” ” In his message, the Pope insists on the special structure and method of the "mission". He writes: "Just because they are sent by the Lord, the Twelve are named ‘apostles’, bound to travel the streets of the world, announcing the Gospel as the witnesses of the death and Resurrection of Christ". And he describes the missionaries like this: "They are men and women who, as Luke writes in the Books of Acts, ‘have devoted their life to the name of our Lord Jesus Christ’ (15,26). The first one, who was called by the Lord Himself so as to be a true Apostle, is no doubt Paul of Tarsus, the greatest missionary ever, who shows in many respects what connections exist between the calling and the mission. Accused by his enemies of nor being authorised to carry out the apostolate, he repeatedly appeals to the calling that he had directly received by the Lord (cf Rm 1,1; Gal 1,11-12.15-17)". Quoting John Paul II, the Pope highlights that: "The special calling of the missionaries ad vitam … remains perfectly valid: it is the paradigm of the missionary commitment of the Church, which always needs dramatic, total donations, and new and brave impulses" (Enc. Redemptoris missio, 66). (continued)
