that more than half the world remains unevangelized and that only two in five people have a relationship with Christ. Pope Leo’s message presents the theme as a call for the Church to preserve its unity while sharing the Gospel, with every baptized person having a role in that mission.
Catholic mission unites evangelization, prayer, and material solidarity
Catholic mission is not evangelization alone, nor prayer and charitable giving as separate activities. They belong together: the Church proclaims Christ, prays for the mission and those who carry it out, and shares material resources so local churches can evangelize and serve their people.
Prayer is the mission’s spiritual foundation. Benedict XVI calls it an essential means of spreading Christ’s light, while Pope Francis describes prayer as a primary missionary activity that should bear fruit in concrete actions.
Material solidarity is a practical expression of communion among Christians. John Paul II links support for mission churches to the needs of evangelization, including the formation and fair support of Gospel workers, catechesis, pastoral coordination, and assistance to those in need. He also stresses that communities should contribute according to their means, both to meet local needs and to support churches with fewer resources.
This giving does not replace evangelization; it helps make it possible. Nor is mission the work of missionaries alone: the faithful participate through witness, prayer, sacrifice, and generosity.