2026 Spring MISSION Magazine

A MAGAZINE OF THE PONTIFICAL MISSION SOCIETIES
SPRING 2026
FAITH AND HOPE AFTER
HURRICANE MELISSA

“Go, therefore, and make
disciples of all nations…”
Matthew 28:19
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From the National Director
Society for the Propagation of the Faith:
One in Christ, United in Mission
Missionary Childhood Association:
An Oasis in the Desert
Society of St. Peter the Apostle:
A Place Where History and Mission Meet
A Nation Within the Church:
Consecrated Life, Lived From the Inside
Society for the Propagation of the Faith
“Bishop, We’re Alive”: Faith and Hope
After Hurricane Melissa
From the Archives
The Fulton Sheen Legacy Society Part 8
Editor’s Note
Four societies
one mission
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06
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24
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36
38
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The Pontifical Mission
Societies USA
PUBLISHER: MONSIGNOR ROGER J.
LANDRY, NATIONAL DIRECTOR
EDITOR/WRITER: INÉS SAN MARTÍN
PUBLISHED BY THE NATIONAL
OFFICE OF THE PONTIFICAL MISSION
SOCIETIES
IN COOPERATION WITH DIOCESAN
OFFICES IN THE UNITED STATES
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OF THE FAITH
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A Letter for our National Director
A Letter from our
National Director
Dear Fellow Missionaries,
2026 was already supposed to
be a major year in the Church’s
missionary life because it’s the
100th anniversary of World
Mission Sunday.
For those of us in the United
States, however, it became even
bigger because of the news on
February 9 that my predecessor
as National Director of the Society
of the Propagation of the Faith,
Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, will
be beatified later this year.
So many — myself included! —
have been praying and working for
his beatification and canonization
for many years.
Even though I’m far too young
to have listened to him on his
national radio broadcast, watch
him with 30 million others on his
Life Is Worth Living television
program, or even to meet him
Monsignor Roger J. Landry
in person, he had a profound
influence on my priestly vocation.
From the time I was a teenager,
I began to listen to cassette
recordings of the retreats he
preached across the globe and
to the classes he gave to those
who were preparing to become
Catholic. I also began to devour
his 66 books, read his Seven Last
Words meditations, use his Way
of the Cross, and profit from
anything I could access. Together
with John Paul II and several great
saints, Sheen has long been one of
my biggest heroes.
That is one of the reasons why I
was so excited when I was asked
to consider becoming National
Director, to have a chance to
build on Sheen’s great love and
impressive legacy for the missions.
Many have asked me whether I’m
intimidated to be filling his shoes
60 years later. My honest reply is,
“Not intimidated. Invigorated.
Because I have two things that my
great predecessor never enjoyed:
his example and his intercession!”
Now with the news of his
imminent beatification, I
have another reason not to be
intimidated but invigorated,
together with all those who work
with me for The Pontifical Mission
Societies in the United States:
Sheen’s beatification is a summons
for us, like him, to become holy
in the midst of our work for the
missions!
Sheen served as National
Director from 1950 to 1966. In that
time, he revolutionized the way
the work was done. He moved
the offices to New York City and
then dramatically expanded them.
He used his growing fame —
through radio, television, books,
articles, interviews, homilies and
more — to do the two things the
National Director is supposed
to accomplish: to help Catholics
in the United States grow in the
missionary identity, spirituality
and co-responsibility that flows
from their baptism; and to catalyze
prayers and material support for
the missions. He did both better
than anyone in U.S. history.
I’d like to focus on two things
he did in the year 1951, since in
2026 we are marking the 75th
anniversary of each of them.
The first is the World Mission
Rosary, which he designed to help
Catholics in the United States and
beyond pray for missionaries,
for their evangelizing work and
for missionary vocations. Each
decade of the Rosary is a different
color, to symbolize and foster
prayer for the fruit of the missions
respectively in Africa, Oceania,
Europe, the American hemisphere
and Asia. Because of Sheen, the
World Mission Rosary became
popular quickly with those who
love the Rosary as well as those
who love the missions.
This Diamond Jubilee of the
World Mission Rosary is a good
opportunity for us to focus on
praying this great Marian devotion
for the missions. Last October
— the month of the Holy Rosary
as well as World Mission Month
— we led a nationwide World
Mission Rosary every day of the
month for the missions on Zoom.
It was very fruitful. We’ll do the
same this year and hope that you
will join us. You can of course pray
for the various continents on any
set of Rosary beads, but if you’d
like to have a set with colored
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A Letter for our National Director
beads designed by Archbishop
Fulton J. Sheen, please just email
contact@pontificalmissions.org
and we would be happy to send
you one to pray with us.
The second thing the great
missionary former National
Director did in 1951 was found
MISSION Magazine. He knew
that there was a need to bring the
missions to American Catholics
in their homes, to help them get
to know the Church’s efforts in
missionary lands, to see those
being served in the missions,
and to hear where the needs are
greatest as well as to be updated
on the results of past support.
All of this was part of MISSION
Magazine. I put an image of the
first cover elsewhere on this page.
Over the last 75 years, MISSION
Magazine has continued following
Archbishop Sheen’s lead. He
wanted the format to be small
enough that it could easily be put
in a pocketbook or briefcase and
read on the fly. Even though there
was much news to tell, he also
wanted it brief, well written, easy
to read by people of various ages,
and feature lots of great photos.
We’re still very much following
his editorial philosophy!
During his lifetime, Sheen
became one of the greatest
benefactors of the missions in
Church history. He donated over
$10 million of his media earnings
to the missions. He raised $200
million for the missions, the
equivalent of nearly $2.1 billion
today. And his love extended even
after his death: he bequeathed
40 percent of his estate and the
royalties of his books and all his
audio recordings for the ongoing
work of spreading the faith.
Few of us will be able to emulate
the enormity of his contributions,
but we all can, in our own way and
according to our means, imitate
his love for the missions and
willingness to sacrifice for them.
I pray a lot through Archbishop
Sheen’s intercession for things
big and small, for the missions
and for other intentions people
entrust to me. He is a powerful
intercessor, as we see in his saving
the life of James Fulton Engstrom,
who didn’t breathe for the first
61 minutes after birth, but who,
through Sheen’s intercession,
came to life and is today a normal
15-year-old freshman with a huge
devotion to the former National
Director. “He helps me in my life,”
James Fulton told the Register. “I
pray to him and feel like he helps
me.”
I’d urge you to pray to him, too,
because his desire to help is clearly
not exhausted. As postulators
of causes of canonization
occasionally quip, “If you need
a miracle, so does he,” meaning
that the Church needs another
miracle after the declaration of
his beatification for the pope to be
able to declare him a saint.
During this year of his
beatification, I’d ask you to
invoke his intercession that God
will use this sacred occasion to
inspire many to come to the faith
for which Sheen gave his whole
life, discover in Jesus their Savior
and Shepherd with them until
the end of time, find in Mary the
world’s fairest love, and detect in
the missions something worthy,
like Sheen, of the best of our time,
talents and God-given resources.
4 5

One in Christ, United in Mission
Society for the Propagation of the Faith
One in Christ,
United in Mission
On October 18, 2026, Catholics
around the world will mark a historic
milestone: the 100th anniversary
of World Mission Sunday, the
Church’s annual day of prayer,
reflection, and solidarity with the
young and growing Churches in
mission territories.
Instituted in 1926, World Mission
Sunday has, for a full century,
reminded the People of God that
the Church is missionary by her
very nature—and that the task of
evangelization belongs to all the
baptized. This centenary celebration
invites the entire Church to
pause, give thanks, and renew its
commitment to Christ’s mandate
to “go and make disciples of all
nations.”
In his message for this special
World Mission Sunday, Pope Leo
XIV, the first pope to have served
as a missionary during most of
his priestly ministry, offers a
profound meditation on unity,
mission, and love, under the theme
“One in Christ, united in mission.”
Writing as a pastor and as one who
spent most of his priesthood as a
missionary, the Holy Father reminds
us that mission does not begin with
strategies or programs, but with
communion—our living union with
Christ and with one another. From
that communion flows the Church’s
capacity to proclaim the Gospel with
credibility and joy.
