The Popes and World Mission Sunday

World Mission Sunday, established in 1926, serves as an annual occasion for the Church to reflect on its missionary vocation through messages from various popes. According to Agenzia Fides, these papal messages connect missionary work to the specific challenges of different eras, including religious freedom, modernity, and peace.

In a message from October 19, 1940, Pope Pius XII described peace as a central mission of the Church. He linked the pursuit of peace among nations and the reconciliation of peoples to the salvation of souls and the spread of the faith. He encouraged a commitment to the Catholic missionary ideal as a way to address the anguish and lack of peace facing humanity during that period.