Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Dublin (Fides Service) - A long term plan to help the country rediscover its rich missionary heritage is proving a success, the National Director of the Pontifical Mission Societies in Ireland, Father Edward Grimes C.S.Sp., reported to Fides. Here is the National Director’s report on the initiative.
“Following a very successful millennium celebration of mission, the National Mission Council, with the full encouragement of the Conference of Bishops, set out in 2002 a ten-year plan for reclaiming October as Mission Month, under the banner of ‘Mission Alive’”. The objective of Mission Alive is to highlight the work of missionaries and look for new ways to respond to the challenges of mission today, both in Ireland and overseas. Mission Alive has already developed a greater co-operation and networking among the various members (including Pontifical Mission Societies) of the Irish Missionary Union, leaving aside their own individual agendas as they work together to promote universal mission.
“This year, the second city of Ireland, Cork, has been chosen for a festival of mission which will include an inaugural Mass for Mission Month at which the principal celebrant will be Archbishop Pius Ncube of Zimbabwe. There will be a three-day festival of Mission in Bishopstown, Cork. Parishes, schools and local communities in the south of Ireland will be invited to an interactive portrayal of mission. There will be an evening for returned missionaries engaging with the local Church and a series of workshops on bringing mission back home, ecological issues, option for the poor, and women’s issues. Mission Sunday will be celebrated in every Church on the 24th October with the collection being sent in its entirety to a mission territory. The month will conclude with a gathering of Parish Mission Groups in Dublin on Saturday, 30th October.” PS (Fides Service 14/6/2004 EM lines 24 Words: 323)