This message is addressed not to
a select group, but to every member
of the Church. Whether priest,
religious, parent, young person,
catechist, benefactor, volunteer or
prayerful supporter of the missions,
each of us shares—by virtue of
our baptism—in the Church’s
missionary mandate. World Mission
Sunday is a privileged moment
Dear brothers and sisters,
For World Mission Day 2026, which marks
the centenary of a celebration established by
Pius XI that is very dear to the Church, I have
chosen the theme “One in Christ, united in
mission.” Following the Jubilee Year, I wish
to encourage the whole Church to continue
its missionary journey with joy and zeal in
the Holy Spirit. This requires hearts united
in Christ, reconciled communities and, in
everyone, a willingness to cooperate with
generosity and trust.
As we reflect on being one in Christ and united
in mission, let us allow ourselves to be guided
and inspired by divine grace, “to renew in
ourselves the fire of our missionary vocation”
and advance together in the commitment to
evangelization, in this “new missionary age”
in the history of the Church (Homily, Jubilee
of the Missionary World and of Migrants, 5
October 2025).
to rediscover that call, to pray for
missionaries serving ad gentes, and
to support, in concrete ways, the
proclamation of God’s faithful love
to the poorest and most vulnerable.
As we prepare to celebrate one
hundred years of World Mission
Sunday this October 18, may Pope
Leo XIV’s message inspire renewed
participation in the Church’s
universal mission—so that, united in
Christ, we may continue to bring the
light of the Gospel to every corner of
the world:
1. One in Christ – Missionary disciples
united in him and with our brothers and
sisters
The mystery of union with Christ lies at the
heart of mission. Before his Passion, Jesus
prayed to the Father, “that they may all be
one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in
you, may they also be in us” (Jn 17:21). These
words reveal Jesus’ deepest desire, as well as
the identity of the Church as a community of
his disciples. That is, a communion that flows
from the Trinity, and continues to be sustained
by the Trinity. A communion at the service
of fraternity among all human beings and
harmony with all creation.
Being a Christian is not primarily about
practices or ideas; it is a life in union with
Christ, in which we share in his filial
relationship with the Father in the Holy
Spirit. It means abiding in Christ, like
branches on the vine (cf. Jn 15:4), immersed
in the life of the Trinity. This union gives rise
to mutual communion among believers and
is the source of all missionary fruitfulness.
Indeed, just as Saint John Paul II taught,
“communion represents both the source and
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One in Christ, United in Mission
the fruit of mission” (Apostolic Exhortation
Christifideles Laici, 32).
In this context, the Church’s primary
missionary responsibility is to renew and
sustain spiritual and fraternal unity among its
members. In many situations, we encounter
conflicts, polarization, misunderstandings
and a lack of mutual trust. When this occurs
even within our communities, it undermines
our witness. The evangelizing mission that
Christ entrusted to his disciples requires, above
all, hearts that are reconciled and eager for
communion. Consequently, it is important to
intensify ecumenical efforts with all Christian
Churches, building upon the opportunities
arising from the joint celebration of the 1700th
anniversary of the Council of Nicaea.
Last but not least, being “one in Christ” calls
us to keep our gaze fixed on the Lord, so that
he may truly be at the center of our lives and
communities, the center of every word, action
and interpersonal relationship, leading us to
say with amazement: “It is no longer I who
live, but it is Christ who lives in me” (Gal
2:20). By constantly listening to his word
and through the grace of the Sacraments, it
will be possible for us to become living stones
in the Church. Today, the Church is called
to take up the fundamental themes of the
Second Vatican Council and the subsequent
Papal Magisterium, in particular that of Pope
Francis. In fact, as Saint Paul says, “we do
not proclaim ourselves; we proclaim Jesus
Christ as Lord” (2 Cor 4:5). For this reason,
I reiterate the words of Saint Paul VI: “There
is no true evangelization if the name, the
teaching, the life, the promises, the kingdom
and the mystery of Jesus of Nazareth, the
Son of God are not proclaimed” (Apostolic
Exhortation Evangelii Nuntiandi, 22). This
process of genuine evangelization begins in
the heart of every Christian in order to reach
all of humanity.
Therefore, the more united we are in Christ,
the better able we will be to carry out together
the mission that he entrusts to us.
2. United in mission – That the world
may believe in Christ the Lord
The unity of disciples is not an end in itself; it
is directed towards mission. Jesus states this
clearly: “So that the world may believe that
you have sent me” (Jn 17:21). It is through the
witness of a reconciled, fraternal and united
community that the proclamation of the
Gospel acquires its full communicative power.
From this perspective, it is worth recalling
the motto of Blessed Paolo Manna, “All the
Churches united for the conversion of the
whole world,” which succinctly expresses the
ideal that inspired the establishment of the
Pontifical Missionary Union in 1916. On
its 110th anniversary, I convey my gratitude
and my blessing for its commitment to
inspiring and forming the missionary spirit of
priests, consecrated persons and lay faithful,
promoting the unity of all evangelizing
efforts. In fact, no baptized person is exempt
from or indifferent to mission: everyone, each
according to their own vocation and condition
of life, participates in the great work that Christ
has entrusted to his Church. As Pope Francis
repeatedly reminded us, proclaiming the
Gospel is an action that is always harmonious,
communal and synodal.
For this reason, unity in mission means
safeguarding and nurturing the spirituality
of communion and missionary cooperation.
By daily fostering this attitude, divine grace
gradually teaches us to see our brothers and
sisters through the eyes of faith. We also learn
to recognize joyfully the good that the Spirit
inspires in each person, to embrace diversity
as a treasure, to bear one another’s burdens
and always to seek the unity that comes from
above. Indeed, we all share in one mission in
“one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God
and Father of all, who is above all and through
all and in all” (Eph 4:5-6). This spirituality
constitutes the daily expression of missionary
discipleship. It helps us to recover a universal
vision of the Church’s evangelizing mission,
and to overcome a lack of coordinated efforts
and the creation of factions among the
followers of the one Lord — such as “I belong
to Paul,” “I to Apollos” (cf. 1 Cor 1:10-12).
Needless to say, missionary unity should not
be understood as uniformity, but rather as
the convergence of different charisms for the
same purpose, namely to make Christ’s love
visible and to invite everyone to encounter
him. Evangelization is achieved when local
communities cooperate with one another
and when cultural, spiritual and liturgical
differences are fully and harmoniously
expressed in the same faith. I therefore
encourage all institutions in the Church to
strengthen their sense of ecclesial missionary
communion and to develop creative and
concrete ways of cooperating with one another
for and in the mission.
In this regard, I would like to thank the
Pontifical Mission Societies for their service to
missionary cooperation, which I experienced
with gratitude during my ministry in Peru.
These Societies — Propagation of the Faith,
Holy Childhood, Saint Peter the Apostle and
Pontifical Missionary Union — continue
to nurture and form missionary awareness
for the faithful of all ages, and to promote a
network of prayer and charity that connects
communities throughout the world. Here, it is
worth noting that the founder of the Society
of the Propagation of the Faith, Blessed
Pauline Marie Jaricot, established the Living
Rosary two hundred years ago. Even today
it continues to bring together many of the
faithful throughout the world to pray for every
spiritual and missionary need. It is also worth
remembering that, following a proposal from
the Society of the Propagation of the Faith,
Pius XI established World Mission Day in
1926. The annual offerings collected on this
day are distributed by the Society, on behalf of
the Pope, to support the various needs of the
Church’s mission. The four Societies, therefore,
as a whole and each in its own specificity, still
play a valuable role for the entire Church.
They are a living sign of unity and ecclesial
missionary communion. I invite everyone to
work with them in a spirit of gratitude.
3. Mission to love – Proclaiming, living
and sharing God’s faithful love
If unity is the condition of mission, love is its
essence. The Good News that we are sent to
proclaim to the world is not an abstract ideal;
it is the Gospel of God’s faithful love, which
became flesh in the face and life of Jesus Christ.
