“An enormous task”
Two years ago, Pope Francis called for
this October, 2019 to be an
“Extraordinary
Missionary Month” with
the aim both of fostering an
increased awareness of the
mission ad gentes (to nonbelievers) and of taking part
with renewed fervor in the
missionary transformation
of the Church’s life and
pastoral activity. This is
simply an obedient
response to Christ’s parting
words to his disciples “Go
into the whole world and
proclaim the gospel to
every creature” (Mark
16:15; cfr. Matthew 28:19).
Quoting extensively from
Vatican II, the Pope calls
this the “essential task” of
the Church which is
“missionary by nature” and
is the responsibility of
every believer. He suggests it remains an enormous
To mark the missionary month of
October 2019, decreed by our Holy
Father Francis, the Grand Master of
the Order of the Holy Sepulchre is
appealing for prayer in favor of all the
persecuted Christians worldwide.
one, quoting Pope Saint
John Paul II that the mission is far from completion and in fact is
still only beginning.
What might we say are
today’s challenges to the
evangelization of the
world?
1. There is a growing,
worldwide
“Christianophobia.” The
respected Pew Research
Center (PRC) recently
found Christians to be “the
most widely targeted body
of believers” with more
than 80% of the world’s
population (6.6 billion)
living in religiously
repressive countries—144
countries, in fact. This has
created a tidal wave of
refugees escaping torture
and murder even in
countries that are “allies” of
Western democratic
nations.