Faith

The Catholic Women's Organization of Chipata, Zambia dance and sing with joy on their 7km pilgrimage to Saint Anne's Cathedral for World Mission Sunday and the Jubilee Year of Hope. Photo courtesy/Rev. Bernard Makadani Zulu, Chipata, Zambia

Propagation of the Faith

Moving as One on World Mission Sunday

Friday, October 24, 2025Faith

Each year since 1926, the Holy Father has designated the second to last Sunday of October as World Mission Sunday, a day for the Church to celebrate the work of The Society for the Propagation of the Faith in every parish in the world -- from the tiniest mission outstation to the grandest cathedral! This year we celebrated this great event on October 19 at Sacred Heart church of Divine Mercy Parish in Quincy. Our main celebrant and homilist was Archbishop Richard Henning. Processional music and dancing came from the Haitian Community and the Cameroonian Women's Community. The Vietnamese Apostolate and Tamil Community Choir rounded out the celebration's glorious sound.

Our Procession of Nations included thirty flags representing the countries whose citizens make up our many cultural communities in the archdiocese. Readings and Intercessory Prayers were read in thirteen languages, showing the diversity of our local Church. Concelebrants were missionaries and priests from mission countries, serving here in Boston. Many missionary sisters were in attendance as were benefactors to the Propagation of the Faith. Catholic school students were awarded certificates for being finalists in our National Missionary Childhood Association Christmas Artwork Contest -- one, James L. from Blessed Sacrament School in Walpole, is a national winner!

Father Lou Palmieri, his staff, and the Divine Mercy Men's Prayer Group showed unmatched hospitality as they not only opened their church to us (and five hundred of our closest friends of the missions!) but also provided an after-Mass reception with coffee and pastries for all. They even decorated the hall with pictures from the missions and a portrait of our founder, Blessed Pauline Marie Jaricot.

My heart swelled even more as I received pictures from around the world: the Holy Father's Mass in Saint Peter's Square that a priest friend was blessed to concelebrate, an archdiocesan celebration in Malawi, and, my favorite, a pilgrimage of the Catholic Women's Organization of Chipata, Zambia.

Dressed in their distinctive uniform of a blue chitenge (a wrap skirt worn in many mission countries), a white blouse and a red head scarf, the women walked seven kilometers on pilgrimage to the Cathedral of Saint Anne where they would celebrate a weekend of World Mission Sunday events as well as the Jubilee Year of Hope. The crowd stretched as far as the eye could see.

It's incredibly inspiring to know that while we sang, danced, and donated in Quincy, the faithful of the world were stepping in time to the same call, to be Missionaries of Hope Among the Peoples!

Miss your chance to join in? Go to propfaithboston.org and be a part of the missionary movement!

- Maureen Crowley Heil is Director of Programs and Development for the Pontifical Mission Societies, Boston.