By Emma Eko, CSN Media
The Pontifical Mission Societies (PMS) have announced preparations for the celebration of this year’s World Mission Sunday, which will be marked globally on Sunday, October 19, 2025. The National celebration will take place at the St. Gabriel Chaplaincy, Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria, Durumi-Abuja.
World Mission Sunday, instituted by Pope Pius XI in 1926, is a special day dedicated to prayer and support for missionary work across the world. It serves as an opportunity for Catholics everywhere to renew their commitment to evangelization and to show solidarity with missionaries serving in remote and challenging parts of the world.
According to the PMS National Director, Rev. Fr. Patrick Solomon Zaku, the celebration will focus on the theme “Missionaries of Hope among all peoples,” inviting all Catholics to rekindle their passion for the Gospel and to take concrete steps in spreading Christ’s message of love and hope.
The National Director of PMS emphasised that World Mission Sunday is not only about financial support but also about deepening the sense of missionary identity among the faithful. “Every baptized Christian is a missionary disciple, called to bring the light of Christ to others through witness, service, and prayer,” he said.
In a statement made available to CSN Media, Fr. Zaku reiterated Pope Leo XIV’s call to all Catholics to be become Missionaries of Hope among the peoples, stating that like Christ, we are called to be messengers, builders of living hope in every place and circumstance.
Activities lined up for the National celebration include a Holy Mass to be celebrated by the Bishop of Yola diocese, Most Rev. Stephen Dami Mamza, mission awareness programmes, outreach visits, and fundraising campaigns in dioceses and parishes across the country. The offertories collected during the Sunday Masses will be used to support missionary projects coordinated by the PMS, particularly in developing mission territories.
The Pontifical Mission Societies reaffirmed their commitment to promoting missionary cooperation within the universal Church, urging all faithful to participate actively in the celebration and to pray for the success of missionary work throughout the world.