MESSAGE OF JOHN PAUL II
FOR WORLD MISSION DAY 1981

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ!

World Mission Day is an important event in the life of the Church. It can be said that its importance grows steadily.

Perhaps never before has the task entrusted to the Church by her Founder, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations” (Mt 28:19; cf. Mk 16:15), assumed such breadth and urgency as today. More than ever, the Church must make the apostle’s words her own: “Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel!” (1 Cor 9:16).

1. For a Missionary Church

World Mission Day is the occasion par excellence for a general awareness of missionary duty and to remind all members of the Church, whatever their function and place, that they are involved in this duty. All must meditate on the vigorous texts of the Second Vatican Council, which affirm that the whole Church is missionary, that the work of evangelization is the fundamental duty of the People of God (“Ad Gentes”, 35), and that every disciple of Christ his part belongs to the task of spreading the faith (“Lumen Gentium”, 17). It is necessary to constantly take up the teaching of the Council, expressed in many of its documents, deepened by the Synod of Bishops of 1974 and summarized by Pope Paul VI in his apostolic exhortation “Evangelii Nuntiandi” of 8 December 1975.

World Mission Sunday is an occasion for everyone to make an examination of conscience in this matter and to explain the Church’s doctrine to the People of God: in fact, the future of the evangelization of the world is at stake. If all Christians were persuaded of their missionary duties, the difficulties would be less heavy

In this sense, it is a source of great hope to see the proliferation of small, dynamic, and open Christian communities in the world, which have understood their responsibility to proclaim the Gospel, a pledge of the promotion of a better world.

Another phenomenon that rejoices us and for which we must thank the Lord is the birth of a missionary movement in the young Churches, which from being evangelizers become evangelized. In many mission countries, the number of missionaries who leave to bring the evangelical message to non-Christians, whether in other regions of their country, in other countries, or in other continents, is increasing day by day. On each continent, there are currently missionaries from every country in the world.

The young Churches, which in turn have become missionaries, give proof of their maturity in the faith. They understood that a particular Church that is not missionary is not fully Catholic. Indeed, if the Church as a whole is missionary, so must the particular Churches: «These are formed in the image of the universal Church. It is in them and starting from them that the one and only Church exists” (Lumen Gentium, 23). A Church closed in on itself, without missionary openness, is an incomplete Church or a sick Church. The example of the missionary awakening in the young Churches can recall this truth to the ancient Churches which, after having developed an admirable effort, seem at times to abandon themselves to discouragement and doubts about their missionary duty.

2. The Missionary Service of the Pope

It is up to the Pope to remind all his brothers in Christ of this missionary duty. As supreme pastor of an entirely missionary Church, he must be the first missionary, striving to imitate the example of Christ, “the first and greatest evangelizer” (Evangelii Nuntiandi, 7), and placing himself under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, “the principal Agent of evangelization” (ibid., 75).

From the beginning of my pontificate, I have meditated on the words of the Second Vatican Council, which say that the successor of Peter “has been entrusted, in a particular way, with the great task of spreading the Christian name” (“Lumen Gentium”, 23; see “Evangelii Nuntiandi”, 67). Following the example of my predecessor Paul VI, I set out on a journey to visit numerous countries, including somewhere Christ is barely known or where the missionary proclamation of the Gospel is still incomplete. My travels in Latin America, Africa, and Asia had “an eminently religious and missionary purpose”, as I said before leaving for Africa. I wanted to proclaim the Gospel myself, becoming in some way an itinerant catechist, and to encourage all those who are at his service, whether they come from their own countries, whether they come from others to put themselves at the service of a local Church. To all, I wanted to pay homage and express my sentiments of gratitude in the name of the universal Church.

These trips have allowed me to admire the faith, spiritual riches, and vitality of the young Churches, to share their joys, needs and sufferings and, to encourage them in their efforts to root the Christian faith in their own culture. Contact with these human masses who still ignore Christ convinced me even more than before about the urgency of proclaiming the Gospel. The world needs Christ so much! And those who are at the forefront of this evangelical task know it better than anyone else. The collaboration of all the Churches in the evangelization of the world must not weaken.

