![International rosary in Rome held in advance of 100th World Mission Sunday #Catholic An international rosary in Rome united clergy, religious, and lay faithful to mark the 100th anniversary of World Mission Sunday.The rosary was held on the grounds of the Pontifical Urban University on Oct. 17, the eve of this year’s World Mission Sunday on Oct. 18. Led by Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, dean of the College of Cardinals and Grand Chancellor of the university, the rosary was recited in 13 languages across five mysteries representing Africa, Asia, the Americas, Europe, and Oceania.The occasion also marked the 75th anniversary of the rosary’s establishment by Blessed Fulton J. Sheen, who was U.S. national director of the Pontifical Mission Societies from 1950 to 1966.Sister Mary Teresa Baron, recently appointed president of the Pontifical Mission Societies, was not present during the rosary.Several participants in the rosary explained how the faithful can support the Church’s missionaries beyond financial contributions.Archbishop Fortunatus Nwachukwu, who serves as a secretary at the Dicastery for Evangelization, urged a focus on the Word of God.“I am always a bit wary about monetizing mission,” Nwachukwu said to EWTN News. “So, I do not want to begin with money; I want to begin with the Word, because mission is all about bringing the Word of the Lord to the ends of the earth.”
Archbishop Fortunatus Nwachukwu, secretary of the Section of First Evangelization at the Dicastery for Evangelization, participated in an international rosary at the Pontifical Urban University in Rome on Oct. 17, 2026, to mark the 100th anniversary of World Mission Sunday. | Credit: Ishmael Adibuah/EWTN News
At the same time, Nwachukwu indicated that supporting missionaries also means providing “the means to bring the Gospel to various places.” That support, he said, involves money.“[Today] is also an occasion to tell people: please, be generous to missionaries,” Nwachukwu said.Msgr. Thomas George Schluep, who also serves at the Dicastery for Evangelization, cited Pope Leo XIV’s message for World Mission Sunday as a reminder that unity in Christ precedes material support“Pope Leo, in his message for this 100th Anniversary of World Mission Sunday, reminds us that we first must be one in Christ,” Schluep told EWTN News. “Our baptism calls us to be missionaries: to share that love with our families, our friends, our coworkers.”Memories of missionaries, Pope Leo’s return from the hospitalParticipants also shared personal anecdotes about missionaries and their impact on their faith journey.Schluep shared his memory of Father Gerard Hammond, an American Maryknoll missionary priest known for his decades of humanitarian work in North and South Korea.“I met him in Korea, where he had been serving since 1960 when he was ordained and sent on mission. He was celebrated by thousands of people in South Korea for bringing the faith to them over the course of 65 years,” Schluep said.“In North Korea he could not speak of Christ, but his “apostolate of presence” and love for those suffering from tuberculosis was itself evangelization. He taught me a lot about the importance of being present to people, exactly where they are at in their lives, no matter the personal cost.”Around the time the rosary was taking place, Pope Leo XIV returned to the Vatican after being hospitalized for surgery Oct. 13 at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital. Nwachukwu expressed happiness at his return and hoped that “the Lord will keep him quite long among us”.“We are all praying for him. We love the Pope, and we love what he is doing.”The contributions of AmericansSchluep, an American from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, also noted the significant contributions of Americans, such as Blessed Fulton Sheen, to missionary work through the Pontifical Mission Societies.“The American contribution to the missions historically has been enormous,” Schluep noted. “It was a great joy to see Fulton Sheen beatified, who did so much to evangelize the United States, but also who traveled personally to so many missions around the world and did so much to raise funds for those missions.”