The mission of the disciples and the Church
as a whole is to continue the mission of Christ
in the Holy Spirit: a mission born of love,
lived in love, and leading to love. In fact,
the Lord himself, in his great prayer to the
Father before his Passion, after invoking unity
among his disciples, concludes: “so that the
love with which you have loved me may be
in them, and I in them” (Jn 17:26). Impelled
by the love of Christ, the Apostles then went
out to evangelize for Christ (cf. 2 Cor 5:14).
In the same way, throughout the centuries,
multitudes of Christians — martyrs,
confessors and missionaries — have given
their lives to make this divine love known to
the world. Thus, guided by the Holy Spirit,
the Spirit of love, the Church’s evangelizing
mission will continue until the end of time.
I would like to express my special gratitude
to today’s ad gentes missionaries. Like Saint
Francis Xavier, they have left their homeland,
their families and all sense of security in order
to proclaim the Gospel and bring Christ and
his love to places that are often challenging,
poor, conflict-ridden or culturally distant.
Despite adversity and human limitations,
they continue to give themselves joyfully,
because they know that Christ himself, and his
Gospel, are the greatest treasures we can offer.
Through their perseverance, they demonstrate
that God’s love transcends all barriers. The
world still needs these courageous witnesses
of Christ, and ecclesial communities still need
new missionary vocations. We must always
keep them close to our hearts and continually
pray to the Father for them. May he grant us
the gift of young people and adults who are
willing to leave everything behind to follow
Christ on the path of evangelization even to
the ends of the earth!
Filled with admiration for men and women
8 9

One in Christ, United in Mission
missionaries, I make a special appeal to the
whole Church to join them in the mission of
evangelization through the witness of our
lives in Christ, through prayer and through
our contributions to the missions. As Saint
Francis of Assisi said, “Love is not loved,”
and we look to him in a special way on the
eight hundredth anniversary of his passing to
heaven. Let us find inspiration in his desire to
live in the love of the Lord and to transmit it
to those both near and far, because, as he said,
“this love Who hath loved us much is much to
be loved” (Saint Bonaventure of Bagnoregio,
The Life of Saint Francis, chap. IX, 1;
Fonti Francescane, 1161). Let us also draw
inspiration from the zeal of Saint Thérèse of
the Child Jesus, who declared that she would
continue her mission even after death: “I shall
desire in heaven the same thing as I do now
on earth: to love Jesus and to make him loved”
(Letter 220 to l’Abbé Bellière, 24 February
1897).
Inspired by these testimonies, let us all
commit to contributing to the great mission
of evangelization — which is always a work
of love —according to our own vocation and
the gifts we have received. Your prayers and
practical support, particularly on World
Mission Day, will be a great help in bringing
the Gospel of God’s love to everyone, especially
the poorest and those most in need. Every gift,
no matter how small, becomes a meaningful
act of missionary communion. I renew my
heartfelt gratitude “for everything you will
do to help me help missionaries throughout
the world” (Video Message for World Mission
Day 2025, 19 October 2025). To foster
spiritual communion, I give you my blessing
with this simple prayer:
Holy Father, make us one in Christ, rooted
in his love that unites and renews. May all
members of the Church be united in mission,
docile to the Holy Spirit, courageous in
bearing witness to the Gospel, proclaiming
and daily embodying your faithful love for all
creatures.
Bless all missionary men and women, support
them in their efforts, and watch over them in
hope!
Mary, Queen of Missions, accompany our
work of evangelization in every corner of
the earth: make us instruments of peace, and
grant that the whole world may recognize in
Christ the light that saves. Amen.
From the Vatican, 25 January 2026, Third
Sunday in Ordinary Time, Feast of the
Conversion of Saint Paul.
Volunteer for
World Mission
Sunday
10 11

MISSION Magazine
A magazine of The Pontifical Mission Societies
An Oasis in the Desert
Missionary Childhood Association
An Oasis in the
Desert
Photos courtesy of TPMS Spain.
By Ines San Martin
In many parts of the world, being
a child is a fragile undertaking.
To be born in mission territory
often means growing up without
guaranteed access to education,
basic health care, or an environment
that consistently protects life
and dignity. In Africa alone, it is
estimated that one in three children
suffers from malnutrition. Globally,
more than 1.4 billion children live in
households surviving on less than
$8.30 a day, and over 250 million
children do not attend — and will
12
never attend — school.
Faced with this reality, the
Church has sustained for almost
two centuries a quiet, steady, and
deeply evangelical initiative: the
Missionary Childhood Association
(MCA), one of four Pontifical
Mission Societies. Entrusted directly
to the Holy Father, its mission
is clear — to support the work
missionaries carry out with children
in these territories. Each year, the
Pope himself asks the entire Church
to support this effort, a reminder to
all Catholics that children are “the
first missionaries” when they learn
to share faith and life with other
children.
Thanks to this global solidarity,
more than 2,600 projects
supporting education, health
care, evangelization, and the
protection of life were sustained
last year, benefiting more than
four million children worldwide.
These numbers are not only first
evangelization efforts, but also
showcase schools that remain open,
clinics that continue to operate,
meals that are not interrupted, and
communities that know they have
not been forgotten.
What makes MCA unique among
the Church’s initiatives is that it is
not directed to adults. Its heart is
children themselves. The motto is
clear, “children helping children.”
They are not merely recipients of
help; they are protagonists. From
an early age, children are invited
to look beyond their immediate
surroundings, to discover that other
children need their support, and to
understand that they, too, can be
missionaries.
Throughout the year, dioceses
organize Masses, gatherings,
camps, catechetical activities,
drawing contests, school initiatives,
and parish events — all adapted
to a child’s language and world.
Through these simple experiences,
children learn something essential:
faith is never lived privately. It
always becomes service.
That global mission finds one of
its most striking expressions in a
place few would expect: the city of
Dakhla, on the southern edge of the
Sahara Desert.
There, surrounded by sand and
silence, stands the only center
in the entire region dedicated to
caring for children with mental and
physical disabilities. The Center
for Children with Disabilities in
Dakhla was founded in the year
2000 by Mohamed Fadel, a Muslim
man of Sahrawi origin who knows
suffering firsthand. Diagnosed with
polio as a child, he was treated and
educated in Spain, where he spent
years in a center run by the Brothers
of St. John of God. When he returned
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MISSION Magazine
A magazine of The Pontifical Mission Societies
An Oasis in the Desert
by sub-Saharan migrants passing
through. There are no catechism
classes, no baptisms, no Christian
children.
And yet, the Church remains.
home to the Sahara, he encountered
a painful reality: children with
disabilities were hidden away, kept
inside their homes, often viewed as
a burden or even a curse, with no
access to therapy or care.
He decided to act.
What began as a fragile initiative
has become a true oasis of hope.
The center offers weekly therapy to
80 children — boys and girls who
would otherwise receive no care at
all. It is a place where families find
support, where children are seen,
named, and treated with dignity.
From its earliest days, the center
has been supported by the Catholic
Church through MCA. That support
has made it possible to train staff,
including a speech therapist and a
physiotherapist, medications, and
mobility aids. It has also ensured
something less tangible but just as
vital: perseverance.
“The help we receive from
Missionary Childhood is not just
about money,” explains Oblate
missionary Father Mario León
Dorado, one of three priests
serving in the Apostolic Prefecture
of Western Sahara. “It is knowing
that the Church cares about the
smallest, the poorest, and the most
abandoned.”
Father Mario does not minister to
a thriving Christian community. In
fact, there are no Christian families
in the territory. The prefecture,
which covers an area roughly the
size of New York State, has only two
parishes: one in El Aaiún, serving
about twenty Christians connected
to a United Nations mission, and
another in Dakhla, attended mostly
“Mission here is simply presence,”
Father Mario says. “Staying.
Accompanying. Helping.”
That presence becomes visible
in places like the disability center,
where MCA’s support allows
the Church to serve children
— the poorest of the poor —
without conditions and without
expectations. The director of the
center frequently explains to visiting
families and public officials that the
assistance they receive comes from
the Catholic Church around the
world, through other children who
pray, give, and remember them.
