Introduction: The Cry of the New Poor in the Contemporary World

The question of poverty remains central to the Church’s missionary identity. Since the beginning of Christianity, the proclamation of the Gospel has been intimately linked with care for the poor, the marginalized, and the excluded. Yet the forms of poverty confronting the Church today differ in significant ways from those encountered in previous centuries. While economic deprivation continues to affect vast portions of humanity, contemporary societies also reveal new forms of vulnerability that challenge traditional missionary approaches.

The twenty-first century presents a striking paradox. Never before has humanity possessed such extraordinary technological capabilities, scientific knowledge, and economic resources. Communication technologies connect people across continents instantaneously. Medical advances have dramatically improved life expectancy in many parts of the world. Educational opportunities have expanded beyond anything imagined by previous generations. Yet these undeniable achievements coexist with widespread experiences of loneliness, alienation, anxiety, social fragmentation, and spiritual emptiness.

Many contemporary observers have noted that modern societies are producing new forms of poverty that cannot be measured merely in economic terms. The poor of our time include not only those who lack material necessities but also those who suffer from a lack of meaning, belonging, and hope. They include migrants uprooted from their homelands, elderly persons abandoned by family networks, young people immersed in digital connectivity yet deprived of authentic relationships, and individuals who possess material abundance but experience profound spiritual emptiness.¹

Pope Francis has repeatedly drawn attention to these realities. His pontificate has emphasized that the Church must go forth toward the existential peripheries of society, where many forms of suffering remain hidden behind the appearance of prosperity. The poor, he insists, are not merely recipients of the Church’s charitable activity but privileged interlocutors who reveal essential dimensions of the Gospel itself.

Within this context, the Franciscan tradition possesses particular significance. Eight centuries after the life of St Francis of Assisi, his witness continues to offer valuable insights for contemporary missionary reflection. Francis encountered poverty not as a social problem to be solved but as a privileged place of encounter with Christ. His response combined radical evangelical simplicity, profound solidarity with the marginalized, and an unwavering commitment to proclaiming the Gospel.

The present study seeks to explore how the Franciscan tradition can contribute to a renewed missionary response to the cry of the new poor. Particular attention will be given to the missionary dimensions of Francis’s life, the theological foundations of Franciscan mission, and the insights offered by the recent papal Messages for World Mission Sunday from 2022 to 2026. These messages, culminating in Pope Leo XIV’s presentation of St Francis as a “missionary of love,” provide an important framework for understanding the Church’s missionary vocation in the contemporary world.

The central thesis of this article is that the Franciscan charism offers a uniquely relevant missionary paradigm for addressing the multiple forms of poverty that characterize contemporary society. Through encounter, fraternity, evangelical poverty, and Christ-centered evangelization, Franciscan spirituality continues to illuminate pathways for missionary renewal in the third millennium.

1 Francis, Encyclical Fratelli Tutti (2020), nos. 18–30; Encyclical Laudato Si’ (2015), nos. 48–52.

2. St. Francis of Assisi: Encounter, Poverty and Mission

2.1 Conversion Through Encounter

The missionary vision of St Francis of Assisi cannot be understood apart from his experience of conversion. Unlike many founders whose spirituality emerged primarily through theological study or institutional reform, Francis’s spiritual journey began through a series of transformative encounters. Among these, none was more decisive than his encounter with the lepers.

In his Testament, Francis identifies this experience as the turning point of his life:

“When I was in sins, it seemed very bitter to me to see lepers. And the Lord Himself led me among them, and I showed mercy to them. And when I left them, what had seemed bitter to me was changed into sweetness of soul and body.” ²

This brief testimony reveals a profound theological insight. Francis attributes the initiative not to himself but to God: “The Lord Himself led me among them.” Mission begins not with human planning but with divine initiative. Before becoming an evangelizer, Francis had to become a disciple capable of recognizing God’s presence in those whom society rejected.

