VATICAN - Archbishop Dal Toso: the Pontifical Mission Societies play a key role in the life of the young Churches

Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - "The Pontifical Mission Societies have played a key role in these 200 years of existence, supporting the creation and life of the local Churches. Their task is therefore always relevant", said Archbishop Msgr. Giampietro Dal Toso, President of the PP.OO.MM, during the Study Seminar for newly appointed Bishops (from Asia, America, Africa Oceania), organized by the Dicastery for Evangelization .
In presenting the Pontifical Missionary Societies (the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, the Society of the Holy Childhood, the Society of St. Peter the Apostle and the Missionary Union), the Archbishop recalled that 2022 will mark the bicentenary of the first Society, founded under the inspiration of Pauline Jaricot, beatified on May 22.
He added: "In 1922, Pope Pius XI wanted to give the Societies the title of 'pontifical', then Pius XII that of Missionary Union, to express that he recognized their charism and that they became his instrument to support, through prayer and sacrifice, the missio ad gentes of the Church.
Since then, the entire pontifical Magisterium on mission has insisted on the importance of the Societies".
"Precisely because of their importance for the universal Church, the Pontifical Mission Societies are structured at the level of the universal Church, with a capillary presence like perhaps no other organization in the Church", he remarked, emphasizing that they are an autonomous entity, a network structured at the national level with 120 national directions, which in turn have a presence at the diocesan level, therefore "also episcopal, in the sense that they are also entrusted to the care of the local Bishops".
Beyond the juridical norm, it is necessary to see in the Societies "a beautiful pastoral opportunity: since faith is strengthened by giving it, as Saint John Paul II wrote in Redemptoris missio, awakening the missionary sense in the faithful means reviving the sense of faith in them". "I was very impressed by the fact that in several countries the Society for Holy Childhood has become an instrument of the ordinary pastoral care of children. In this sense, in recent times, the Societies are also discovering their role in the service of the local Church, for missionary formation", he added.
Msgr. Dal Toso reiterated: "The three concepts that sum up the charism of the Societies are: faith, mission and universality. Without faith, there is no mission, and one cannot be convinced of the meaning of mission only if we believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God made man for our salvation. Mission means sharing the gift of faith, and therefore cultivating it. The universality of the Soceities means that no one believes alone, but that we are all bound by the same faith and the same sacraments, and therefore that we take care of each other".
The President asked the Bishops to maintain a stable relationship with the National Director, who coordinates the Societies at the national level, especially in the perspective of missionary animation, He then urged them to never fail to pray for missions and to collect and send the World Mission Day collection to National Directions. "One of the most beautiful aspects of our Societies is that even the poorest Churches contribute to it", he concluded, recalling that the PMS, in particular the Society for the Propagation of the Faith "helps all the Churches in the mission territories in an equitable manner". In 2021, POPF supported the lives of young churches with projects worth $110 million. Thus, "the Societies allow the local Church to open up to the universal Church. There is no local Church without a universal Church and vice versa".
(Agenzia Fides, 6/9/2022)

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