For families who struggle daily to
care for children with disabilities,
that knowledge matters. “What
great news it is for these children
and their families to know they
are not forgotten by God,” Father
Mario says. “To know that children
in other countries think of them,
pray for them, and help them.”
Over the years, MCA funding
has helped train therapists,
purchase medicines unavailable
locally, provide school supplies for
children at risk of dropping out, and
offer direct assistance to families
with no other means of support.
Even small things — a pediatric
scale, nutritional supplements,
specialized food thickeners — have
made an enormous difference.
These are not flashy or dramatic
gifts. They are simple ones. But they
change lives.
Each year, the Missionary
Childhood Association raises and
distributes funds globally — more
than $14 million in 2025 alone —
placing them at the disposal of
the Holy Father, who ensures they
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An Oasis in the Desert
are shared equitably among the
Church’s 1,131 mission dioceses. All
of it is rooted in the simple generosity
of children helping children. Here
in the United States, this effort
materializes through the Mite
Boxes, a long-standing tradition
available to families, parishes and
schools as a way to promote love
for the missions in the youngest
ones. These small boxes serve as a
reminder to pray and sacrifice for
those who are materially poorer, but
primarily, for those who have yet to
encounter Christ.
In a world that often measures
value by efficiency or productivity,
MCA’s Mite Boxes propose a
different logic — one shaped by
the Gospel. Coins saved with
excitement. Prayers offered with
simplicity. Drawings sent as signs
of closeness. Small gestures that,
together, become a powerful
witness.
In the desert of Dakhla, that
witness has taken concrete form. A
center stands. Children are cared
for. Families endure. Hope remains.
And Christ is present — even
where His name is rarely spoken
— made visible through pure love
freely given.
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A Place Where History and Mission Meet
Society of St. Peter the Apostle
A Place Where
History and
Mission Meet
By Stephen Bean
In the vibrant city of Bangalore,
one of India’s most populous
cities, stands St. Peter’s Pontifical
Seminary.
From its origins in 1792 in
Pondicherry, India, to its relocation
to Bangalore in 1934, St. Peter’s
Pontifical Seminary has formed
more than 2,500 parish priests
who serve throughout India and
across the world. Some of whom
have gone on to become Cardinals,
Bishops, and Archbishops.
Today, generations later, young
men still walk the same path
toward priesthood, supported in
no small part by the generosity of
Catholics who give through the
Society of St. Peter the Apostle
(SPA).
“Your Support Makes Formation
Possible”
The Rector at St. Peter’s Pontifical
Seminary is Rev. Fr. Richard Britto.
In a recent letter to The Pontifical
Mission Societies, Fr. Richard
expressed his deep gratitude and
the seminary’s dependence on the
financial subsidies provided by
SPA: “We are indeed very fortunate
to be chosen by you…your
contributions will be a great help
to us to form the future priests.”
The cost of formation spiking.
Food and fuel prices continue to
rise every year. Aging buildings,
many of which are nearly 90 years
old, require constant maintenance
and repair. Not to mention, medical
needs for elderly formators who
have given their lives for this
mission continue to grow.
The subsidies provided by SPA
cover essentials: food, electricity,
salaries for workers, medical care,
and basic maintenance. Fr. Richard
reiterates that they are “indebted to
all the donors for their generosity
to support the Church in mission
countries.”
St. Peter’s Pontifical Seminary
is home to many young men, all
of whom God has called to the
seminary in unique,beautiful
ways. For Brother Rajendran, a
first-year Theology student, God
called him to the seminary after
he had built, what many would
consider, a successful career. He
held a Bachelor’s in Biotechnology,
excelled in corporate positions,
and was on track to pursue studies
abroad, but a sudden illness
changed everything. During that
time he experienced immense
suffering. But as the faithful know,
God often uses suffering as an
opportunity to help us grow in
holiness, and Brother Rajendran
was no exception.
In his own words, “that period
of suffering became a moment
of grace; God drew me closer
to Himself.” After his medical
treatment, during a retreat,
someone abruptly asked him a
piercing question: “Why are you
wasting your life when you have a
priestly vocation?”
That moment changed everything.
The Covid-19 pandemic
delayed his entry to seminary, but
when the diocesan seminary finally
reopened, Rajendran was the first
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MISSION Magazine
A magazine of The Pontifical Mission Societies
A Place Where History and Mission Meet
to arrive. He spent four months
there in solitude, and that silence
became a blessing. “That time of
solitude helped me detach from the
distractions of the world and make
serious vocational discernment.”
It was the formation at St. Peter’s
Pontifical Seminary that changed
his life. Its rigorous academics
shaped his mind, the pastoral
ministry and spiritual direction
shaped his soul, and the seminary’s
brotherhood shaped his heart.
Today he writes: “Every prayer,
every class, every event, and every
pastoral visit is shaping me into a
servant of God, ready to embrace
the call with faith and love.”
“Encountering God in a Profound
and Intimate Way”
For Brother Ianmario, the call to
the priesthood began with a simple
question: “Why does my mother
go to Mass every single day?” This
curiosity prompted him to follow
his mother to daily Mass, where
he began to understand its value.
At just nine years old, he began
altar serving. This experience
allowed him to encounter God in a
“profound and intimate way.”
The arrival of a new priest in the
parish revived the spiritual life
in his community. This spiritual
renewal had such a profound
impact that Brother Ianmario even
witnessed many astray Catholics
return to the faith. He saw firsthand
how pivotal the role of a priest
truly was and the impact they can
have on their parish.
As a young man, he became
the first from his home parish to
join the seminary. “My decision
brought immense joy to my small
village.” Brother Ianmario also
has the support of his family,
especially his mother. “My Mom’s
desire to see me as a priest has
been a great blessing…I am firm in
accomplishing her dream to be a
good priest.”
His mother is now battling
stage-four stomach cancer, and
yet that has not stopped her from
supporting her son’s priestly
calling. He likens her to the Blessed
Virgin Mary, writing, “My mother
has been a constant and silent
guide, much like the Blessed Virgin
Mary.”
He attributes his mother’s love
and the seminary’s guidance as
anchors in his vocational journey.
“Despite her battle with stage four
cancer, her unwavering faith and
quiet encouragement continue to
inspire me.”
“Ready to Lay Down My Life
for the Flock”
Shortly after high school, brother
Arun Prabhu entered St. Peter’s
Pontifical Seminary, but financial
strain eventually pushed him to
step away to support his family.
He worked in a bank for two years,
learning responsibility and hard
work.
God was persistent. “In the
midst of work and routine,
I heard the Lord’s invitation
again. It was steady, patient, and
clear.” Returning to seminary
with renewed conviction, he
Support Missionary Priests Through Mass Intentions
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Societies USA, you are not only remembering your loved ones—
you are strengthening the Church where it is most in need.
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MISSION Magazine
A magazine of The Pontifical Mission Societies
A Place Where History and Mission Meet
embraced his theology studies,
pastoral ministry, and the various
leadership roles entrusted to him.
Brother Arun is grateful for the
seminary and recognizes how it
forms the young men in all aspects
of their lives. “The seminary
nurtures every dimension of our
growth: spiritual, intellectual,
pastoral, human, social, cultural
and ecological…all grounded in the
Church’s magisterial teachings.”
“As I continue this journey, my
prayer is simple: to be configured
to Christ, the Good Shepherd
loving, attentive, and ready to lay
down my life for His flock.”
The Missions Sustained by the
Faithful
Every story, every seminarian,
every vocation at St. Peter’s
Pontifical Seminary in India is
made possible by the generosity
22
of Catholics across the world,
particularly those in the United
States.
From food to electricity. From
salaries to medical care. From
spiritual formation to pastoral
outreach—your gifts help form the
future priests of the world. One in
three seminarians receives a yearly
grant from the Society of St. Peter
Apostle.
In the chapel at St. Peter’s
Pontifical Seminary, the men gather
daily to pray for their benefactors.
Their voices rise in gratitude as
they prepare to become priests
who will serve parishes, missions,
and communities throughout India
and far beyond.
Your support today forms the
shepherds of tomorrow.