3. The Evangelizing Function of the Family

Appealing to everyone’s collaboration for missionary work, I would like to address first of all Christian families. Our time needs to reassess the importance of the family, its vitality and balance. This is true on the human level: the family is the basic cell of society, the foundation of its profound qualities. And this is also true for the Mystical Body of Christ, which is the Church; this is why the Council gave the family the beautiful title of “domestic Church” (“Lumen Gentium”, 11). The evangelization of the family therefore constitutes the main objective of pastoral action, and this in turn does not fully achieve its purpose, if Christian families do not themselves become evangelizers and missionaries:

There is no doubt that, on the religious level as on the human level, the action of the family depends on the parents, on the awareness they have of their own responsibilities, on their Christian value. It is to them, therefore, that I would particularly like to address myself. With their words and with the witness of their lives, as the apostolic exhortation “Catechesi Tradendae” teaches, parents are their children’s first catechists (cf. n. 68). In this action, prayer must occupy the first place, and I will be permitted to insist on this point. Prayer, in fact, despite the beautiful renewal observed here and there, continues to be difficult for many Christians, who pray little. They ask themselves: what is prayer for? Is it compatible with our modern sense of efficiency? Isn’t there something petty about responding in prayer to the material and spiritual needs of the world?

In the face of these difficulties, we know how to show unceasingly that Christian prayer is inseparable from our faith in God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, from our faith in his love and in his redemptive power, which is at work in the world. Therefore, prayer is first of all for us: Lord, “increase our faith!” (Lk 17:6). It has as its purpose our conversion, that is, as St. Cyprian already explained, the interior and exterior availability, the will to open ourselves to the transforming action of Grace. «By saying: Hallowed be your name…, we ask insistently since we have been sanctified with Baptism, to persevere in what we have begun to be… Your Kingdom come: we ask that the Kingdom of God be realized in us in the sense in which we implore his name to be sanctified in us… We then add: Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven, so that we can do what God wants… God’s will is what Christ did and taught (St. Cyprian, «De oratione dominica»). The truth of prayer implies the truth of life; prayer is both the cause and the result of a way of life, which is placed in the light of the Gospel. In this sense, the prayer of the parents, like that of the Christian community, will be an initiation for the children to seek God and to listen to his invitations. The testimony of life then finds all its value. It supposes that the children learn in the family, as a normal consequence of prayer, to look at the world in a Christian way, according to the Gospel! This also assumes that they in the family, concretely learn that there are more fundamental concerns in life than money, holidays or entertainment! Then the education imparted to children will be able to open them to missionary dynamism as an integral dimension of Christian life, since parents and other educators will themselves be imbued with a missionary spirit, inseparable from the sense of the Church. By their example, even more than by words, they will teach their children to be generous towards the weakest, to share their faith and their material possessions with children and young people who still ignore Christ or who are the first victims of poverty and ignorance. At that time, Christian parents will become capable of considering the blossoming of a priestly or religious missionary vocation as one of the most beautiful proofs of the authenticity of the Christian education imparted to them, and will pray that the Lord will call one of their children. Missionary solicitude is thus manifested as an essential element of the holiness of the Christian family. As my venerable predecessor John Paul, I affirmed: “With family prayer, the Ecclesia domestica becomes an effective reality and leads to the transformation of the world. And all the efforts of parents to imbue their children with God’s love and to support them with the example of their faith constitute one of the most important apostolates of the 20th century” (“Address to American Bishops on their ad limina visit”, September 21, 1978; AAS 70.

On this occasion I would like to recommend to parents and all Catholic educators an important work, established more than a century ago (1843), to help them in the missionary education of their children, which places adequate means at their disposal. I intend to refer to the Pontifical Society of the Holy Childhood, which has the aim of promoting the diffusion of the missionary spirit among children.

4. The Pontifical Mission Societies at the Service of the Universal Mission

The organization of missionary action during the month of October, the month of missions, of which World Day is the culminating point, is entrusted to the Pontifical Mission Societies, since the institution of this day is due to their initiative. In recent years, the Pontifical Mission Societies have been erected in all the young Churches. Everywhere they aim to “instill in Catholics, from their infancy, a truly universal and Catholic spirit” (Ad Gentes, 38). As stated in the Statutes, which I approved last year (June 26, 1980), this constitutes their primary and principal aim. They are also the institution destined to promote the missionary cooperation of every particular Church, of every Bishop, of every parish, of every community, of every family and every person. Since this is a duty for everyone, everyone can be asked to give priority to supporting the action of the Pontifical Mission Societies.

Missionary solicitude is expressed in different ways. “Since evangelization is above all an action of the Holy Spirit, first place must be reserved for prayer and sacrifice”, as I have just underlined and as the Statutes of these Works rightly point out. Furthermore, a common and intense effort is needed to make missionary vocations arise and mature. If the world needs Christ and his Gospel more than ever, the number of preachers of the Good News must grow proportionately.

