“The Church’s mission has been an important part of my own pastoral experience and has shaped my spiritual life. You too have experienced this spiritual journey. Your encounter with the Lord and the new life that filled your hearts gave rise to your desire to make him known to others. You have involved many others, and devoted much time, enthusiasm and energy to sharing the Gospel in the most distant places, in the most challenging environments, enduring difficulties and failures. Always keep this missionary zeal alive in your midst: today as always, movements have a fundamental role in the work of evangelization. Among you, there are many generous, well-trained people, with “hands-on” experience. This is a treasure that needs to be put to good use, with a constant eye to new situations and challenges. Place your talents at the service of the Church’s mission, whether in places of first evangelization or in your parishes and local ecclesial communities, in order to reach those who, albeit distant, are often waiting, without being aware of it, to hear God’s word of life.”
“It is the responsibility of the Bishops, as successors of the apostles and shepherds of Christ’s flock, to be the first to cast their nets into the sea and become “fishers of families.” Yet the laity are also called to participate in this mission, and to become, alongside ordained ministers, “fishers” of couples, young people, children, women and men of all ages and circumstances, so that all may encounter the one Saviour. Through Baptism, each one of us has been made a priest, king, and prophet for our brothers and sisters, and a “living stone” (cf. 1 Pet 2:4) for the building up of God’s house “in fraternal communion, in the harmony of the Spirit, in the coexistence of diversity” (LEO XIV, Homily, 18 May 2025).”
“And now I repeat them, thinking of the mission of this Church towards all the Churches and the entire world, of serving communion, unity, in charity and in truth. The Lord gave this task to Peter and his successors, and you all collaborate in different ways in this great task. Each one of you gives your contribution, carrying out your daily work with commitment and also with faith, because faith and prayer are like salt for food; they impart flavor.”
“Love and unity: these are the two dimensions of the mission entrusted to Peter by Jesus.“
“This is the missionary spirit that must animate us, without closing us in our small group or feeling superior to the world; we are called to offer to all the love of God, so that unity is realized that does not cancel differences, but values the personal history of each and the social and religious culture of every people.”
“With the light and strength of the Holy Spirit, we build a Church founded on the love of God and a sign of unity, a missionary Church, which opens the arms to the world, which proclaims the Word, which allows itself to be disturbed by history, and which becomes a leaven of concord for humanity.”
“In this regard, I would like us to renew together today our complete commitment to the path that the universal Church has now followed for decades in the wake of the Second Vatican Council. Pope Francis masterfully and concretely set it forth in the Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, from which I would like to highlight several fundamental points: the return to the primacy of Christ in proclamation (cf. No. 11); the missionary conversion of the entire Christian community (cf. No. 9); growth in collegiality and synodality (cf. No. 33); attention to the sensus fidei (cf. Nos. 119-120), especially in its most authentic and inclusive forms, such as popular piety (cf. No. 123); loving care for the least and the rejected (cf. No. 53); courageous and trusting dialogue with the contemporary world in its various components and realities (cf. No. 84; Second Vatican Council, Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et Spes, 1-2).”
“This is the world entrusted to us, in which—as Pope Francis has so often taught—we are called to joyfully witness to faith in Christ the Savior. Therefore, for us too, it is essential to repeat: ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God’ (Mt 16:16).”