Mission belongs to the entire Church. Every baptized person is called to share God’s love through prayer, generosity, and witness. Inspired by the dedication of missionaries around the world, we continue working together so that the message of Christ may reach every community, especially those most in need.
The collection helps priests in the missions carry out their work to spread the Gospel, like Father and later Bishop Robert Prevost, OSA, in Peru.
“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.”
- Pope Leo XIV (Jan 25, 2026)
The World Mission Sunday collection grants funds to mission dioceses, which help to underwrite the basic physical footprint that keeps missionary life going: where priests live, where sisters live, where children are catechized, where formation and pastoral work can happen, and where Holy Mass can be celebrated, often for the first time.
Part of the funds are used to help missionary dioceses run and survive, while the rest of the funds are used to build churches, seminaries, convents, and pastoral centers. In an average year, WMS helps to fund over 900 infrastructure-related projects for the Church!
Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen is known for his TV presence, preaching, and charismatic personality. He said his “greatest love,” however, had “always been the missions of the Church.”
Under his leadership (1950–1966), World Mission Sunday became a defining moment in the life of the Church in the United States.
“Whenever money is needed, or a new hospital, or a new jeep, it is always to the Church of the United States that the missionaries look.
There is something right and meet and just about this, for the Lord has blessed the United States as no other country in the world has been blessed. The superfluities of the United States are the necessities of the poor.”
– Fulton Sheen
Learn more about the man behind the voice of World Mission Sunday.
Get our free ebook and discover Fulton Sheen’s life, faith, and enduring passion for the missions.
Get the Free Ebook100 years ago, the Church began a global mission of solidarity.
Today, that mission continues through you.
For a century, Catholics around the world have united on World Mission Sunday to pray for the Church’s missionary work in the poorest and most remote corners of the world.
This year, as we celebrate 100 years of World Mission Sunday and honor the missionary legacy of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, we will pray the World Mission Rosary together each day of October.
We invite you to join our livestreamed rosary at 3pm every day throughout October! Together, we can help equip the Church to carry the Gospel to the ends of the earth.
“My greatest love has always been for the missions of the Church.”
— Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen
If you are a priest, deacon, parish staff member, or active lay leader, we have resources to help your parish celebrate World Mission Month throughout October!
Download Parish Resources:
As Catholics around the world prepare to celebrate the 100th anniversary of World Mission Sunday on Oct. 18, Pope Leo XIV has released a special video message thanking the faithful for a century of prayer and generosity and calling them to renew their commitment to the Church's missionary work.
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