Everyone's Call to be an Apostle

AMERICA/UNITED STATES - Pontifical Mission Societies National Director hopes Mission Congress will “call all baptized Catholics to be missionaries”


Albuquerque (Agenzia Fides) – Tomorrow, October 28, 2010, marks the opening day for the Mission Congress 2010 entitled “God’s Mission, Many Faces: A Portrait of U.S. Catholics in Mission,” which will meet October 28-31, in Albuquerque, New Mexico (see Fides 14/10/2010). The congress will include panel discussions, group dialogue and workshops on topics ranging from mission work in the U.S. to global trends, mission in other traditions, ecumenical perspectives on mission, international missionaries serving in the United States and other issues.

The congress is sponsored by the Catholic Mission Forum, an umbrella organization of leading US Catholic mission organizations, including the Pontifical Mission Societies.

Monsignor John E. Kozar, National Director of the Pontifical Mission Societies in the United States has sent the following personal statement on the relevance of this Congress for the PMS and the entire Church: “We look forward to attending the Mission Congress in New Mexico, offering our gratitude to the United States Catholic Mission Association for bringing together those committed to the Church’s missionary work. We are particularly glad to participate in this meeting along with our valued collaborator, the Committee on Evangelization and Catechesis of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. In our own efforts for mission animation, we continue to see many opportunities to highlight the Church’s mission ad gentes with Catholics in our country, especially in the area of social / new media and on our website. May our time together be fruitful in energizing us as we call all baptized Catholics to be missionaries, to share their faith, to be active participants in bringing Jesus’ ‘Good News’ to a waiting world!” (AR) (Agenzia Fides 27/10/2010)