by Marie-Lucile Kubacki
Vatican City – A day dedicated to bringing the missionary dimension into the everyday life of parishes through prayer, awareness of distant communities and the sharing of offerings. Inspired by this vision, on 14 April 1926 Pope Pius XI approved the establishment of World Mission Sunday.
With this initiative, Pope Ratti embraced a proposal put forward by the Pontifical Society for the Propagation of the Faith. Yet his intuition had taken shape against the backdrop of the missionary fervour that was stirring the entire Church in those years, finding expression also in initiatives undertaken by local communities. Among them, the community of the Sardinian diocese of Sassari stood out as a vibrant laboratory for missionary formation and cooperation: a reality in which the Pope’s decision would find fertile ground, building on an experience that was already alive and flourishing.
1. From “Maximum illud” to “Rerum Ecclesiae”
In his 1919 Apostolic Letter “Maximum illud”, Pope Benedict XV had stressed the need to free evangelization from national interests and promote the formation of local clergy. Pius XI developed these guidelines. In 1922, with the motu proprio “Romanorum Pontificum”, the transfer to Rome of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith and the pontifical recognition of the Missionary Societies strengthened the universal character of cooperation. The funds raised were to meet the needs of the missions, beyond national affiliations.
In his encyclical “Rerum Ecclesiae”, dated 28 February 1926, Pius XI clarified the responsibility of the entire Christian people: Bishops, priests and the faithful were called to cooperate through prayer, material support and the fostering of vocations. This participation went hand in hand with a commitment to forming local priests and religious communities, so that Churches in mission territories could grow, called to walk alongside their peoples through history, drawing on their own resources.
Mission, therefore, was not to remain a commitment reserved for those who left. It was a responsibility to be nurtured in dioceses and parishes as well, through awareness of the lives of other communities and a willingness to support them.
It was against this backdrop that World Mission Sunday came into being.
2. From the Missionary Exhibition to the birth of Fides
The Vatican Missionary Exhibition held during the 1925 Holy Year gave visible expression to this universal outlook. Promoted by Pius XI, it presented the spread of Catholic missions in their vital and ever-evolving encounter with the cultural, artistic and spiritual traditions of the peoples they encountered.
More than 100,000 works from around the world were displayed in twenty-six pavilions. According to accounts presented at the international conference “A Century after the Vatican Missionary Exhibition, a watershed moment for a glocal world, held on 5 and 6 November 2025, the exhibition attracted more than one million visitors. The conference was supported by several institutions: the Pontifical Urbaniana University –Faculty of Missiology, the IULM University, the Vatican Museums and the Pontifical Committee of Historical Sciences and reaffirmed the significance of that encounter between missionary experience and the knowledge of different cultures.
Fides was born within the same context. According to the Agency’s own history, it was established on 5 June 1927 at the initiative of the General Superior Council of the Pontifical Society for the Propagation of the Faith, with the blessing of Pius XI. Bringing the missions to public attention through the press was intended to foster spiritual cooperation, vocations and material support. News and information thus became a means of drawing people’s hearts closer to the life of the Church throughout the world.
3. Sassari: A laboratory within seminaries
In Sassari, this missionary awareness had deep and tangible roots. This is the picture depicted by Fr Diego Pinna in an interview with Fides. Pinna, a lecturer at the Faculties of Theology and History and Cultural Heritage of the Church at the Pontifical Gregorian University, is a former rector of the Archiepiscopal Seminary of Sassari.
In reconstructing the historical context, he evokes the image of Sardinia as a “missionary island”, thanks to the presence of numerous religious communities and, in particular, Vincentian priests serving in seminaries. According to Fr Pinna, these settings nurtured in young men an interest in the evangelization of peoples. Missionaries’ accounts, the reading of publications and prayer introduced seminarians to distant lands and communities, even though many of them were destined to serve in dioceses across the island.
Missionary formation did not necessarily mean preparing to leave for the missions. Rather, it helped young men understand their priestly ministry within the broader horizon of the universal Church.
The “St Francis Xavier” missionary Circle at the Seminary of Sassari was also founded in the early 1920s with this very purpose. Fr Pinna highlights its close ties with the local community. Although the seminarians led a secluded life within the Seminary, they went out to lead the liturgical celebrations at the Rectory of the Rosary, in the city centre. Through this service, the missionary spirit cultivated during their formation also reached the faithful.
The Catholic weekly “Libertà” documented these activities. In May 1926, the Missionary Circle organized a Rosary triduum and published a special edition devoted to the missions. Prayer was accompanied by the distribution of periodicals and the collection of donations. The Seminary thus became a meeting point between the formation of future priests and the active involvement of the city.
4. March 1927: enthusiasm was already present
When monsignor Luigi Drago, president of the Central Council of the Pontifical Missionary Societies, arrived in Sassari in March 1927 with Jesuit Fr Grimaldi, a former missionary in China, World Mission Sunday had already been approved, although the news had not yet been announced in the city.
As Fr Pinna recounts, the two visitors found an active Missionary Circle and a community eager to participate: fertile ground in which the initiative promoted by Pius XI could take root and flourish, intertwining with an already vibrant experience of prayer and cooperation.
The triduum held from 17 to 19 March was followed by a missionary celebration on 20 March and further gatherings. The program brought together celebrations in the Church of St Catherine, study meetings and conferences accompanied by film screenings at the Teatro Civico. Priests, women religious, Catholic associations, students and faithful from neighboring towns all took part.
In its 25 March issue, “Libertà” credited the seminarians with much of the organizational work and reported the response of the delegates from Rome, thanking them for bringing renewed missionary zeal to the city: “In Sassari, we found that enthusiasm for the missions was already there.”
For Fr Pinna, this experience gives substance to the local tradition that regards Sassari as a laboratory of missionary inspiration.
One aspect deserves particular attention: material assistance for the missions. As Fr Pinna recalls, Sassari looked to the annual Catholic University Day, launched in 1924, as a model for mobilizing the community to collect donations. Prayer was thus accompanied by concrete support, involving the whole community in missionary cooperation.
5. A Universal Day of prayer and sharing
The request addressed to Pius XI by the General Superior Council of the Pontifical Society for the Propagation of the Faith called for a “day of prayer and missionary outreach” to be observed in every diocese, parish and Catholic institution.
Approved on 14 April 1926, it set the date for the penultimate Sunday in October, which at that time preceded the feast of Christ the King. Prayer was at the heart of the event, together with missionary preaching, enrolment in the Society and donations. The rescript provided for the addition of the prayer “Pro propagatione Fidei” in Masses and a plenary indulgence under the specified conditions.
The new observance was not intended to replace local missionary celebrations or prevent other prescribed collections. As Fr Pinna recalls, the document was published in the “Acta Apostolicae Sedis” on 15 January 1927. “Libertà” reported the news on 29 April and subsequently followed preparations for the celebration in Sassari on 23 October. The reports describe services and offerings from parishes, the seminary, the hospital and religious communities.
Sassari thus demonstrates how a universal initiative could be warmly received by a community already ready to cooperate. Seminarians, priests, families and the sick all took part according to their means. The Day established by Pius XI provided a common occasion for these gestures, inviting Catholic communities to look beyond their own boundaries and to support the proclamation of the Gospel together.
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