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MISSION Magazine
A magazine of The Pontifical Mission Societies
Consecrated Life, Lived From the Inside
A Nation Within the Church:
Consecrated Life,
Lived From the Inside
By Father Augustine Dada*
I still remember the white
Volkswagen.
In the village where I grew up,
surrounded by hills and rocks, it
was the only vehicle that regularly
carried people to Mass. It bounced
along poor roads, carried the
elderly, the sick, and the hopeful,
and sometimes served as the closest
thing we had to an ambulance. It
belonged to the sisters. At the time,
I did not have words for what I
was witnessing. I only knew that
wherever those women went, the
Church arrived with them.
24
Only later did I understand that
what I was seeing was not simply
generosity or kindness, but a form
of life the Church herself recognizes
as essential — consecrated life, the
Gospel taken seriously.
The Gospel lived without
compromise
Consecrated life rises from the
very beginning of the Church,
from that moment when the first
disciples heard Christ’s call to “leave
everything” and follow him. From
the start, some men and women felt
drawn to respond with particular
freedom and intimacy, embracing
poverty, chastity, and obedience as a
way of configuring their entire lives
to Christ.
As a young person, drifting away
from the practice of the faith, I did
not yet know this theology. What I
knew was Sister Agnes.
She was a Sister of St. Louis who
never scolded me or tried to frighten
me back into the Church. Instead,
she listened. She invited. Over seven
years, she repeated what seemed
like a very small request: “Come
with me to this funeral.” That
quiet, persevering invitation slowly
reopened the door of faith, a door I
had thought was closed.
Looking back, I now see that her
way of accompanying me was a
lived expression of the evangelical
counsels. Her poverty was visible
in a simple, shared life. Her chastity
was expressed as a love that was
real, patient, and completely nonpossessive.
Her obedience showed
itself in her availability — always
ready to go where she was needed,
without drawing attention to
herself.
A priesthood that would later
blossom stands, in part, on that
hidden fidelity.
A people without borders
As I grew in faith, I began to
notice that Sister Agnes was not
an exception. She belonged to
something much larger — a vast,
quiet body of men and women
across the world who had made
the same radical choice to belong
entirely to Christ.
Consecrated life is sometimes
spoken of as if it were a sector or
a specialty within the Church. But
lived from the inside, it feels more
like a people — a kind of nation
within the People of God. Not
a nation defined by territory or
language, but by profession of the
evangelical counsels and a shared
desire to live the Gospel without
compromise.
In many places, consecrated men
and women outnumber diocesan
clergy. They teach, heal, pray,
accompany, bury the dead, and
remain when circumstances would
make leaving understandable. Their
presence forms a living network of
prayer, service, and witness woven
into the very fabric of the Church.
Africa and the sharpening of
faith
Nowhere did I see this more
clearly than in Africa.
In countries like Nigeria,
consecrated life often flourishes
amid political instability, economic
hardship, and social insecurity.
Communities live close to poverty,
insecurity, and at times violence.
Access to healthcare, education, and
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Consecrated Life, Lived From the Inside
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Consecrated Life, Lived From the Inside
even food can be fragile. And yet, it
is precisely in these conditions that
the evangelical counsels take on
their sharpest clarity.
Poverty is not an idea; it is lived
alongside the poor. Obedience is
not abstract; it means remaining
faithful amid pressures from family
structures, ethnic loyalties, or
political powers. Chastity becomes
a prophetic sign in societies marked
by brokenness and exploitation,
offering a healed vision of love
rooted in Christ.
I have seen religious remain
in regions affected by instability
when others fled, continuing to
run schools, clinics, and pastoral
centers. Their presence became a
living catechesis on Christ the Good
Shepherd who does not abandon his
flock.
When the Church named what I
had already seen
It was only later, through study
and formation, that I encountered
the documents of the Second Vatican
Council. It struck me how familiar
they felt.
The Council spoke clearly:
consecrated life belongs undeniably
to the Church’s life and holiness. It
is not an ornament or an optional
extra, but an inner principle that
helps the entire People of God live
their universal call to sanctity.
Reading those words, I recognized
what I had already seen in villages,
convents, novitiates, and formation
houses. Vatican II did not invent
consecrated life’s importance; it
named it, affirmed it, and placed it
firmly at the heart of the Church’s
mission.
The desert that remains
The early monks and hermits
withdrew into the desert seeking
God alone. That desert, I have
learned, is interior.
Every consecrated person is
invited into that inner desert — a
space of poverty, silence, spiritual
combat, and availability. Even in
active ministry, the desert remains:
resisting comfort, letting go of
control, choosing presence over
efficiency.
As a priest, and now in leadership,
I continue to return to that desert.
It is there that vocation is purified,
ambition stripped away, and
mission clarified.
Formation: the future of the
Church’s holiness
This is why the mission of the
Society of St. Peter Apostle is so
close to my heart.
The Society exists to support the
formation of priests and consecrated
persons in young Churches — the
very places where the Gospel is
often lived most radically and at
greatest cost. Without formation,
there would be no Sister Agnes, no
sisters at hospital bedsides, no quiet
presence in forgotten villages.
Those who support the Society
are not simply funding institutions.
They are making possible stories
like mine. They are ensuring that
the Church will continue to have
men and women willing to give
everything to Christ so that nothing
and no one is lost.
The next hundred years
It is natural to wonder what
the next century will bring. Will
poverty, chastity, and obedience still
be understood in cultures that prize
autonomy and comfort?
When I think of Sister Agnes,
of my grandmother’s final days
accompanied by religious sisters,
of that white Volkswagen carrying
people to Mass, the answer comes.
As long as there are rebellious
teenagers, lonely hospital rooms,
and villages the world does not
notice, consecrated life will remain
necessary.
The Gospel will continue to
find its way — sometimes quietly,
sometimes on four worn tires — into
the heart of the world. And your
prayers and your support will make
the generous yes of those religious
women and men reach a little bit
further.
*The author is the Vice President of the Society
of St. Peter Apostole, one of four Pontifical
Mission Societies.
Listen now!
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MISSION Magazine
A magazine of The Pontifical Mission Societies
Faith and Hope After Hurricane Melissa
Society for the Propagation of the Faith
“Bishop, We’re Alive”:
Faith and Hope After
Hurricane Melissa
By Inés San Martín
OSV News photo/
Raquel Cunha, Reuters
Pamella Foster cries as she stands outside her damaged house in Black River, Jamaica,
Oct. 30, 2025, after Hurricane Melissa swept through the Caribbean nation. Melissa
made landfall Oct. 28 in Jamaica around 1 p.m. ET as a catastrophic Category 5
storm with top winds of 185 mph. One of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes on
record, Melissa has left dozens dead and widespread destruction across Jamaica, Cuba
and Haiti. (OSV News photo/Octavio Jones, Reuters)
A destroyed church lies in ruin in Black River, Jamaica, Nov. 2, 2025, in the aftermath
of Hurricane Melissa. The government said Nov. 1 that at least 60 people in
Jamaica have died since the hurricane made landfall in Jamaica as a catastrophic
Category 5 storm with 185 mph sustained winds Oct. 28. (OSV News photo/Raquel
Cunha, Reuters)
Camilla Powell 27, and daughter Destiny Ellington, 5, stand outside of their home
in Alligator Pond, Jamaica, Oct. 29, 2025, after Hurricane Melissa swept through
the area. Melissa made landfall Oct. 28 in Jamaica around 1 p.m. ET as a catastrophic
Category 5 storm with top winds of 185 mph. One of the strongest Atlantic
hurricanes on record, Melissa has left dozens dead and widespread destruction
across Jamaica, Cuba and Haiti. (OSV News photo/Octavio Jones, Reuters)
30 31

MISSION Magazine
A magazine of The Pontifical Mission Societies
Faith and Hope After Hurricane Melissa
Bishop John Persaud of Mandeville, Jamaica, who also serves as the apostolic administrator
of the Diocese of Montego Bay, is pictured in a 2019 photo. As Hurricane
Melissa headed to Jamaica, before landfall, Oct. 28, Bishop Persaud talked with OSV
News Oct. 27 about the needs and challenges of ministering in an area routinely
battered by storms. (OSV photo/Elmo Griffith, Catholic Media Services/Catholic
News, Trinidad)
When Bishop John Persaud
speaks about the aftermath of
Hurricane Melissa, he does not
begin with statistics or structures.