Cardinal Tagle stands before the image of Blessed Fulton Sheen during the beatification Mass in St. Louis on Sept. 24, 2026. | Credit: Jeffrey Bruno
Schluep said he hoped the example of Pope Leo XIV, the first U.S.-born pope, would encourage renewed American support. “The fact that the Holy Father understands American culture and missionary life in Peru can help him in his particular guidance for us, but now he is the Pope of the entire world, and he calls us to think also of the entire world and not just our country, our families, and especially ourselves,” Schluep said.](https://unitedyam.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/international-rosary-in-rome-held-in-advance-of-100th-world-mission-sunday-catholic-an-international-rosary-in-rome-united-clergy-religious-and-lay-faithful-to-mark-the-100th-anniversary-of-world-m-scaled.jpg "International rosary in Rome held in advance of 100th World Mission Sunday #Catholic An international rosary in Rome united clergy, religious, and lay faithful to mark the 100th anniversary of World Mission Sunday.The rosary was held on the grounds of the Pontifical Urban University on Oct. 17, the eve of this year’s World Mission Sunday on Oct. 18. Led by Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, dean of the College of Cardinals and Grand Chancellor of the university, the rosary was recited in 13 languages across five mysteries representing Africa, Asia, the Americas, Europe, and Oceania.The occasion also marked the 75th anniversary of the rosary’s establishment by Blessed Fulton J. Sheen, who was U.S. national director of the Pontifical Mission Societies from 1950 to 1966.Sister Mary Teresa Baron, recently appointed president of the Pontifical Mission Societies, was not present during the rosary.Several participants in the rosary explained how the faithful can support the Church’s missionaries beyond financial contributions.Archbishop Fortunatus Nwachukwu, who serves as a secretary at the Dicastery for Evangelization, urged a focus on the Word of God.“I am always a bit wary about monetizing mission,” Nwachukwu said to EWTN News. “So, I do not want to begin with money; I want to begin with the Word, because mission is all about bringing the Word of the Lord to the ends of the earth.”
Archbishop Fortunatus Nwachukwu, secretary of the Section of First Evangelization at the Dicastery for Evangelization, participated in an international rosary at the Pontifical Urban University in Rome on Oct. 17, 2026, to mark the 100th anniversary of World Mission Sunday. | Credit: Ishmael Adibuah/EWTN News
At the same time, Nwachukwu indicated that supporting missionaries also means providing “the means to bring the Gospel to various places.” That support, he said, involves money.“[Today] is also an occasion to tell people: please, be generous to missionaries,” Nwachukwu said.Msgr. Thomas George Schluep, who also serves at the Dicastery for Evangelization, cited Pope Leo XIV’s message for World Mission Sunday as a reminder that unity in Christ precedes material support“Pope Leo, in his message for this 100th Anniversary of World Mission Sunday, reminds us that we first must be one in Christ,” Schluep told EWTN News. “Our baptism calls us to be missionaries: to share that love with our families, our friends, our coworkers.”Memories of missionaries, Pope Leo’s return from the hospitalParticipants also shared personal anecdotes about missionaries and their impact on their faith journey.Schluep shared his memory of Father Gerard Hammond, an American Maryknoll missionary priest known for his decades of humanitarian work in North and South Korea.“I met him in Korea, where he had been serving since 1960 when he was ordained and sent on mission. He was celebrated by thousands of people in South Korea for bringing the faith to them over the course of 65 years,” Schluep said.“In North Korea he could not speak of Christ, but his “apostolate of presence” and love for those suffering from tuberculosis was itself evangelization. He taught me a lot about the importance of being present to people, exactly where they are at in their lives, no matter the personal cost.”Around the time the rosary was taking place, Pope Leo XIV returned to the Vatican after being hospitalized for surgery Oct. 13 at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital. Nwachukwu expressed happiness at his return and hoped that “the Lord will keep him quite long among us”.“We are all praying for him. We love the Pope, and we love what he is doing.”The contributions of AmericansSchluep, an American from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, also noted the significant contributions of Americans, such as Blessed Fulton Sheen, to missionary work through the Pontifical Mission Societies.“The American contribution to the missions historically has been enormous,” Schluep noted. “It was a great joy to see Fulton Sheen beatified, who did so much to evangelize the United States, but also who traveled personally to so many missions around the world and did so much to raise funds for those missions.”
Cardinal Tagle stands before the image of Blessed Fulton Sheen during the beatification Mass in St. Louis on Sept. 24, 2026. | Credit: Jeffrey Bruno
Schluep said he hoped the example of Pope Leo XIV, the first U.S.-born pope, would encourage renewed American support. “The fact that the Holy Father understands American culture and missionary life in Peru can help him in his particular guidance for us, but now he is the Pope of the entire world, and he calls us to think also of the entire world and not just our country, our families, and especially ourselves,” Schluep said.")