The encounter with the leper transformed not only Francis’s perception of the poor but also his understanding of God. What had previously inspired fear and revulsion become a source of grace. This experience established a pattern that would characterize his entire missionary spirituality: the discovery of Christ precisely where conventional wisdom would least expect Him.

In a contemporary context, this insight remains highly relevant. The missionary encounter with the “new poor” often requires crossing social, cultural, psychological, and spiritual boundaries. Like Francis, missionaries today are called to discover Christ in places that initially appear uncomfortable, unfamiliar, or even threatening.

2.2 The Poor as a Privileged Place of Encounter with Christ

Francis’s relationship with the poor was not motivated merely by compassion or philanthropy. Rather, it was rooted in a profoundly Christological vision. He recognized in the poor a special manifestation of the presence of Christ.

This perspective was shaped by his meditation on the Gospel, especially Christ’s identification with the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the sick, and the imprisoned in Matthew 25:31–46. For Francis, service to the poor was not simply a moral obligation; it was an encounter with Christ Himself.

Thomas of Celano, one of Francis’s earliest biographers, repeatedly emphasizes this dimension of Francis’s spirituality.³ Francis did not merely give alms to the poor. He sought their company, lived among them, and desired to share their condition. His embrace of poverty was therefore both personal and relational.

This understanding represents a significant contribution to Christian mission. The poor are not merely recipients of evangelization. They are also evangelizers. Through them, believers encounter Christ in a unique way. As Pope Francis frequently reminds the Church, the poor have much to teach us about faith, trust, hope, and dependence upon God.

2 Francis of Assisi, Testament, 1–3, in Francis of Assisi: Early Documents, vol. 1, The Saint, ed. Regis J. Armstrong, J.A. Wayne Hellmann, and William J. Short (New York: New City Press, 1999), 124.

3 Thomas of Celano, The Life of Saint Francis, I, 17, in Francis of Assisi: Early Documents, vol. 1, 196–97.

2.3 Evangelical Poverty as Missionary Freedom

One of the central themes of Franciscan spirituality is evangelical poverty. Yet this concept is often misunderstood. Francis did not embrace poverty as an end in itself, nor did he idealize human suffering. Rather, he saw poverty as a privileged means of conforming oneself to Christ and becoming available for mission.

The Incarnation itself provided the model. The Son of God chose poverty, humility, and vulnerability. Francis was deeply moved by this mystery. The poverty of Bethlehem and the poverty of the Cross became for him the supreme revelation of divine love.

Bonaventure later described Francis as one who desired to imitate “the poverty and humility of our Lord Jesus Christ.”⁴ Such imitation was not merely ascetical; it was missionary. By renouncing possessions, Francis became free to belong entirely to God and to serve others without reservation.

This missionary dimension of poverty remains particularly important today. In many societies marked by consumerism, individualism, and the pursuit of status, evangelical poverty serves as a prophetic witness. It reminds both missionaries and those they serve that authentic human fulfillment cannot be reduced to material possessions.

Moreover, evangelical poverty creates solidarity. It allows the missionary to approach the poor not from a position of superiority but from a place of shared vulnerability and fraternity.

2.4 Fraternity as the Heart of Franciscan Mission

Perhaps no concept better captures the originality of Francis’s missionary vision than fraternity.

Francis did not organize a movement primarily around preaching, social service, or ecclesiastical reform. Instead, he gathered brothers who sought to live the Gospel together. Their witness was intended to reveal a new way of relating to God, to one another, and to the world.

The Franciscan notion of fraternity extends beyond the boundaries of the religious community. Francis addressed all people as brothers and sisters because all share a common origin in God. This vision reaches its fullest expression in the Canticle of the Creatures, where even the elements of nature are embraced within a universal fraternity.⁵

Mission, therefore, is fundamentally relational. It seeks not merely to transmit information but to establish communion. The missionary becomes a brother or sister among brothers and sisters.

