Archbishop of Santiago calls for renewed missionary zeal in DOMUND centenary letter

Archbishop Francisco José Prieto Fernández of Santiago de Compostela has issued a pastoral letter for the first centenary of World Mission Sunday, known in Spain as DOMUND, which falls on Sunday, October 18. The letter, "Unidos en Cristo, llamados y enviados" ("United in Christ, called and sent"), is addressed to the whole diocese and reflects on the place of mission in the life of believers and on the shared responsibility of the baptized.

A hundred years of mission since Pius XI

Prieto Fernández opens with thanks for the past century. Since Pope Pius XI established World Mission Sunday in 1926, he wrote, "many generations of Christians have sustained, with their life, prayer and generosity, the proclamation of the Gospel" to the ends of the earth.

He singles out those who, "born in or linked to our Diocese of Santiago de Compostela, have given themselves to the service of other peoples and communities."

The theme: hearts reconciled in Christ

The archbishop explains this year's theme, "One in Christ, united in mission." The wording, he wrote, "reminds us that mission begins in union with the Lord."

He cites Pope Leo XIV's message for the day, in which the pope calls for "hearts unified in Christ and reconciled communities."

"In a world wounded by conflict and division," Prieto Fernández wrote, "a fraternal Church, able to walk together and welcome diversity as a gift," becomes a proclamation of the Gospel by its very existence. It announces peace not with words alone but through its fraternal structure.

Mission as the responsibility of all the baptized

The archbishop rejects any reduction of mission to a group of specialists. "Mission is not a task reserved to a few," he wrote, and "no baptized person can consider themselves a stranger to it."

He said "every parish, community, family and ecclesial reality is called to renew the fervor of its missionary vocation."

Forms of missionary witness

Prieto Fernández lists specific ways of living that vocation. "We can all proclaim Christ through daily witness," he wrote. He also listed "closeness to those who suffer," "persevering prayer" and "generous cooperation with those who take the Gospel to places especially affected by poverty, violence or a lack of hope."

Financial giving as an expression of communion

The archbishop asks the faithful to live DOMUND "with a heart grateful to the Lord for our missionaries," and to pray for "new missionary vocations."

"Our financial contribution, however humble and small it may be," he wrote, "helps sustain the universal mission of the Church."

The donation, he added, "expresses our fraternal communion both with those who proclaim the Gospel and with the communities and people they serve," making the love of God "close, visible and concrete for everyone."

Under the protection of Mary and St. James

The letter closes by asking that "Mary, Queen of Missions, and the Apostle James, disciple of the Lord" help the diocese "remain united in Christ and walk together, with joy and hope, in the service of the Gospel." The tomb of the Apostle James in Santiago de Compostela draws pilgrims from around the world.