The rosary, recited in 13 languages, also marked the 75th anniversary of the World Mission Rosary by Blessed Fulton Sheen.
![Jimmy Lai’s family, advocates press for his release before Xi-Trump meeting #Catholic Family members and advocates of imprisoned Catholic pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai offered urgent pleas for his release ahead of President Xi Jinping’s planned trip to the U.S. to meet with President Donald Trump.In anticipation of Xiʼs visit to Washington on Sept. 24, Sebastien Lai, Jimmy Lai’s son, met with leaders to advocate for his father. He joined a Sept. 16 congressional hearing led by Rep. Chris Smith, R-New Jersey.“Jimmy Lai is not being imprisoned because he committed any act of violence whatsoever,” Smith, co-chair of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, said. “His son has emphasized that his father has never, never advocated violence. Rather, Jimmy Lai used his voice, his newspaper, and his public platform to support freedom and democracy,” he said. Smith said he introduced legislation Sept. 16 that would require the State Department to quickly assess any death in custody of a Hong Kong political prisoner and impose sanctions on officials found responsible. He titled the bill the “Jimmy Lai Hong Kong Political Prisoner Accountability Act of 2026.”At the hearing, Sebastien Lai offered testimony along with Steve Yates, a research fellow on China and national security policy, and Mark Clifford, president of the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation.“I want to thank America, President Trump, who has been a true champion of my fatherʼs, his administration, and the senators and members of both parties whose support has never wavered and only gotten stronger. That is moral courage, and my family does not take it for granted,” Sebastien Lai said.“By the end of this year my father will have spent six years in a maximum-security prison in solitary. At 78, he is the oldest political prisoner in Hong Kong. With a 20-year sentence looming over him, if he’s not freed soon, he will most likely die in prison,” he said. “My sister Claire was to testify beside me today. A few weeks ago, she was diagnosed with cancer,” he said. “I was with her in London last week as she began chemotherapy. My father learned of his own daughterʼs diagnosis from a maximum-security prison. He cannot hold her hand. She wants nothing more than to have him with her for this fight,“ he said.
Claire Lai, daughter of imprisoned pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai, discusses her father’s sentencing on “EWTN News Nightly” on Feb. 9, 2026. | Credit: “EWTN News Nightly”/Screenshot
“We hope the Chinese authorities will consider what compassionate release would mean for her, and for a 78-year-old man who has already suffered enough,” he said.“America understands, in its bones, that freedom dies with the last man willing to defend it and that the cost of not standing up for liberty is not felt until it is too late,“ he said.The appeal to Xi “is simple," Sebastien Lai said. “My father poses no threat. His imprisonment makes him a symbol of injustice; his death in prison would be a disgrace. Let Jimmy Lai come home to his family and let him sit beside his daughter in her hardest moment.”
America understands, in its bones, that freedom dies with the last man willing to defend it and that the cost of not standing up for liberty is not felt until it is too late.”