This aspect of Franciscan spirituality possesses particular relevance for contemporary forms of poverty characterized by loneliness, isolation, and social fragmentation. In a world where many experience profound relational poverty, fraternity itself becomes a form of evangelization.

2.5 Francis and the Universal Horizon of Mission

Although often remembered primarily as a saint of poverty and peace, Francis was also deeply missionary. His concern extended far beyond the confines of Italy or Christendom.

The clearest expression of this universal vision is his encounter with Sultan al-Malik al-Kamil during the Fifth Crusade. At a time when relations between Christians and Muslims were marked by violence and mutual suspicion, Francis crossed enemy lines to meet the Sultan.

The significance of this encounter extends beyond its historical circumstances. Francis demonstrates a missionary approach characterized by dialogue, respect, humility, and witness. He sought neither political domination nor cultural superiority. Rather, he desired to bear witness to Christ through personal encounter.⁶

4 Bonaventure, The Major Legend, VII, 1, in Francis of Assisi: Early Documents, vol. 2, ed. Regis J. Armstrong et al. (New York: New City Press, 2000), 562.

5 Francis of Assisi, Canticle of the Creatures, in Francis of Assisi: Early Documents, vol. 1, 113–14.

This episode anticipates many themes that would later become central to the Church’s missionary reflection, especially those emphasized by the Second Vatican Council regarding dialogue, religious freedom, and respectful engagement with other cultures and religions.

The universal horizon of Francis’s mission reminds the Church that the Gospel is destined for all peoples. Mission is not optional. It belongs to the very nature of the Church.

3. Theological Foundations of a Franciscan Mission to the Poor

3.1 Mission in the Mystery of the Triune God

Any authentic theology of mission must begin with God Himself. The Second Vatican Council teaches that the Church is missionary by her very nature because she originates from the mission of the Son and the mission of the Holy Spirit according to the plan of the Father (Ad Gentes, 2). Mission is therefore not primarily a human activity. It is participation in the life and action of the Triune God.

This theological principle resonates deeply with Franciscan spirituality. Francis understood his vocation as a response to God’s initiative. The God whom he encountered was not distant or abstract but actively involved in the history of salvation through the Incarnation of Christ and the continuing work of the Holy Spirit.

The missionary disciple is thus invited to enter into the divine movement of love that flows from the Father through the Son in the Holy Spirit toward all humanity.

For Francis, this divine love was revealed most clearly in the humility of the Incarnation and the self-giving of the Cross. These mysteries became the foundation of his understanding of mission.

3.2 Christological Foundations of Mission

At the center of Franciscan theology stands the person of Jesus Christ.

Francis’s writings reveal a profound fascination with the humanity of Christ. Unlike certain theological currents that emphasized Christ’s divinity almost exclusively, Francis contemplated the poverty of Bethlehem, the humility of Jesus’ earthly life, and the suffering of Calvary.

This Christological focus shaped his missionary spirituality in decisive ways. Mission meant making Christ known, loved, and followed. Yet it also meant imitating Christ’s own manner of evangelization.

Christ approaches humanity through humility rather than domination. He invites rather than compels. He serves rather than seeks privilege. Francis sought to embody these same attitudes in his own missionary activity.

This Christ-centered approach remains essential for contemporary evangelization. The Church does not proclaim an ideology, a philosophy, or a moral system. She proclaims a person: Jesus Christ, crucified and risen.⁷

The poor, moreover, occupy a privileged place within this Christological vision because Christ Himself became poor and continues to identify Himself with the poor.⁸

3.3 Mission and the Kingdom of God

A further dimension of Franciscan mission is its orientation toward the Kingdom of God.

For St Francis, the Kingdom was not merely a future reality but a present experience of God’s transforming reign. Wherever reconciliation, peace, justice, mercy, and fraternity flourished, the Kingdom became visible.

