For World Mission Day 2026, which was celebrated on Sunday, October 18, and which marked the centenary of a celebration established by Pius XI that is "very dear to the Church", Pope Leo XIV chose the theme “One in Christ, united in mission”.
Following the Jubilee Year, he said he wished to encourage the whole Church to continue its missionary journey with joy and zeal in the Holy Spirit. This requires hearts united in Christ, reconciled communities and, in everyone, a willingness to cooperate with generosity and trust. Read the Pope's full message.
The Immaculate Conception Parish in Sangkhomphathana, Bueng Kan Province, Thailand is situated in a new and small village, but has already grown into a vibrant spiritual home for its people.
The parish is one of two under the pastoral care of parish priest Fr Chanthavong (Toub) Anisong SVD, along with Jesus of Nazareth Catholic Church, Phon Charoen, and both are not only places of worship, but also of Christian outreach to those in need.
Biblical Apostolate Coordinators from SVD provinces across the Asia-Pacific region gathered in Penang, Malaysia, recently for a Zonal Assembly.
The Assembly featured keynote speakers, along with time for sharing among the Biblical Apostolate Coordinators about their joys and challenges in living and promoting the Word of God in their own local contexts.
The Divine Word Missionaries had an active presence at the Ignite Conference 2026 in Brisbane, a youth gathering that offered attendees four days of faith, dynamic worship, and community.
Vocations Coordinator for the SVD Australia Province, Fr Joe Jacob SVD attended, along with Deacon Gusty Siga SVD, meeting the young participants and sharing the charism of the Society of the Divine Word with them.
The SVD Mission Day hosted by Dorish Maru College in collaboration with Yarra Theological Union at Box Hill in Melbourne brought together people from a broad range of cultural backgrounds for shared reflection, prayer and friendship.
The annual celebration featured guest speakers Fr Chris Monahan CP and Fr Luke Bulley CP, speaking on the theme, ‘What does the New Testament say about Lay Ministry?’.
The whole Church has recently celebrated the 100th anniversary of World Mission Sunday, a day which was inaugurated by Pope Pius XI in 1926.
Pope Leo’s theme for this year’s World Mission Day message was ‘One in Christ, United in Mission’ and in it, he thanks missionaries who have left their home and their families to share the Good News. The reality of this was brought home to me on a recent visit to our SVD mission in Balgo, Western Australia.
On Monday, I had the opportunity to visit Palm Island, an Aboriginal community in Queensland. I was grateful to spend time with Fr Manh Le SVD and learn about his missionary life and ministry.
The Catholic Church celebrates the 100th anniversary of World Mission Sunday on October 18, and in his message to mark the occasion, Pope Leo XIV has expressed his gratitude for missionaries around the world and reflected on the Church’s deep commitment to mission.
For the Divine Word Missionaries, this milestone for the global Church closely follows the 150th anniversary celebrations of their own foundation by St Arnold Janssen, which took place last year.
For those of us living in Australia or in New Zealand, if you take notice, you’ll see that on all of our coins, we see the image of King Charles III (or the late Queen Elizabeth II on older coins) - whoever is the ruling monarch in England. For us nowadays, we don’t really take a lot of notice of it.
The first reading, from the Prophet Isaiah, recounts how much the Lord loves us by providing good things for us. This is the God for whom we are looking. The challenge is really to look for God in our day to day lives.
