Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Lyon (Fides Service) - The offerings collected on the last World Mission Sunday 2004, the fruit of the generosity of Catholics all over the world, increased compared to the previous year and they were distributed during the annual General Assembly of the Pontifical Mission Societies being held this year exceptionally in Lyon, to mark the opening of the home of Pauline Jaricot foundress of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith which has been turned into a place of prayer and mission.
Every year each national director of the Pontifical Mission Societies PMS in the different countries sends the offerings for the missions collected by Catholics to the international secretariat of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith in the Vatican which puts the money into the PMS Universal Solidarity Fund. During the year all the many requests for assistance coming from young Churches in mission territories are carefully examined by the Secretary General of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, at the moment ad interim Fr Fernando Galbiati, PIME, who then proposes them for approval and distribution to the annual general assembly.
Almost half the money available usually goes to dioceses in Africa where the Church is growing fast but where Catholics live in precarious situations because of poverty, war and natural disasters.
The other continent on which the mission Churches receive most assistance from the PMS is Asia, where in most countries Catholics are only a small minority and without general solidarity and support from Catholics in the rest of the world they would find great difficulty in carrying on the mission of evangelisation. Also in Asia following the tsunami disaster at the request of Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples the Society for the Propagation of the Faith sent an immediate emergency sum to the Papal Nunciatures in the affected countries to be distributed according to needs.
The local Churches in Oceania, a floating continent of thousands of islands, also rely heavily on PMS mission aid and a considerable sum was assigned for this purpose. The remaining monies were distributed for needs of the local Churches in mission territories in South America.
The money is assigned according to requests presented by the local Bishops. This year 30% of the money available will be distributed as regular ordinary subsidies to help Bishops in territories which depend on the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples run their dioceses and meet its needs; 13% will go to build or repair churches and chapels; 12% will go to support catechists; the rest will serve to meet requests from religious communities or other Catholic institutions which have requested funds for hospitals, schools, universities, social communications etc. (G.R.) (Agenzia Fides 12/5/2005, Righe:34, Parole:405)