6 Francis of Assisi, Earlier Rule, XVI, in Francis of Assisi: Early Documents, vol. 1, 106–108.

7 John Paul II, Encyclical Redemptoris Missio (1990), no. 44.

8 Benedict XVI, Encyclical Deus Caritas Est (2005), no. 15.

This perspective prevents mission from being reduced either to social activism or to purely spiritual concerns. The Kingdom embraces the whole person and the whole of human life.

Consequently, Franciscan mission seeks both the proclamation of salvation and the transformation of human relationships. Evangelization and human promotion belong together because both serve the coming of God’s Kingdom. This integral vision has been strongly reaffirmed in modern Catholic missionary teaching, particularly in Evangelii Nuntiandi, Redemptoris Missio, and Evangelii Gaudium.⁹

3.4 Mission, Fraternity and Universal Brotherhood

One of the most original contributions of Franciscan spirituality to missionary theology is its understanding of fraternity. For Francis, mission was never simply about expanding the Church or increasing the number of believers. It was fundamentally about participating in God’s plan to gather humanity into one family.

The roots of this vision lie in Francis’s profound conviction that every human being is created and loved by God. This conviction enabled him to cross social, cultural, and religious boundaries. The encounter with the Sultan during the Fifth Crusade remains one of the most remarkable examples of this missionary openness. Francis approached the Muslim leader not as an enemy but as a fellow creature loved by God.

In many respects, Francis anticipated what modern missiology would later describe as dialogue, encounter, and witness. His example demonstrates that authentic evangelization never contradicts respect for the dignity and freedom of others. Rather, missionary proclamation and genuine fraternity mutually enrich one another.

This perspective has particular significance today. In a world increasingly characterized by polarization, nationalism, ideological conflict, and social fragmentation, the Franciscan witness of universal fraternity offers a powerful missionary response. The missionary is called not merely to speak about reconciliation but to embody it.

3.5 The Holy Spirit and Missionary Dynamism

The missionary life of Francis was profoundly animated by the Holy Spirit. While his writings contain relatively few systematic theological reflections on the Spirit, his entire spirituality reflects a deep openness to divine inspiration.

Francis constantly sought to discern God’s will through prayer, contemplation, and attentive listening. His missionary activity flowed not from strategic planning alone but from spiritual discernment. He understood mission as cooperation with the work already being accomplished by the Holy Spirit in human hearts.

This insight remains highly relevant for contemporary evangelization. The Church does not bring God into situations where He is absent. Rather, she recognizes and cooperates with the action of the Spirit already at work in persons, cultures, and societies.

Such an understanding fosters humility, patience, and hope. Missionaries are not the primary protagonists of evangelization. God Himself remains the principal agent of mission.

3.6 Franciscan Mission as Participation in Divine Love

Ultimately, Franciscan mission is best understood as participation in divine love. The life of Francis reveals a man progressively transformed by his experience of God’s love in Christ.

This transformation generated an outward movement toward others. Having experienced divine mercy, Francis became an instrument of mercy. Having encountered Christ, he desired that others encounter Him as well.

This missionary dynamism would later be beautifully summarized by St. Bonaventure, who described Francis as a man consumed by the desire that God’s love be known and loved. According to Franciscan tradition, one of Francis’s deepest sorrows was the realization that “Love is not loved.”

9 Cf., e.g., Paul VI, Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Nuntiandi (1975), nos. 29–31.

This phrase expresses the deepest motivation of mission. Evangelization is not primarily about institutional expansion, cultural influence, or numerical growth. It is about making known the love revealed in Jesus Christ.

4. The New Poor and the Missionary Challenge of the Twenty-First Century

4.1. Understanding the Concept of the “New Poor”

Every historical period generates its own forms of poverty. While material deprivation remains, a tragic reality affecting millions of people, contemporary societies have also produced new forms of vulnerability that demand renewed missionary attention.

