The recent
election of Pope
Leo XIV marks a historic and deeply symbolic moment for the
Catholic Church. As the first American pope and a former missionary, Pope Leo
brings to the papacy not only a global perspective but also a heart formed by
service on the margins—walking with the poor and accompanying vulnerable
communities in the developing world.
His election
offers hope for a renewed emphasis on the Church’s missionary identity. Pope
Leo XIV has already expressed his desire for “a Church that goes out,” echoing the words of Pope
Francis, but with a unique urgency and pastoral clarity drawn from his own
lived missionary experience in Peru. In his first public address, he stated:
“We have to
look together at how to be a missionary Church, building bridges, dialogue,
always open to receiving with open arms for everyone (…) open to all, to all
who need our charity, our presence, dialogue, love.”
These words
affirm the vital role of missionaries, whose witness—in pastoral ministry,
health care, education, development, and beyond—brings Christ’s compassion to
life where it is most needed.
For the Lay
Mission-Helpers Association, the election of a missionary pope
is both a profound encouragement and a call to renewed commitment. As we
celebrate 70
years of missionary service, we are heartened by this
affirmation of our charism to share our gifts and witness the faith as laity in
mission. We’ve witnessed firsthand that the professional and spiritual gifts of
a few can transform the lives of many. Since our founding, more than 750 lay men
and women, married couples, and families have served in 37 countries—and
counting.
Yet Pope
Leo’s election also challenges us. It urges us not to rest on the legacy of the
past, but to look forward—to continue our Gospel witness and to support a new
generation of missionaries.
We, as Lay
Mission-Helpers, embrace this new chapter in the Church under the leadership of
Pope Leo XIV, with hope that his papacy will re-center missionary
discipleship at the heart of Catholic life and ecclesial
culture around the world.
As we mark
this milestone year, we pray that his election will not only be a symbol of
hope, but also a summons: a call for all Catholics—ordained, religious, and
lay—to go forth, to cross borders both physical and spiritual, and to encounter
Christ anew in the face of every neighbor, especially the poorest and most
forgotten.
May the Holy
Spirit, who guided the cardinals in the Conclave, inspire many—single men
and women, married couples, and families—to share their gifts
and witness their faith as Lay Mission-Helpers. May many others be moved to
support them—through prayer, encouragement, and financial partnership—for the
sake of the Gospel and the Church’s missionary mandate, which belongs to all
the baptized.
