Pope Leo XIV appeared at the window of the Apostolic Palace on Sunday to lead the Angelus, his first public event since lung cancer surgery five days earlier at Rome's Gemelli Hospital — an appearance that coincided with the 100th World Mission Sunday, according to cathonews. Addressing the faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square, the pope said his recovery remains stable and that he will resume his duties step by step.
"Now that I have overcome this delicate phase, as you know, I will gradually resume my activities, always with God's help and your prayers," Leo said, EWTN reports. He thanked the doctors and nurses who treated him and all who sustained him with their prayers. In a personal video message released earlier for the centenary, the pope recalled celebrating World Mission Sunday as a boy in the United States, reflecting that the prayers offered each year "mysteriously helped prepare my heart to hear Jesus' call and to follow Him as an Augustinian missionary."
Through the Apostolic Penitentiary, Pope Leo granted a plenary indulgence for the 100th World Mission Sunday, cathonews reports. The faithful may gain the indulgence under the usual conditions — sacramental confession, Eucharistic Communion, and prayer for the pope's intentions — and may also pray the Rosary in union with the Holy Father for the spread of the Gospel. This year's theme, "One in Christ, United in Mission," takes up the message the pope issued in January, urging the Church to renew spiritual and fraternal unity so that evangelization may be effective.
Established by Pope Pius XI in 1926, World Mission Sunday is observed each year on the penultimate Sunday of October and calls Catholics everywhere to support the Church's missionary work through prayer and sacrifice. The pope's return to the Vatican window offered a public sign of recovery and, as cathonews put it, a fresh invitation to share in that missionary vocation.
Photo: Sergio López Prieto, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0