Pope addresses Pontifical Mission Societies

17 May, 2013 - Pope Francis on Friday met the national directors of the Pontifical Mission Societies (PMS) from more than 120 countries, and spoke to them of the urgency of finding new ways to help God’s grace touch the heart of every man and woman. The four Pontifical Mission Societies, namely, Propagation of the Faith, St. Peter the Apostle, Holy Childhood and Missionary Union, that function under the Vatican’s Congregation for the Evangelization of People, have as their primary purpose the promotion of universal missionary spirit, a spirit of prayer and sacrifice among Catholics in support for the worldwide mission of the Church. In meeting the national directors after their annual meeting in Rome, the Pope said that the work of evangelizing was both challenging and exciting, and encouraged them to continue their commitment, so that the local Churches in the countries where they operate might ever more generously assume their responsibilities to advance the universal mission of the Church. “Do not be sad evangelizers but impatient to carry the joy of Christ,” the Pope advised them. Invoking Mary, Star of evangelization, Pope Francis made his own the words of Paul VI, who said, “may the world of our time, which is searching, sometimes with anguish, sometimes with hope, be enabled to receive the Good News not from evangelizers who are dejected, discouraged, impatient or anxious, but from ministers of the Gospel whose lives glow with fervour, who have first received the joy of Christ, and who are willing to risk their lives so that the kingdom may be proclaimed and the Church established in the midst of the world.