Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Universidad Pontificia Comillas
Buenos Aires (Agenzia Fides) – Today, September 27, the opening Mass of Missionary October will be celebrated, during which the sending of the relics of Saint Mama Antula, patroness of the missions in Argentina and the country's first saint, will take place. Maria Antonia of Saint Joseph de Paz y Figueroa, known as Mama Antula, was particularly active in the field of charity and service to the most needy. Now, her relics will travel throughout the country.
"I continue to insist on the missionary synodality of the Church, as well as on the service of the Pontifical Mission Societies to promote the missionary responsibility of the baptized and support the new particular Churches," Pope Francis wrote in his Message for World Mission Sunday 2025. "And I invite all of you—children, youth, adults, and the elderly—to actively participate in the common evangelizing mission with the witness of your lives and with your prayers, with your sacrifices and your generosity."
The celebration, presided over by Alejandro Giorgi, Auxiliary Bishop of Buenos Aires and member of the Episcopal Commission for the Missions, will be held at the Holy House of Spiritual Exercises "Mama Antula," founded by the Saint herself.
According to the note from the Argentine bishops, this time of prayer and commitment also paves the way for the National Meeting of Missionary Groups (ENGM), which will be held in Córdoba from May 23 to 25, 2026, and which will have the motto "Missionaries of Hope among the Peoples."
In the coming months, a national pilgrimage will tour the various ecclesiastical regions to encourage communities, parishes, and schools to join the mission and strengthen the bonds of missionary synodality proposed by the Church. Mama Antula's life and testimony will accompany this process, inviting people to live an active, supportive, and hopeful faith amid current challenges, the bishops conclude. (AP) (Agenzia Fides, 27/9/2025)