Sebastien LaiSon of imprisoned Hong Kong media publisher and democracy advocate Jimmy Lai
Clifford, of the Washington‑based advocacy group promoting human rights in Hong Kong, spoke on behalf of his friend Jimmy Lai and to remind “people that Jimmy is just one of hundreds of political prisoners being held in often appalling conditions.”“Iʼd like to emphasize the release of Jimmy Lai would be something President Trump, Republicans and Democrats, indeed, freedom-loving people around the world would applaud,” Clifford said. “It would be a unifying event at the time when the world really needs it.”Yates said Jimmy Lai’s case is “a test of character, of Xi Jinping’s leadership, of the president’s relationship with his counterpart, and of whether there remains any credible basis for the assumptions on which American policy toward Hong Kong was long constructed.”The case is “a litmus test of whether there remains any reason to believe there is a future in Xi Jinping’s China for the kind of man Jimmy Lai is: a child of God, a lover of the real China, and, it may fairly be said, one of China’s greatest entrepreneurs,” Yates said. Lai’s health ‘is going to get worse’At a subsequent event, Sebastien Lai spoke at a press conference at Georgetown University about his father.Trump has previously met with Xi about Jimmy Lai’s case, which did not end with his release, but Sebastian Lai said he does not believe “it is a lost cause.” He said he hopes Trump raises his father’s case “again and again.”Sebastian Lai detailed his father’s health, which “hasnʼt gotten any better” while in solitary confinement.“He now has heart issues. His nails fall off. His teeth are rotting. During the summer, he bleeds all over his body because [of] his rashes,” he said.His health was especially worrisome recently because “Hong Kong just had a record summer,” Sebastien Lai said. “The heat traps in there and essentially bakes in itself. So weʼre very, very worried.”Caoilfhionn Gallagher, human rights lawyer and leader of the international legal team representing Jimmy Lai, further laid out the urgency of the case.“It’s very clear that if someone is detained in solitary confinement for an extended period of time, there is a direct ramification for their mortality,” she said.“The risk to prisoners detained in solitary confinement is particularly heightened if they’re elderly or diabetic, and Jimmy Lai is both. So this couldn’t be a more urgent and timely discussion,” she said. Gallagher also noted the broader human rights issues and lack of democracy in Hong Kong.Hong Kong “has become a place where you can be thrown in prison for singing the wrong song, or not singing the right song, or wearing the wrong T-shirt, printing the wrong newspaper. And I think Jimmy Laiʼs case is hugely important in itself because of who he is,” Gallagher said.“Heʼs probably the worldʼs most famous political prisoner at the moment. His case is hugely important, but we think part of why theyʼve gone for Jimmy Lai is because by getting the biggest fish of all, it sends the message to the small fry across Hong Kong,” Gallagher said. "It makes very clear that their message is keep silent or youʼll be next,” Gallagher said. Xi’s visit to the U.S. offers “a particular opportunity to shine a light on this issue,” she said.](https://unitedyam.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/jimmy-lais-family-advocates-press-for-his-release-before-xi-trump-meeting-catholic-family-members-and-advocates-of-imprisoned-catholic-pro-democracy-activist-jimmy-lai-offered-urgent-pleas.jpg "Jimmy Lai’s family, advocates press for his release before Xi-Trump meeting #Catholic Family members and advocates of imprisoned Catholic pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai offered urgent pleas for his release ahead of President Xi Jinping’s planned trip to the U.S. to meet with President Donald Trump.In anticipation of Xiʼs visit to Washington on Sept. 24, Sebastien Lai, Jimmy Lai’s son, met with leaders to advocate for his father. He joined a Sept. 16 congressional hearing led by Rep. Chris Smith, R-New Jersey.“Jimmy Lai is not being imprisoned because he committed any act of violence whatsoever,” Smith, co-chair of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, said. “His son has emphasized that his father has never, never advocated violence. Rather, Jimmy Lai used his voice, his newspaper, and his public platform to support freedom and democracy,” he said. Smith said he introduced legislation Sept. 16 that would require the State Department to quickly assess any death in custody of a Hong Kong political prisoner and impose sanctions on officials found responsible. He titled the bill the “Jimmy Lai Hong Kong Political Prisoner Accountability Act of 2026.”At the hearing, Sebastien Lai offered testimony along with Steve Yates, a research fellow on China and national security policy, and Mark Clifford, president of the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation.“I want to thank America, President Trump, who has been a true champion of my fatherʼs, his administration, and the senators and members of both parties whose support has never wavered and only gotten stronger. That is moral courage, and my family does not take it for granted,” Sebastien Lai said.“By the end of this year my father will have spent six years in a maximum-security prison in solitary. At 78, he is the oldest political prisoner in Hong Kong. With a 20-year sentence looming over him, if he’s not freed soon, he will most likely die in prison,” he said. “My sister Claire was to testify beside me today. A few weeks ago, she was diagnosed with cancer,” he said. “I was with her in London last week as she began chemotherapy. My father learned of his own daughterʼs diagnosis from a maximum-security prison. He cannot hold her hand. She wants nothing more than to have him with her for this fight,“ he said.
