World Mission Day on 20 October is known to the Spanish Church as “Jornada del Domund 2002”. The official celebrations planned for the occasion include a special event of prayer and testimony in the cathedral of Almudena in Madrid on 17 October: the “Prégon del Domund” presided over by Cardinal Antonio Maria Rouco Varela, archbishop of Madrid and president of the Spanish Episcopal Conference. During the celebration the cantata “Terrasanta” will be performed. Then two Spanish missionaries will testify to their missions in respectively the Dominican Republic and Sierra Leone. Bishop Francisco Pérez Gonzàles of Osma-Soria and director of the Pontifical Mission-Aid Societies, will then intervene. “Mission is the task of all Christians points our Pérez Gonzàles -. We can’t pretend to be deaf, as sometimes happens. Jesus does not call others: he calls everyone, us too. On the other hand, everything in this life demands renewal. The present missionaries have replaced those that preceded them and they in turn will need others to substitute them. The change of guard is natural, so we must sincerely think whether we too are included among those called to substitute the others”. The various initiatives proposed to raise awareness during the missionary October in the dioceses and in the parishes (aimed at children, young people, adults and families) include the screening of videos on mission, meetings with missionaries, catechesis and reflections on the Pope’s message.
