English
Missionaries not only proclaim the Gospel and form communities of faith, but also carry out works of merciful love. They bring hope and comfort to local communities tormented by poverty and disease with their selfless help – we read in the communiqué of the chairman of the Mission Commission of the Polish Bishops’ Conference, Bishop Jan Piotrowski on the Day of Prayer and Aid to Missions celebrated on 6th January under the slogan „From the Last Supper to the Ends of the World”.
The Feast of the Epiphany is the Day of Prayer and Aid to Missions. 2022 will be abundant in important missionary jubilees under the patronage of the Pontifical Missionary Works in Poland: 400th anniversary of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Nations, 200th anniversary of the Papal Missionary Work, 100th anniversary of the Pontifical Missionary Work, 150th birthday of the founder of the Pontifical Missionary Union bl. Paul Manna and the beatification of the handmaid of God Pauline Jaricot, which will take place in Lyon on 22nd May 2022. The Epiphany Solemnity is also the patronal feast of the Pontifical Missionary Work of Children.
Bishop Jan Piotrowski emphasized in his message that „our concern for missions consists first in the fact that we ourselves agree to be united by the Lord”, as well as that „our responsibility for missions also includes supporting those who carry the message of Christ to the ends of the world”. Currently, 1,800 Polish missionaries serve in Africa, South and Central America, Asia, Oceania and Alaska.
At the end of the communiqué, Bishop Piotrowski expressed his thanks for the prayers and sacrifices made for the missions. „May Christ fill all of you with his blessing and joy, so that you may be sent as” Eucharistic missionaries „to all environments, even to the ends of the world, to share this great gift of faith in Eucharistic Jesus and to receive from Him the graces they need,” he wrote.