The term “new poor” does not imply that traditional forms of poverty have disappeared. Rather, it recognizes that poverty today frequently manifests itself in dimensions that transcend economics.

Recent papal teaching has repeatedly emphasized that poverty must be understood in an integral manner. Human beings are not merely economic subjects; they are relational, spiritual, cultural, and existential beings. Consequently, deprivation can occur in any of these dimensions.

The new poor therefore include not only those who lack material necessities but also those who suffer from broken relationships, loss of meaning, social isolation, cultural displacement, and spiritual emptiness.

Such forms of poverty are often less visible than material deprivation, yet they can be equally destructive.

4.2 Spiritual Poverty in a Secularized World

One of the most widespread forms of poverty in contemporary societies is spiritual poverty.

Many people live as though God were absent from their lives. Secularization has weakened traditional religious practices in numerous regions of the world, particularly in societies historically shaped by Christianity.

This phenomenon has generated a paradox. Material prosperity has increased for many populations, yet experiences of anxiety, depression, loneliness, and existential uncertainty have also multiplied.

Pope Benedict XVI frequently spoke of a “dictatorship of relativism” that leaves many people without stable foundations for truth and meaning.¹⁰ Pope Francis has similarly identified spiritual emptiness as one of the defining challenges of modern culture.

From a Franciscan perspective, spiritual poverty is particularly significant because it touches the deepest dimension of the human person. Human beings are created for communion with God. When that relationship is weakened or lost, other forms of suffering often emerge.

The missionary response to spiritual poverty cannot be reduced to apologetics or doctrinal instruction alone. It requires credible witnesses whose lives reveal the joy, freedom, and hope that flow from friendship with Christ.

4.3 The Poverty of Loneliness and Isolation

Another characteristic feature of contemporary society is the growing experience of loneliness.

Paradoxically, technological advances have made communication easier than ever before while often making authentic relationships more difficult. Digital connectivity frequently coexists with emotional isolation.

Many elderly persons live alone without meaningful social support. Families experience increasing fragmentation. Young people often struggle to form stable and lasting relationships. In many urban environments, individuals can be surrounded by crowds yet remain profoundly alone.

Pope Francis has repeatedly described loneliness as one of the hidden forms of poverty affecting contemporary societies.¹¹

The Franciscan tradition offers an important response through its emphasis on fraternity. Francis understood that human beings flourish in relationships. His communities sought to embody mutual care, shared responsibility, and genuine communion.

In this sense, fraternity itself becomes missionary. To create spaces of belonging is already to proclaim something essential about the Gospel.

10 Benedict XVI, Homily at the Mass Pro Eligendo Romano Pontifice, 18 April 2005.

11 Francis, Fratelli Tutti, nos. 87–94.

4.4 Migrants, Refugees and the Experience of Displacement

The contemporary world is witnessing unprecedented levels of human mobility. Millions of people are displaced by war, persecution, economic hardship, environmental degradation, and political instability.

Migrants and refugees often experience multiple forms of poverty simultaneously. They may lose their homes, livelihoods, cultural identities, social networks, and sense of security. For many, migration involves profound psychological and spiritual suffering.¹²

The Franciscan tradition offers a particularly meaningful response to this reality. Francis himself embraced a life of pilgrimage and itinerancy. His spirituality recognizes the human condition as fundamentally one of journeying toward God.

Moreover, Francis’s emphasis on hospitality, fraternity, and openness to strangers provides important resources for contemporary pastoral responses to migration.

The migrant is not merely a social issue to be managed but a brother or sister to be welcomed.

4.5 Young People and the Crisis of Meaning

Among the most significant manifestations of contemporary poverty is the crisis of meaning experienced by many young people. Despite unprecedented educational opportunities and technological resources, numerous young adults struggle with questions of identity, purpose, and vocation. Rates of anxiety, depression, and hopelessness have risen dramatically in many societies. This phenomenon points toward what may be called existential poverty.