He begins with gratitude — and
with life.
“Constantly, as I moved around
both dioceses,” he recalls, “the
message was, ‘Bishop, we’re alive.’
And it was just an amazing act of
faith.”
Melissa, made landfall on
October 28, 2025, as a Category
5 storm, and it’s described by
local authorities as one of the
most powerful hurricanes ever
to strike the region, with winds
reaching up to 185 miles per hour,
leaving devastation in its wake.
For reference, Formula 1 cars have
an average speed of 145 miles per
hour during a race.
At least 32 people were killed
during the storm, which disrupted
the lives of some 1.5 million
people, half of the country’s total
population.
For the Catholic Church in
Jamaica — particularly in the
Diocese of Mandeville and the
Diocese of Montego Bay — the
storm was not only a natural
disaster, but a profound pastoral
challenge.
A Church Hit Hard, a People
Not Broken
Bishop Persaud, originally
from Guyana, currently serves as
bishop of Mandeville and apostolic
administrator of Montego Bay, two
of the three dioceses on the island.
Both were among the hardest hit
by the storm.
While the Archdiocese of
Kingston, in the capital, was
largely spared, entire communities
in the southern regions suffered
catastrophic damage. In the parish
of St. Elizabeth — particularly in
the coastal town of Black River —
destruction was widespread.
“Our property there is right up
against the sea,” Bishop Persaud
said. “It’s literally the sea, the road,
and then our property. So we really
got hit badly.”
One parish school will need to be
completely rebuilt. The church lost
its roof, doors, and windows. The
rectory sustained serious structural
damage. A historic building on
church grounds, Magdala House
— already fragile and unable to
be restored due to lack of funds —
was reduced to rubble.
Beyond church property, the
suffering of ordinary families has
been even more acute.
“Many people have just lost their
homes, period,” the bishop said.
“Some of them were living in very
basic homes, and some were totally
flattened.”
At least 60 deaths have been
reported, though final figures
are still uncertain, and many
communities remained without
electricity, running water, or
adequate shelter.
From Emergency to Rebuilding
— One Step at a Time
In the immediate aftermath, the
Church’s response was focused on
survival.
“We’re still almost transitioning
out of the emergency stage,”
Bishop Persaud explained. “People
are without roofs, without food
and water. Some communities have
no power and no running water.”
Only now is the Church beginning
the long transition toward
rebuilding — a process that will
require significant resources, patience,
and prayer.
For now, worship continues
wherever it safely can. In Black
River, parishioners gathered for
the Feast of the Epiphany beneath
tarpaulins stretched over what had
once been the sacristy.
“It was beautiful,” the bishop
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MISSION Magazine
A magazine of The Pontifical Mission Societies
Faith and Hope After Hurricane Melissa
recalled. “Everybody was so close
together. It was really a sense of
family.”
The Body of Christ Made
Visible
Support has come largely from
within the Church itself: dioceses,
parishes, mission organizations,
and individuals responding generously
from near and far.
“What Melissa has taught us,”
Bishop Persaud reflected, “is a
chance to reclaim our common
humanity.”
He added that in the face of such
widespread solidarity, theological
language suddenly became tangible.
“For me, the term ‘Body of
Christ’ is no longer words on a
page or a theological concept. It
became real.”
Careful stewardship, transparency,
and accountability have been
central to the Church’s response.
Every donation is documented, every
intention honored, every gift
— no matter how small — treated
with reverence.
Faith with a Caribbean Rhythm
To understand the Church in
Jamaica is to understand a faith
lived with joy.
“Everybody knows Jamaica is the
land of reggae,” Bishop Persaud
said with a smile. “So music is
certainly a very important aspect
of our lives and of our worship.”
Catholics are a small minority on
the island, shaped by a history that
differs from much of the Caribbean.
Jamaica was a British colony, with
Anglicanism long dominant, and
never developed the deep-rooted
Catholic culture found elsewhere
in the region.
Yet the faith of Jamaican
Catholics, the bishop said, is
marked by loyalty, perseverance,
and hope.
“They don’t watch their watches
when they come to church,” he
said. “They come to church.”
And now, after Melissa, that
faith has been tested — and
strengthened.
“They keep saying, ‘We’re alive.’
And we’re going to pick up the
pieces and build back.”
How to Stand with the Church in
Jamaica
As Hurricane Melissa approached,
The Pontifical Mission
Societies quickly established a dedicated
fund to assist the Church in
Jamaica. Through the generosity of
American Catholics, aid has already
begun reaching affected communities.
Those who wish to help can do
so through pontificalmissions.org,
selecting the Jamaica relief fund
under “Ways to Give.”
“Nothing is too small,” Bishop
Persaud said in closing. “Every gift
that comes from a heart that loves
and wants to care — we are deeply
grateful. And you will always be in
our prayers.”
Your Gift
Brings Hope
to Jamaica
34 35

MISSION Magazine
A magazine of The Pontifical Mission Societies
Christians as Second-Class Citizens
From the Archives
Christians as
Second-Class Citizens
In this second edition of From the Archives, we head back to 1994 in Pakistan.
Where Christians are forced to endure persecution, legal discrimination,
and social exclusion. As Hans-Peter Hecking documents, Christian faith
often came at a heavy cost, shaping every aspect of daily life. This historical
snapshot not only preserves a moment in time but also invites us to reflect
on how much, and how little, has changed.
From the Original Article (1994)
In Pakistan 97.2 percent of the
population are of the Islamic faith, which
is the state religion there. Alongside the
Hindus, who represent 1.5 per cent of
the overall population, the Christians
constitute a tiny minority of 1.4 per
cent.
The majority of Christians are socially
and economically underprivileged
36
within the Pakistan society and usually
have only very little education. They
work as street sweepers, gravediggers,
and are generally responsible for all the
dirty work.
In recent years, the non-Muslim
population, amounting to almost four
million people, have been increasingly
restricted in their personal freedom.
In 1977 the free Sunday was abolished
and Friday declared as the public day
of prayer and rest which caused a
reduction of the Christian congregations
at Sunday services.
If the Mullahs have their way, all
Pakistanis are to be subject to the Islamic
law of Sharia introduced in 1991.
This means that the legal provisions
will also apply to Christians. A death
sentence has already been passed on a
Christian for blasphemy of the prophet
Mohammed.
Reflection: Then and Now
Unfortunately, not much has
changed for Christians in Pakistan
today. Their presence is roughly
the same, at about 3 million people,
representing a modest 1.37 percent
of the population. Their daily lives
continue to bear the weight of
discrimination, prejudice, and the
Led by Bishop John Joseph of
Faisalabad, the chairman of the
episcopal commission Justitia et Pax,
there were demonstrations and strikes
all over the country which finally forced
the government to give in. But conflict
is still smouldering under the surface.
–Hans-Peter Hecking
ever-present threat of persecution.
We are reminded of our baptismal
calling when our Holy Father,
Pope Leo XIV, spoke on Christian
persecution: “We are called to bear
witness to the truth that saves the
world; to the justice that redeems
peoples from oppression; to the
hope that shows everyone the way
to peace.”
As we celebrate this year the
100th anniversary of World Mission
Sunday, we pray especially for
those who are persecuted for their
faith—those in Pakistan and in so
many places of the world where
Christians are persecuted.
May we all be one in Christ, and
remain united in mission.
37

The Fulton Sheen Legacy Society Part 8
The Fulton Sheen
Legacy Society Part 8:
Bishop Sheen Arrives
in Rochester
In Part 7 of this series on the life
and legacy of Archbishop Fulton
J. Sheen, which appeared in the
last issue of MISSION magazine,
we explored Archbishop Sheen’s
participation in the Second Vatican
Council (1962–1965), with particular
attention to his influence on the
Council’s vision of the Church’s
missionary responsibility and its
call to renew the evangelizing
mission of the faithful worldwide.
