Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vienna (Agenzia Fides) – October 18, 2009, Austria will also be celebrating World Mission Sunday. In all the parishes of the Austrian Dioceses, the faithful are called to pray and offer a contribution to the meeds of their most needy brothers and sisters in the world.
“This day is an expression of our Catholicity,” says the President of the Commission for the Missions of the Austrian Bishops Conference and former National Director of the Pontifical Mission Societies in Austria, Bishop Ludwig Schwarz, in a presentation of World Mission Sunday that was sent to Agenzia Fides. “The fact that we are praying for the universal mission and that the resources we give are equally distributed throughout the world, is extraordinary. In this manner, we can guarantee every country, even the poorest and farthest away, the service of the Church for the physical and spiritual well-being of all men. I am happy that the Pontifical Mission Societies are present in all the Austrian dioceses and make the needs of the world and the contents of World Mission Sunday more present to the faithful.”
To the faithful across Austria will be participating with their prayer and support in what the PMS of Austria calls “the largest solidarity campaign in the world,” Monsignor Leo Maasburg, National Director of the Pontifical Mission Societies in Austria and who for years served as Spiritual Director of Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta, says: “We thank all those who with their prayer and donations will make a decent life possible to those living in the poorer nations of the world. We ask each one to make his own contribution so that the Church can help those most in need.”
With the motto “Children Helping Children,” the Pontifical Mission Societies in Austria encourage even children to help others their age who are among the poorest in the world. “The consequences of the economic crisis are worst felt by the poorer nations, especially the children there,” says Msgr. Maasburg. A special magazine has been produced for parishes and schools, called “On Mission,” and is especially geared towards children, showing them how to authentically live out their own faith and commitment to the missions. (MS) (Agenzia Fides 16/10/2009)
