Proclaim the Gospel to everyone, Pope urges missionaries

November 24, 2014

Pope Francis met with participants in Italy’s National Missionary Congress on November 22 and urged them to proclaim the Gospel to everyone.

The Pontiff began by recalling that Jonah initially did not obey God’s command to preach to Nineveh; instead, he judged the city and went the opposite way. When Jonah heeded God’s command, God showed his mercy, and the city converted.

“The invitation extended to Jonah is today extended to you,” Pope Francis said to the more than 700 participants gathered in Paul VI Audience Hall. “And this is important. Every generation is called to be missionary.”

“A missionary Church cannot but be outbound, unafraid of encountering, of discovering newness, of speaking of the joy of the Gospel,” he continued.

The Pontiff distinguished proselytism, which entails “force,” from the proclamation of the Gospel, in which we “say what we have and what we want to share … to all, without distinction.” He also spoke about the importance of evangelizing the poor and children, lamenting the fact that many children in “our Christian cities” do not know how to make the Sign of the Cross.

Pope Francis expressed gratitude for the work of Italian missionaries around the world and challenged them “to overcome the temptation to talk among ourselves, forgetting the many people who expect from us a word of mercy, consolation, and hope.”

 

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Further information:

• Udienza ai partecipanti al IV Convegno missionario nazionale promosso dalla Conferenza Episcopale Italiana (Holy See Press Office)
• Pope: all Christians called to be missionaries, 'not just the few' (Vatican Radio)