Pope Francis frequently encourages young people to dream, to hope, and to discover their vocation within God’s plan. His concern reflects the recognition that many contemporary youths suffer not from material deprivation but from a lack of direction and purpose.¹³

The Franciscan tradition offers a compelling response through its emphasis on vocation, discipleship, and joyful witness. Francis himself was a young man searching for meaning when he encountered Christ. His journey demonstrates that authentic fulfillment is found not in self-centered achievement but in self-giving love.

4.6 Ecological Poverty and Integral Ecology

The ecological crisis has generated new forms of poverty that disproportionately affect vulnerable populations.

Environmental degradation, climate-related disasters, desertification, water scarcity, and biodiversity loss frequently impact the poor most severely. Entire communities face displacement or economic hardship as a result of environmental changes.

Pope Francis’s encyclical Laudato Si’ highlights the intimate connection between care for creation and care for the poor.¹⁴

This perspective resonates deeply with the Franciscan worldview. Francis’s love for creation was never sentimental. Rather, it reflected his recognition that all creatures are interconnected within God’s loving plan.

A Franciscan missionary response to ecological poverty therefore involves both environmental responsibility and solidarity with those most affected by ecological degradation.

4.7 The Missionary Implications of the New Poverty

The emergence of these new forms of poverty requires a renewed missionary approach.

Traditional charitable responses remain essential, particularly where material deprivation persists. However, contemporary mission must also address spiritual, relational, cultural, and existential needs.

This requires an integral vision of evangelization that unites proclamation, service, accompaniment, dialogue, and community-building.

The Franciscan tradition offers valuable resources for such an approach. Its emphasis on encounter, fraternity, simplicity, contemplation, and missionary witness speaks directly to many of the forms of poverty that characterize contemporary societies.

The new poor challenge the Church not merely to do more but to become more deeply missionary. They invite Christians to rediscover the Gospel as a source of hope, communion, and authentic human flourishing.

12 Cf. Francis, Message for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees 2023.

13 Francis, Apostolic Exhortation Christus Vivit (2019), nos. 69–84.

14 Francis, Laudato Si’, nos. 137–162.

Indeed, as St. Francis discovered through his encounter with the leper, the poor are not only recipients of mission. They are often the privileged place where missionaries themselves encounter Christ and experience conversion.

5. Missionary Conversion in the World Mission Sunday Messages (2022–2026)

5.1 Missionary Renewal in a Time of Global Transformation

The annual Messages for World Mission Sunday offer an important lens through which to understand the contemporary missionary priorities of the Church. While each message responds to particular circumstances, together they form a coherent vision of missionary renewal that is particularly relevant for addressing the realities of the new poor.

The period from 2022 to 2026 has been marked by profound global challenges: the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, armed conflicts, forced migration, growing social inequalities, environmental crises, and increasing secularization in many parts of the world. Against this backdrop, the messages of Pope Francis and Pope Leo XIV present mission not as an optional ecclesial activity but as the very expression of the Church’s identity.

A common thread runs through all these messages: the conviction that every baptized person is called to missionary discipleship and that mission begins with a personal encounter with Christ. This perspective resonates deeply with the Franciscan tradition, where mission flows from conversion, encounter, and a transformed relationship with God.

5.2 World Mission Sunday 2022: “You Shall Be My Witnesses”

The theme chosen by Pope Francis for World Mission Sunday 2022, “You shall be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8), places witness at the center of evangelization.

The Pope recalls that the Church’s missionary mandate originates in the final words of the Risen Christ before the Ascension. The disciples are sent to the ends of the earth not primarily as teachers, administrators, or organizers, but as witnesses.¹⁵

This emphasis is profoundly Franciscan. St Francis never considered himself a great theologian or strategist. The effectiveness of his mission lay above all in the authenticity of his witness. His life itself became a living proclamation of the Gospel.

