Representatives of the hundreds of thousands of people who have given so generously to the Pontifical Mission Societies (PMS) over the course of several lifetimes travelled to Westminster Cathedral from across England and Wales on 9 September.
On that day, Archbishop Vincent Nichols, in celebrating the Eucharist, also marked the new name of Mission in England and Wales.
Missio is a name already used by PMS across much of Europe, recognising and symbolising in the Church's unity as it shares faith, and builds lives and communities in each of the world’s 1,069 mission dioceses, where, in the rapidly-expanding Church in Africa and Asia, young churches often face extreme difficulties.
The new name expresses a renewed commitment to overseas mission. For over 70 years ‘To be a Christian is to be a missionary’ has been a familiar theme to people in England and Wales as they supported the missions through the Association for the Propagation of the Faith (APF) and its Red Boxes, currently present in over 200,000 homes across the two countries. Countless people have helped innumerable individuals and communities in young and developing Churches through this very simple means of fundraising. This was shown during August when Mgr John Dale, the National Director of Missio in England and Wales disbursed almost £3 million from the parishes and from individual generosity, through the Papal Nuncios in the world’s mission areas, to the poorest, youngest and most needy Churches in our universal family.
Mgr Dale explained:
"Missio, from the Latin ‘sending out’, is a simple, easily recognisable word that expresses commitment to the God-given mission of the Church. It is also the new name and the refreshed missionary vision of the Church in England and Wales, with the Cross at the centre of its service to the Gospel. The new motto - Sharing faith, giving life - summarises Missio’s vital commitment to the Church’s mission, wherever it is most in need. This change of name, adopted on 9 September and celebrated liturgically in Westminster Cathedral, has been welcomed by the Bishops of England and Wales, represented by Archbishop Nichols."
"As Pope Benedict himself said in his message for Mission Sunday 2009, ‘We ask nothing except to put ourselves at the service of all humanity, especially the suffering and the excluded, because we believe that " the effort to proclaim the Gospel to the people of today... is a service rendered to the Christian community and also to the whole of humanity.'"
Photographs are available on Flickr.
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