The president of the PMO, Msgr. Emilio NappaHe explains to Omnes: "The Pontifical Mission Societies are nothing more than the Pope's acceptance of his ministry of providing for the Church in the world," that is, "primarily the needs of evangelization and all that serves this end," giving "support also to the development of new or less new Churches.
The Italian Archbishop pointed out that "this evangelization is entrusted to us by the Holy Father" also "with prayer and with the spiritual closeness of Rome", without forgetting that "the land of mission now includes the West, where paganism, neo-paganism and liberalism are present and making more and more inroads".
Bishop Nappa has no doubts about the mission lands today: the Dicastery for Evangelization has two sections, "one for the fundamental questions of evangelization in the world, where Bishop Salvatore Fisichella is present", which is connected to the other Section for first evangelization and the new particular Churches, where Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle is present, the oldest sector that deals with the "implantatio Ecclesiae", a Dicastery that not by chance the Holy Father Francis wanted to head personally".
"They are - explains the archbishop, who since December 3, 2022 is undersecretary of the Section for First Evangelization and the New Particular Churches - those who have to face the mission of re-evangelizing the ancient Christian continent now partially de-Christianized, and of evangelization in lands that have not yet known Jesus or the Gospel."
The most complicated lands," says Monsignor Nappa, "are those where peoples are at war," conflicts that are often nothing more than "an excuse for exploitation to continue, and it is there that the Church brings the word of peace, justice and equity. It is not by chance that the Church still today has many martyrs to bring the values of the Gospel.
Monsignor Nappa also recalled the recent audience he had on June 3 with Pope Francis, when, at the General Assembly of the PMS, he recalled: you are not "a mere agency for distributing funds to those who need help, but a reality called to support the evangelizing mission in the universal Church and in the local churches, and to nourish the missionary spirit in the People of God".
The Pontiff recalled that "if spirituality is lacking and it is only a matter of money, corruption immediately arises". And he concluded: "I confirm you in the call to become leaven, to help promote and foster the missionary style in the Church and to support the works of evangelization".
Four pillars of the mission
The PMOs comprise four main institutes, as indicated by the web pageeach with a clear missionary focus, who work tirelessly to achieve the objectives of the mission:
The Pontifical Work for the Propagation of Faith is committed to promoting missionary work and raising funds to support missionaries, missions and Catholic communities around the world.
The Pontifical Work for the Missionary Childhood focuses on the religious education of children in Catholic communities and on supporting missionary activities aimed at the very young.
The Pontifical Work of St. Peter the Apostle is dedicated to supporting the formation of seminarians and young religious in mission countries.
The Pontifical Missionary Union has the purpose of encouraging and forming the baptized faithful in their missionary responsibility through the pastoral service of bishops and priests.
The Work for the Propagation of the Faith, the Society of the Holy Childhood and the Society of St. Peter the Apostle were born in France in the 19th century, two of which were the initiative of women passionate about the mission.
In particular, Pauline JaricotThe foundress of the first Society in 1822 expressed the fundamental principle: to pray and offer oneself for the work of evangelization of the Church. The Pontifical Missionary Union, on the other hand, was born at the beginning of the 20th century.
In 1922 Pope Pius XI attributed the qualification of "Pontifical" to these Societies. In this way he recognized the charism of the Societies, made them his own, made them his instrument to support, through prayer and charity, the missio ad gentes of the Church.