Claire Lai, daughter of imprisoned pro-democracy activist Jimmy Lai, discusses her father’s sentencing on “EWTN News Nightly” on Feb. 9, 2026. | Credit: “EWTN News Nightly”/Screenshot
“We hope the Chinese authorities will consider what compassionate release would mean for her, and for a 78-year-old man who has already suffered enough,” he said.“America understands, in its bones, that freedom dies with the last man willing to defend it and that the cost of not standing up for liberty is not felt until it is too late,“ he said.The appeal to Xi “is simple,\" Sebastien Lai said. “My father poses no threat. His imprisonment makes him a symbol of injustice; his death in prison would be a disgrace. Let Jimmy Lai come home to his family and let him sit beside his daughter in her hardest moment.”
America understands, in its bones, that freedom dies with the last man willing to defend it and that the cost of not standing up for liberty is not felt until it is too late.”
Sebastien LaiSon of imprisoned Hong Kong media publisher and democracy advocate Jimmy Lai
Clifford, of the Washington‑based advocacy group promoting human rights in Hong Kong, spoke on behalf of his friend Jimmy Lai and to remind “people that Jimmy is just one of hundreds of political prisoners being held in often appalling conditions.”“Iʼd like to emphasize the release of Jimmy Lai would be something President Trump, Republicans and Democrats, indeed, freedom-loving people around the world would applaud,” Clifford said. “It would be a unifying event at the time when the world really needs it.”Yates said Jimmy Lai’s case is “a test of character, of Xi Jinping’s leadership, of the president’s relationship with his counterpart, and of whether there remains any credible basis for the assumptions on which American policy toward Hong Kong was long constructed.”The case is “a litmus test of whether there remains any reason to believe there is a future in Xi Jinping’s China for the kind of man Jimmy Lai is: a child of God, a lover of the real China, and, it may fairly be said, one of China’s greatest entrepreneurs,” Yates said. Lai’s health ‘is going to get worse’At a subsequent event, Sebastien Lai spoke at a press conference at Georgetown University about his father.Trump has previously met with Xi about Jimmy Lai’s case, which did not end with his release, but Sebastian Lai said he does not believe “it is a lost cause.” He said he hopes Trump raises his father’s case “again and again.”Sebastian Lai detailed his father’s health, which “hasnʼt gotten any better” while in solitary confinement.“He now has heart issues. His nails fall off. His teeth are rotting. During the summer, he bleeds all over his body because [of] his rashes,” he said.His health was especially worrisome recently because “Hong Kong just had a record summer,” Sebastien Lai said. “The heat traps in there and essentially bakes in itself. So weʼre very, very worried.”Caoilfhionn Gallagher, human rights lawyer and leader of the international legal team representing Jimmy Lai, further laid out the urgency of the case.“It’s very clear that if someone is detained in solitary confinement for an extended period of time, there is a direct ramification for their mortality,” she said.“The risk to prisoners detained in solitary confinement is particularly heightened if they’re elderly or diabetic, and Jimmy Lai is both. So this couldn’t be a more urgent and timely discussion,” she said. Gallagher also noted the broader human rights issues and lack of democracy in Hong Kong.Hong Kong “has become a place where you can be thrown in prison for singing the wrong song, or not singing the right song, or wearing the wrong T-shirt, printing the wrong newspaper. And I think Jimmy Laiʼs case is hugely important in itself because of who he is,” Gallagher said.“Heʼs probably the worldʼs most famous political prisoner at the moment. His case is hugely important, but we think part of why theyʼve gone for Jimmy Lai is because by getting the biggest fish of all, it sends the message to the small fry across Hong Kong,” Gallagher said. \"It makes very clear that their message is keep silent or youʼll be next,” Gallagher said. Xi’s visit to the U.S. offers “a particular opportunity to shine a light on this issue,” she said.")
“America understands, in its bones, that freedom dies with the last man willing to defend it and that the cost of not standing up for liberty is not felt until it is too late,” Sebastien Lai said.
