10 facts about Domund or World Mission Sunday

Every third Sunday in October the Catholic Church celebrates World Mission Sunday, Domund. This year it is Sunday the 20th and it is a day to recognize, support and promote the missionary work of the Church that announces the Gospel to the ends of the world.

For this reason, we offer you answers to 10 frequently asked questions that the faithful usually ask about this charitable activity that allows the faith to spread, even in very remote places and with difficult situations.

1. What is Domund?

World Mission Sunday is the international day on which the entire Church prays for the missionary cause and takes up a special collection for its support. Every year its motto changes. For this 2024 it is Go and invite everyone to the banquet.

2. Who participates?

The call to participate in the Domund is addressed to all Catholics, starting with the missionaries, who act on the ground.

3. What is the money used for?

The financial aid achieved with the Domund global collection is sent to the more than a thousand mission territories that are spread throughout the world.

According Vatican News“in the world there are 1,126 Mission Territories that extend across Africa, Asia, America and the islands of Oceania, that is, 45.70% of the world population lives in mission territories and 37% of the Church universal is part of these territories.”

4. Who organizes the Domund?

The Domund is organized by the Work of the Propagation of the Faithone of the four institutions that make up the Pontifical Mission Societies (PMO). It was founded by the Beata Pauline Jaricot in 1822.

5. Who are the mission patrons?

The Spanish Jesuit Saint Francis Xavier and the Carmelite nun Saint Therese of the Child Jesus They are the patrons of the Church’s missionary action.

The Jesuit evangelized India and Japan for 10 years and died at the gates of China in the 16th century. He was named patron of the missions by Pope Saint Pius X.

The Carmelite nun discovered her vocation at the age of 15. Due to his age, he made a pilgrimage to Rome to ask permission from Pope Leo XIII. He entered the Carmel the following year. Eight years later, on Holy Thursday, she fell seriously ill. She died in September 1897. Pope Pius XI declared her patron saint of the Missions in 1927.

6. How can a layman help missions?

The first of the missionary works is prayer, according to Pope Francis. This is demonstrated by the life of Saint Therese of Lisieux, who without leaving the convent was declared patron saint of the missions.

In this sense, the prayer that sick people also offer, through their limitations and pain, becoming sick missionaries is especially relevant.

Secondly, economic collaboration is essential, because it sustains the work of the Church and its action in the mission territories.

The third form of help is through volunteering, with the delivery of time through the diocesan mission delegations or in the parishes.

7. How much money is raised with Domund?

All proceeds raised on this day will go to the Universal Solidarity Fundwhich according to the Pontifical Mission Societies brings together all the donations for the missions that Catholics make throughout the year. Then the General Assembly meets in Rome and determines how they will be distributed with the help of the nunciatures and national directorates.

In an article by Europa Press It is indicated that in 2023 the fund raised nearly 61 and a half million euros. The United States and Spain are the countries that contribute the most.

8. How is it distributed?

Throughout the year all requests for help from the mission territories arrive in Rome. It is the national directors of the Pontifical Mission Societies who approve the projects in an annual assembly and give orders to the countries that have raised the money to support each mission.

9. What are mission territories?

Mission territories are areas where there are young churches, after the founding of a missionary, that are growing and are not self-sufficient from a human or economic point of view.

10. What impact does missionary work have on the Catholic Church?

The face of the Catholic Church has been substantially modified thanks to missionary action. The PMS of Spain describes that in the mission territories “44% of the schools of the Catholic Church and 30% of its social institutions (hospitals, orphanages, residences…) are located.”

To see some of the projects in the world that are supported by Domund, you can click in this link.