Vatican City, Oct 21, 2010 / 16:59 pm
Ahead of World Mission Sunday, the priest heading a papal society for the spread of the faith has said all Catholics are missionaries and should renew their commitment to proclaiming the Gospel. A credible witness of the faith requires a “profound” personal and communal conversion, he commented.
“As Catholics, we have a wonderful responsibility, by reason of our baptism, to bring about change for the good in our world,” commented Fr. Timothy Lehane Barret, SVD. To accomplish this, he said, Catholics must become aware of the need for conversion beginning with ourselves.
Fr. Barret is secretary general of the Pontifical Society for the Propagation of the Faith. His letter published, by Agenzia Fides, often cited Pope Benedict XVI’s Feb. 6 message for the Oct. 24 observance of World Mission Sunday.
That message, Fr. Barret said, encourages dioceses, parishes, religious orders, and the whole “People of God” to give a greater missionary character to pastoral activity.