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Background: World Mission Sunday
October 17, 2026
On October 18, the Church around the world commemorates the 100th World Mission Sunday. The theme of Pope Leo’s message for the day—issued on January 25, the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul—is “One in Christ, united in mission.”
The Pontiff has also issued a video message for the day.
World Mission Sunday was instituted by Pope Pius XI in 1926 and first commemorated in 1927. As St. John Paul II explained in 2001, Pope Pius “accepted a request by the Pontifical Society for the Propagation of the Faith to ‘establish a day of prayer and propaganda for the missions’ to be celebrated on the same day in every diocese, parish and institute of the Catholic world . . . and to encourage offerings for the missions.”
The Vatican website has compiled English translations of the messages for the day by Pope St. John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI, Pope Francis, and Pope Leo XIV. Messages by Pope St. Paul VI are available in Italan.
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