The MISSIO App and Pentecost...

Prayerful greetings in this week after Pentecost, continuing our celebration of the birth of the Church's mission in and to the world!

The task of bringing the message of the Gospel "to the ends of the earth" that began on that first Pentecost, when those of many nations heard the Good News of Jesus in their own language, is now our joyful responsibility.

This past Friday, May 17, our Holy Father, Pope Francis, spoke to all of us National Directors who had gathered for our annual meeting to dispense your generosity to the Missions through the Pontifical Mission Societies. The Pope spoke of our being "Pontifical" - at his disposal - "with the specific purpose of acting so that the precious gift of the Gospel might be offered to all." These Societies, he said, were "entirely relevant; even more, they are still necessary today because there are so many peoples who have still not known and met Christ."

"And it is urgent," Pope Francis continued, "to find new forms and new ways that God's grace might touch the heart of each man and each woman and bring them to Him."

Following that message, present to us there in the Clementine Hall in Rome and present "virtually" with the 1,140 people in 27 different countries who had so far downloaded our new MISSIO App, Pope Francis "unlocked" that App with a touch of his finger to the launch button on my iPad that said, "evangelizantur," Latin for "they have been evangelized." In that way, the Pope put the missionary Gospel in the pockets of millions of people, young and old, rich and poor, believer and searcher. (Read full story from Catholic News Service.)


Since that Friday, the number of those installing our MISSIO App has increased many times over, topping 20,000! And the 27 countries have grown to more than 80. After the United States, the most users are in Argentina; in fact, MISSIO is a number one mobile App in that country.


MISSIO gives users access to the Pope’s daily homily, videos from Catholic News Service and News.va, the Vatican’s news agency; there is also news from Rome and around the world, including the Missions, from FIDES, the Pontifical Mission Societies’ news agency, and News.va. News is presented with a Catholic perspective – and in eight languages (English, Spanish, Italian, German, French, Portuguese, Chinese and Arabic), most appropriate for its launch near Pentecost.

Ever since his election, Pope Francis has reached far beyond the Vatican, touching people’s lives in simple and meaningful ways. The MISSIO App helps extend his reach. All of us in this "one family in mission" invite you to join with the Holy Father and the Pontifical Mission Societies in the continuing spirit of Pentecost, and through this unique mobile App, to see the world each day through the eyes of faith.

In His mission,
Father Andrew Small, OMI
National Director, Pontifical Mission Societies in the United States

To download the MISSIO App for Apple devices, click here; for Android, click here.

We bless you Pope Francis!

On behalf of the Pontifical Mission Societies, I join with the entire Church and the world to welcome our new Holy Father, Pope Francis I, chosen as the Successor of Peter, first missionary of the Church. The Keys of St. Peter have been entrusted to our new Holy Father, whom I had the privilege of meeting in 2010. Being in his presence, you know you are close to the Lord.

We pledge our allegiance and our fidelity to Pope Francis and encourage our entire mission family to gather around Him as around the Lord. We are renewed again in our faith in the bark of Peter, the Church. In unity with Pope Francis, we pledge our commitment to bring God’s liberating message of salvation to the ends of the earth, preaching the Good News of Jesus Christ to the poor and the lonely, the lost and frightened.

God Bless the Pope and long live the Pope!

Father Andrew Small, OMI
National Director, Pontifical Mission Societies in the United States





En nombre de las Obras Misionales Pontificias, me uno a toda la Iglesia y el mundo en darle la bienvenida a nuestro nuevo Santo Padre, Papa Francisco, elegido como el sucesor de Pedro, el misionero primario de la Iglesia. Las llaves de San Pedro han sido encomendadas a nuestro nuevo Santo Padre, el quien he tenido el privilegio de conocer en el 2010. Estar en su presencia, es saber que estas cerca del Señor.

Comprometemos nuestra lealtad y nuestra fidelidad al Papa Francisco y animamos a toda nuestra familia misionera a reunirse a su alrededor a medida que nos reunimos en torno al Señor. Nos renovamos una vez más en nuestra fe en la barca de Pedro, la Iglesia. En unidad con Papa Francisco, nos comprometemos a llevar el mensaje liberador de salvación de Dios hasta los confines de la tierra, predicando las Buena Nueva de Jesucristo a los pobres y los solitarios, los perdidos y asustados.

¡Dios bendiga al Papa y que viva el Papa!

Padre Andrew Small, OMI
Director Nacional de las Obras Misionales Pontificias en los Estados Unidos