Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
As we prepare to celebrate World Mission Sunday on October 19, 2025, I invite you to join me in renewing our commitment to the Church’s missionary mandate. This year, the theme invites us to be “Missionaries of Hope Among the Peoples,” bringing Christ’s love and mercy to the world’s most vulnerable communities. It is a call that deeply resonates with our new Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV, who spent much of his priestly ministry serving with humility, joy and pastoral closeness as a missionary in Peru in the Andean highlands and rural villages.
Reflecting on our role in supporting the missions, we ought to remember that just over a century ago, the United States was still considered mission territory. Then, the faith was still taking root, supported by the generosity of Catholics from Europe and beyond, who provided financial assistance, sent priests and religious, and built the parishes and schools that formed the foundation of the Church in this country.
Without that missionary support, many of the dioceses we know today would have struggled mightily to grow. In those early years, Catholics in the United States benefited from the same collection we are today invited to support, overseen by the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, one of four Pontifical Mission Societies. The Diocese of Columbus greatly benefits from the presence of missionary priests and religious who serve here, as well as from the richness of the many immigrants who have come to our Diocese, who themselves benefited from the generosity of Catholics.
Over the past few decades, American support for the Pontifical Mission Societies has declined significantly. It is time to renew our commitment to support the foreign missions and the Society of the Propagation of the Faith. Let us assist Pope Leo, the first American Pope, in the mission of evangelization through our sacrificial giving and through our prayers. Your prayers and sacrifices ensure that the light of Christ will reach the ends of the earth. We all have a responsibility to spread the Faith. Each time we support the missions, we affirm that we are one Church, one family in Christ, united in bringing hope and love to all people. Through our prayers and generosity, we share in spreading Christ’s Gospel message in every land on the earth.
Finally, I invite you to the Cathedral of St. Joseph for the 5:15 Mass, which will be presided over by Archbishop George Antonysamy, Archbishop of Madras-Mylepore and Vice President of the Catholic Bishops Conference of India. This Mass is not just for missionaries, religious and ethnic groups but is for all the faithful of the Diocese.
Grateful for your sharing in the missionary work of the Church and answering Christ’s call to be a Missionary of Hope, I remain
Sincerely yours in Christ,
Most Reverend Earl K. Fernandes
Bishop of Columbus
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