Missionary cooperation also has the purpose of materially supporting evangelization. Neglecting or criticizing this aspect could be a subtle excuse to dispense with being generous. The financial needs of the young Churches, which almost all belong to Third World countries, are still enormous, despite their efforts to achieve financial independence. They need help both for the Seminaries, which ensure the formation and maintenance of future priests, and to support the current collaborators of the mission or to allow the construction of Churches, Schools, Dispensaries or Centers indispensable for social action. To meet these daily and essential needs, young Churches must be able to count on regular and reliable help. This is the reason why I appeal to everyone to contribute to the central fund of the Pontifical Mission Societies, which have precisely the purpose of ensuring them this regular contribution. The example of Christians in less favored countries, who, despite their poverty, give their offering, should make those in rich countries reflect, who often give only a small part of their surplus.

It is a source of joy to note how among many Christians there is an ever-growing concern for the needs of Third World countries and Churches, as well as the ever more remarkable multiplication of particular initiatives to come to the aid of people or projects in these regions. This is the sign of a sense of mission and a sense of justice that has grown. Nonetheless, a privileged place should be assigned to the Pontifical Mission Societies, because they support the direct proclamation of the Gospel, which is the fundamental and proper duty of the Church. It is precisely in this proclamation that the foundation of true development and true human liberation lies.

Now, through their universal aid programmes, the Pontifical Mission Societies are taking care of the needs of all the young Churches, without exception. This universality is their own character. This is the reason why the solicitude of apostolic workers for their own country or for projects of which they are personally informed must not become exclusive, but must be integrated with the whole effort of evangelization at the service of all the young Churches. At present it is the pastors of these Churches who carry the material weight of the missionary initiative. Therefore, in missionary cooperation, it is necessary to think first of all of the young Churches, and precisely of all of them. This way of cooperation could perhaps have the consequence that one feels less personally committed and that one will have to give in a more disinterested way. But this way of giving can prove to be more evangelical and more effective.

Only a central solidarity fund can avoid the danger of forgetting some Churches, especially the poorest ones, or certain of their essential needs. Only through an aid program appropriate to the various needs, can the stumbling block of particularism and aid be avoided. This is precisely what the Superior Council of the Pontifical Mission Societies seeks, which is made up of representatives of all the Churches and has the advice and information of the Sacred Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.

Consequently, the month of October must everywhere be the month of universal mission, the month of mutual missionary aid under the aegis of the Pontifical Mission Societies. For this reason, the Bishops are invited, according to the new Statutes of these Societies, “to ask the leaders of the Catholic institutions and the faithful to give up the collections, of a particular nature, during this period”. Already in the past, several Bishops, following the example of the Holy See, have given directives in this regard.

Finally – you will certainly care to remember this – missionary cooperation must not be compromised by the present economic crisis, from which all the countries of the world are suffering. May this crisis not become an excuse for Christians in rich countries to diminish their generosity! May they not forget that the countries and churches of the Third World are affected even more than they are by this crisis!

In conclusion, I would like to remind you that the celebration of the International Eucharistic Congress in Lourdes, next July, should stimulate the missionary zeal of the Church. The Eucharist, which makes the Church and is “the source and summit of the whole Christian life” (“Lumen Gentium”, 11), is the Sacrament which signifies and brings about unity among all the members of the Church. The Eucharist makes them supportive of one another, impels them to share their faith, their spiritual riches, their sufferings and their material bread. For this reason, those who participate in the Eucharist are also invited to participate in Christ’s mission, to bring his message to all men: the Eucharistic liturgy must therefore be at the center of the celebration of World Mission Day.

May the Lord, who commanded his Church to make disciples of all nations, also manifest through our efforts that power which was given to him in heaven and on earth (cf. Mt 28:18-19)! May the Blessed Virgin Mary, Patroness of the missions, help us to respond to the exhortation of the risen Christ! To you, dear brothers in the episcopate, to all the missionaries who spare no effort for the harvest, to you diocesan communities, and to those, in particular, who will be able to understand this appeal and respond to it with a generosity inspired by interior renewal, I send heartily the apostolic blessing.

From the Vatican, 7 June 1981, the third of my Pontificate.

JOHN PAUL II

Credit: Dicastery for Communication, to the Holy See