We now turn to the next chapter in
Sheen’s remarkable career: his years
as Bishop of Rochester (1966-69),
where the practical realities of post
conciliar leadership brought both
opportunity and challenge.
In October 1966, Pope (now Saint)
Paul VI appointed Fulton J. Sheen
the sixth Bishop of Rochester, New
York. With this appointment, Sheen
stepped away from the leadership
of the Society for the Propagation of
the Faith, an office he had directed
for sixteen years with remarkable
success. According to Thomas C.
Reeves in America’s Bishop: The
Life and Times of Fulton J. Sheen
(2001), Sheen oversaw the raising
of more than $200 million for the
missions during his tenure. Much
of this support came through the
annual World Mission Sunday
collection, which his national
prominence helped promote in
parishes across the country but also
throughout the rest of the year with
donations sent often to the national
office. In 1950, contributions totaled
approximately $3.5 million per year;
by 1965, that figure had grown to
$16 million annually (roughly $163
million in today’s dollars). In that
same year, Catholics in the United
States were providing nearly 60
percent of the Church’s worldwide
missionary funding.
On December 11, 1965, Sheen
preached for the final time at St. Patrick’s
Cathedral, delivering a sermon
that lasted twenty-four minutes.
Present in the sanctuary were
Cardinal Spellman, several auxiliary
bishops, a phalanx of priests,
and nearly 3,000 worshippers filling
the vast cathedral (which today is
popularly known as “America’s
Parish Church”). The moment carried
a quiet historical weight: for
three decades Sheen had mounted
that pulpit to preach to packed congregations,
his voice and presence
holding audiences spellbound, his
words reverberating far beyond the
cathedral walls.
When Sheen arrived in western
New York State to begin his new
responsibilities, he encountered a
diocese spanning twelve counties
and serving approximately 450,000
Catholics (about 36 percent of the
general population), along with
nearly 600 priests. Although this
marked the beginning of his formal
leadership of the diocese, Sheen
was no stranger to Rochester. He
had visited the city on several
earlier occasions to preach and
deliver lectures, with his first
appearance dating back to 1929. He
succeeded Bishop Edward Kearney,
who, at eighty-two years of age,
was retiring after nearly three
decades of episcopal leadership
in Rochester. At the time of his
appointment, Sheen expressed
genuine enthusiasm about helping
to implement the reforms of the
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The Fulton Sheen Legacy Society Part 8
Second Vatican Council in his
new diocese, seeing the moment
as an opportunity for spiritual
renewal, pastoral adaptation,
and a deepening of the Church’s
missionary and evangelical spirit at
the local level.
The mid-1960s were years of
profound change for both the
Catholic Church and American
society more broadly. The Second
Vatican Council, which met from
1962 to 1965, had concluded only
months before Sheen’s appointment
to Rochester. The Council ushered
in renewed emphasis on the liturgy,
the role of the laity, ecumenism,
and the Church’s relationship
with the modern world. For Sheen
in particular, one of the most
important themes of the Council
was its renewed understanding
of the Church as missionary by
her very nature. Having spent
sixteen years leading the Society
for the Propagation of the Faith,
he brought to the Council a deep
concern for evangelization and
for the Church’s responsibility to
proclaim Christ beyond traditional
Catholic strongholds. In addition,
he warmly embraced the Council’s
call for aggiornamento, seeing it not
as accommodation to the world but
as a revitalization of the Church’s
evangelical mandate. Sheen later
spoke of his time at the Council as
a profound grace, especially in light
of its call to renew the Church’s
missionary spirit in every local
diocese.
Sheen arrived in Rochester at a
moment of significant change, if
not outright upheaval. A growing
number of black and Hispanic
residents were making their
homes in the city and throughout
Monroe County, reshaping the
social, cultural, and pastoral
landscape of the diocese. Only
two years before his arrival, racial
unrest in the summer of 1964,
centered in predominantly black
neighborhoods of Rochester, had
erupted into violence. The governor
deployed National Guard troops.
Four people were killed, hundreds
were injured, more than 750 were
arrested, and property damage ran
into the millions of dollars. While the
immediate spark was accusations of
police brutality, the deeper tensions
that fueled the uprising had been
building for years, rooted in
poverty, discrimination, and limited
economic opportunity.
At the same time, the wider
American context was marked by
accelerating social transformation.
The civil rights movement, growing
awareness of urban poverty, and
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MISSION Magazine
A magazine of The Pontifical Mission Societies
The Fulton Sheen Legacy Society Part 8
intensifying debate over the war in
Vietnam were reshaping the nation’s
moral and cultural landscape.
For any diocesan bishop in these
years, the task was formidable:
to remain firmly grounded in the
Church’s enduring teaching while
also responding pastorally and
intelligently to rapidly changing
social realities. It was into this
complex moment, both ecclesial
and civic, that Bishop Sheen began
his ministry in Rochester.
Sheen entered his new ministry
with characteristic energy. On
Christmas Day, less than two weeks
after his installation, he celebrated
three Masses: one at the cathedral,
another in a parish, and a third in
the city jail, a gesture that signaled
his desire to reach Catholics in
every circumstance of life. He also
invited his predecessor to continue
living in the bishop’s residence,
while he himself chose to move
into a simple apartment attached to
the diocesan headquarters so that
he could remain close to his work
and more readily available for the
daily demands of the diocese. These
early decisions reflected a pastoral
style marked by personal simplicity,
accessibility, and a determination to
be present both to the institutional
life of the Church and to those on
its margins.
One of Sheen’s early administrative
steps was to establish a board
of counselors to assist him in governing
the diocese. He asked every
priest to nominate three fellow
priests, and from this broad consultative
process he selected a new vicar
general in January 1967. He also
appointed several priests to serve
as regional vicars and to oversee
key areas of diocesan administration.
Through this structure, Sheen
sought not only practical assistance
in leadership but also a reliable
sounding board, enabling him to
stay closely attuned to the concerns
and perspectives of both clergy and
laity throughout the diocese.
While fully engaged in the demanding
work of shepherding the
Diocese of Rochester, Sheen contin-
ued his longstanding commitment
to writing and teaching through
the printed word. He maintained
his two weekly newspaper columns
and continued publishing books;
in 1967 alone, four new titles appeared,
much of the material drawn
from earlier lectures, broadcasts,
and retreats but newly framed for a
changing Church and society.
Through this sustained writing
ministry, Sheen became increasingly
attentive to questions of race and
to the need for the Church to speak
more clearly and credibly to people
of color. His reflections show a
growing sensitivity to the lived experience
of black Americans and
a desire to situate their struggles
within the larger story of salvation.
At one point he speculated that Simon
of Cyrene, who helped Christ
carry the cross, may have been a
black man, using the image to underscore
the long and often unrecognized
presence of people of African
descent within the Christian
story. In one of his books from this
period, he also included a poem
by a black American poet, a small
but meaningful sign of his effort to
amplify voices not always heard in
Catholic devotional writing of the
time.
Sheen also turned early attention
to priestly formation, introducing
a number of significant changes at
St. Bernard’s Seminary (which was
owned and operated by the diocese)
in an effort to respond to emerging
pastoral needs and the renewed
spirit of the post conciliar Church.
He supported the hiring of some
non-Catholic professors, reflecting
a desire to broaden intellectual engagement
and expose seminarians
to a wider range of academic perspectives.
Psychological testing and
screening were introduced in the
admissions process, an increasingly
common practice at the time, aimed
at fostering healthier and more mature
candidates for ministry. He also
appointed a lay advisory board to
assist in the screening and application
process (the first in the nation
at the time), an innovation that reflected
the growing recognition of
the laity’s role in the life and discernment
of the Church.
At the level of minor (high school)
seminary formation, Sheen approved
a substantial restructuring
of a struggling institution. Its mission
was broadened, and it was
made co-educational, with the goal
of forming lay leaders alongside
those discerning priesthood. This
reflected a wider post Vatican II emphasis
on the shared vocation of all
the baptized and the need for well-
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MISSION Magazine
A magazine of The Pontifical Mission Societies
The Fulton Sheen Legacy Society Part 8
formed lay leadership in parishes,
schools, and diocesan ministries.
