A Message from Pope Francis for World Mission Sunday 2025
Missionaries of Hope Among all Peoples
On January 25, Pope Francis issued a special message for World Mission Day 2025, entitled “Missionaries of Hope Among All Peoples.” In it, the Pope reminds every Christian and the whole community of the baptized of “our fundamental vocation to be, in the footsteps of Christ, messengers and builders of hope.”
He emphasizes that mission is not just for a few but for all, urging believers to bring light to a world in need through prayer, witness, and acts of solidarity. Hope, he reminds us, is shared through presence, compassion, and commitment to building a more just and fraternal world.
The Pope reflects on Jesus as the “divine Missionary of hope.” During His earthly ministry, He brought healing and consolation to the needy and afflicted. Through His disciples, Jesus continues this mission, reaching out to the poor, afflicted, despairing, and oppressed, offering them the “balm of consolation and the wine of hope.”
We are all called to share the Good News by engaging with the real-life struggles of those we encounter, thereby becoming bearers and builders of hope. Pope Francis highlights the importance of empathy, stating that “the joys and hopes, the grief and anguish of the people of our time… are the joys and hopes, the grief and anguish of the followers of Christ as well.”
Prayer is at the heart of this missionary journey. He describes prayer as the “primary missionary activity.” “By praying,” he said, “we keep alive the spark of hope lit by God within us, so that it can become a great fire, which enlightens and warms everyone around us, also by those concrete actions and gestures that prayer itself inspires.”
In conclusion, the Pope urges all members of the Church—children, young people, adults, and the elderly—to actively participate in the common evangelizing mission through their witness of life, prayer, sacrifices, and generosity. He calls for a renewed commitment to being “missionaries of hope” in every place and circumstance that God has granted us to live.
World Mission Sunday will be celebrated on October 19, 2025.
To read the Pope’s message in its integrity go to
https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/messages/missions/documents/20250125-giornata-missionaria.html