Pope entrusts Church's mission to St John Paul II

Source: Vatican Radio/VIS

Pope Francis has proclaimed October, 2019 an 'Extraordinary Missionary Month' to be marked and celebrated in the whole Church throughout the world, and entrusted the mission of the Church in the world especially to St John Paul II.

In his address to pilgrims gathered in St Peter's Square for the Angelus, Pope Francis said: "Today, World Mission Day is celebrated, on the theme: Mission at the heart of the Christian faith. I urge everyone to live the joy of mission by witnessing the Gospel in the environs where each one lives and works."

The Holy Father went on to say: "At the same time, we are called upon to support with affection, concrete help, and prayer, the missionaries who have gone out to proclaim Christ to those who still do not know Him."

"I also recall," he continued, "that I intend to promote an Extraordinary Missionary Month in October 2019, in order to nourish the ardor of the evangelizing activity of the Church ad gentes. On the day of the liturgical memory of Saint John Paul II, missionary Pope, we entrust to his intercession the mission of the Church in the world."

Before the Angelus, Pope Francis reflected on the day's Gospel of St Matthew which includes the advice: "Render unto Caesar what is Caesar's, and render unto God what is God's."

He explained that the episode teaches us both the legitimacy of earthly authority and the primacy of God in human affairs and over all the universe. "The Christian is called to be concretely committed in human and social realities," said Pope Francis, "without putting God and 'Caesar' in contraposition." He said that counterposing God and Caesar would be, "a fundamentalist attitude."

"The Christian is called upon to engage concretely in earthly realities, but enlightening them with the light that comes from God. Entrusting oneself to God in the first, and placing one's hope in Him, do not require us to escape from reality, but rather to work diligently to render unto Him, all that it His. That is why the believer looks to future reality, to that of God: that he might live his earthly life in fullness, and respond with courage to its challenges."