His concern for mature
Christian commitment also shaped
his approach to sacramental
practice. Sheen raised the age for
Confirmation from the middle
school years to the senior year of
high school, reasoning that young
people needed greater spiritual
and personal maturity to receive
the fullness of the Holy Spirit as
they prepared to enter adult life
and serve Christ more consciously
in the world. At the time, this was
believed to be among the highest
Confirmation ages of any diocese.
These initiatives were bold and
forward looking, especially in the
context of seminary education
and sacramental discipline, where
patterns had long been stable. While
not all of these efforts endured in
their original form (what had been
the high school seminary closed in
1970), they demonstrate Sheen’s
willingness to experiment pastorally
and structurally in order to prepare
the Church for new realities.
At the level of spiritual practice,
Sheen placed strong emphasis on
deepening the interior life of both
clergy and laity. He encouraged
priests and seminarians to adopt
his own long-standing discipline of
making a daily Holy Hour before
the Blessed Sacrament, a practice he
credited as the spiritual foundation
of his ministry. For Sheen, renewal
in the Church had to begin not only
with structures and programs, but
with prayer.
He also urged families to read
Sacred Scripture together on a daily
basis, seeing the home as a primary
place of catechesis and spiritual
formation. In a similar pastoral
spirit, he permitted and even
encouraged priests to celebrate
weekday Masses in the homes
of parishioners. These “home
Masses” were meant to foster a
more intimate connection between
the Eucharist and family life, and to
strengthen the sense of the Church
as a community gathered around
the Lord in everyday settings.
Sheen himself led by example
in this regard, celebrating Mass
in private homes throughout the
diocese. He made particular efforts
to do so in the homes of black
and Hispanic Catholics in urban
areas, a gesture that reflected both
pastoral outreach and his growing
desire to ensure that communities
who sometimes felt overlooked
experienced the closeness and
care of their bishop. Mercy Sister
Mary Regis, would later recall with
particular affection these Masses
celebrated by Bishop Sheen in the
homes of the people among whom
she herself spent much of her life
living and serving.
Taken together, these initial
efforts of Bishop Sheen as he began
his leadership of the Church in
Rochester reveal a bishop striving
to translate the great themes of the
Second Vatican Council into concrete
pastoral practice. He combined
administrative restructuring and
bold experimentation in seminary
and sacramental life with a deep
insistence on prayer, Eucharistic
devotion, and the spiritual renewal
of families and clergy. At the
same time, he showed growing
attentiveness to the social realities of
his diocese, particularly questions
of race and poverty seeking to be a
visible and accessible shepherd in a
time of rapid change.
In the next issue of MISSION,
we will explore further dimensions
of Sheen’s ministry in Rochester,
including the mounting tensions
and trials that marked his final
years as bishop and ultimately led
to his retirement in 1969.
Many of the episodes of the
original series of “Life is Worth
Living” can be viewed for free
here:
For excellent analyses of the
significance and impact of Sheen
and “Life is Worth Living,” see:
● Kathleen L. Riley. Fulton
Sheen: An American Response
to the Twentieth Century.
(New York: Alba House, 2004).
Chapter 6.
● Thomas C. Reeves. The Life
and Times of Fulton J. Sheen.
(San Francisco: Encounter
Books, 2001). Chapter 8.
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Editor’s Note
A Mission That Endures
This issue of MISSION Magazine
reaches your home just days
after Easter Sunday, when the
proclamation that death does not
have the final word is still echoing in
our hearts. The Resurrection is not
only a mystery to be believed, but
a reality to be lived — often quietly,
patiently, and far from the center of
the world’s attention. That is where
mission begins.
This year, we mark 100 years of
World Mission Sunday, a century
since Catholics everywhere were
first invited by the Pope to recognize
that the Church’s missionary
work is not the task of a few, but
46
Editor’s Note
Msgr. Leo Beierschmitt, former director of the Harrisburg
Diocesan Missions Office, is pictured examining a 1960
World Mission Sunday poster alongside Bishop Fulton
J. Sheen, who at that time was National Director of the
Society for the Propagation of the Faith (SPOF). (Photo:
Curtesy of the Diocese of Harrisburg)
Ines San
Martin
the responsibility of all. It is also
the year we celebrate 75 years of
MISSION Magazine, founded and
first edited by Archbishop Fulton J.
Sheen, then National Director of The
Pontifical Mission Societies in the
United States. Archbishop Fulton
J. Sheen believed deeply in the
power of sharing the stories of hope
to awaken faith, generosity, and
a sense of global belonging. This
magazine continues that legacy.
The stories in this Spring edition
remind us that mission is not
measured by visibility or numbers,
but by fidelity. They take us from
the quiet margins of the Sahara to
storm-battered Caribbean shores
and vibrant seminaries in Asia —
places where the hope of Easter is
lived in concrete ways.
In the vastness of the Sahara Desert,
the Church remains present
where there are only a handful of
migrant Christian families, no catechism
classes, and no expectations
of growth. And yet, through the
Missionary Childhood Association,
children from around the world
help sustain a center for children
with disabilities — an oasis of dignity
and care in a place where such
services are otherwise nonexistent.
It is a powerful reminder that Christ
is present even where His name
is scarcely spoken, made visible
through love freely given.
In Jamaica, mission takes the form
of rebuilding — not only structures
damaged by Hurricane Melissa, but
lives shaken by loss and uncertainty.
The Church walks alongside communities
as they recover, offering
not quick fixes, but steadfast accompaniment.
Resurrection, after all, is
rarely instantaneous. More often, it
unfolds slowly, through hands that
rebuild and hearts that refuse to give
up hope.
In Bangalore, at the St. Peter's
Pontifical Seminary, the future of
the Church is being formed. Today,
more than 82,000 seminarians
worldwide — nearly one in three —
receive support from the Society of
St. Peter Apostle. These young men,
many from communities that could
never afford seminary education on
their own, are preparing to serve
the Church where priests are most
urgently needed. Their vocations are
not abstractions; they are nurtured
by your prayers and generosity.
This issue also includes the
first message of Pope Leo XIV for
World Mission Sunday, which will
be celebrated on October 18. In it,
the Holy Father calls the Church to
renewed hope, rooted not in strategy
or self-preservation, but in trust that
the Gospel continues to bear fruit
when it is lived with humility and
courage. His words resonate deeply
in this centennial year, reminding
us that mission is never about
expanding influence, but about
expanding love.
As we celebrate Easter, the centenary
of World Mission Sunday, and
the 75th anniversary of MISSION
Magazine, we do so with gratitude
— for the missionaries who stay, the
communities who persevere, and the
faithful who make this work possible
through prayer and sacrifice.
The Resurrection did not happen
in a palace, but in a garden,
witnessed first by those the world
overlooked. So too today, the risen
Christ continues to be encountered
in deserts, storm-battered islands,
and seminaries far from home.
Thank you for being part of this
mission that endures.
47

MISSION Magazine
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A magazine of The Pontifical Mission Societies
In support of
those spreading
the Gospel…
The money needed to support those serving
in the Pope’s missions comes from loving
Catholics like you.
Won’t you send whatever contribution you
can in the enclosed envelope today so that the
priests, religious and lay pastoral leaders in the
missions may not only survive, but thrive, in
their ministry?
Thank you for supporting our missionaries.
Please be assured of my prayers for you and
your family.
Send your gift in this
MISSION envelope to:
Monsignor Roger J. Landry
Society for the Propagation
of the Faith
70 West 36th Street, 8th Floor,
New York, NY 10018
Dear Monsignor Roger J. Landry
Your diocese will be credited
with your gift.
Your gift is tax deductible.
Enclosed is my gift of:
$25 $50 $75 $100 $250 Other $_____
$700 (one year’s help, mission seminarian)
$300 (one year’s help, Religious novice)
I want to be a monthly donor to the Missions!
I would like information on a gift that will provide income for life.
Give now!
Please contact me about remembering The Society for the Propagation of the Faith in my
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Cover of MISSION Magazine, July - August 1954.