The emphasis on witness is particularly important in relation to the new poor. Many contemporary men and women are skeptical of institutions, ideologies, and abstract religious discourse. What often speaks most powerfully is the credibility of lived faith.

The poor, especially those wounded by disappointment, exclusion, or spiritual emptiness, are often searching not merely for explanations but for witnesses who embody hope.

Francis of Assisi remains one of the Church’s most convincing witnesses precisely because his words and actions were inseparable.

5.3 World Mission Sunday 2023: Hearts on Fire, Feet on the Move

The 2023 Message, inspired by the disciples on the road to Emmaus (Lk 24:13-35), presents mission as the fruit of an encounter with the Risen Lord.

Pope Francis highlights three moments in the Emmaus narrative: hearts burning, eyes opened, and feet set in motion. These stages correspond to a process of missionary conversion. First, the disciples experience the presence of Christ who walks beside them even in their confusion and discouragement. Their hearts begin to burn as He explains the Scriptures. Second, their eyes are opened in the breaking of the bread. Finally, they return immediately to Jerusalem to share the good news.¹⁶

This dynamic closely parallels the experience of St Francis. His missionary vocation emerged not from a predetermined plan but from an encounter that transformed his heart. Like the disciples of Emmaus, he discovered that Christ had been walking with him even when he did not fully recognize Him.

15 Francis, Message for World Mission Day 2022, “You Shall Be My Witnesses” (Acts 1:8).

16 Francis, Message for World Mission Day 2023, “Hearts on Fire, Feet on the Move.”

For the Church today, the Emmaus story offers important insights regarding the new poor. Many people live in situations of disappointment, uncertainty, and loss of meaning. The missionary response begins by walking with them, listening to their experiences, and helping them recognize the presence of Christ already active in their lives.

This approach reflects a deeply Franciscan style of mission characterized by proximity, accompaniment, and patient dialogue.

5.4 World Mission Sunday 2024: “Go and Invite Everyone to the Banquet”

The theme of the 2024 Message highlights the universal character of God’s invitation.

Drawing upon the parable of the wedding banquet (Mt 22:1-14), Pope Francis emphasizes that mission consists in extending God’s invitation to all people without exception. Particularly significant is the Pope’s insistence that no one should be excluded from the Church’s missionary concern. The Gospel is destined for everyone, especially those who find themselves at the margins of society.¹⁷

This perspective has strong Franciscan resonances. Francis’s embrace of lepers, outcasts, and the poor reflected his conviction that no one falls outside God’s love.

The invitation to the banquet is especially meaningful in relation to contemporary forms of exclusion. Many of the new poor experience rejection, invisibility, or social marginalization. They may feel excluded not only from economic opportunities but also from relationships, communities, and sources of meaning.

Missionary disciples are therefore called to become instruments of God’s inclusive love.

The image of the banquet also evokes an ecclesiology of communion. The Church is not merely a structure or institution but a community gathered by God’s invitation. Mission seeks to expand this communion by welcoming all peoples into the family of God.

5.5 World Mission Sunday 2025: Missionaries of Hope Among the Peoples

The Message for 2025 places hope at the center of missionary activity. This emphasis is particularly significant in a world marked by uncertainty, conflict, and widespread discouragement. The Church is called to be a sign and instrument of hope precisely where hope appears absent.

Pope Francis identifies hope not as optimism or wishful thinking but as confidence rooted in God’s promises and in the Resurrection of Christ.¹⁸

The theme has special relevance for the new poor. As previously noted, many contemporary forms of poverty are characterized by hopelessness. Individuals suffering from loneliness, addiction, displacement, unemployment, depression, or spiritual emptiness often struggle to envision a meaningful future.

A Franciscan reading of this theme highlights the joyful character of Christian hope. Francis’s life radiated joy even amid suffering and deprivation because his hope was rooted in God’s love.

Missionaries of hope therefore do more than offer encouragement. They bear witness to the transformative power of Christ’s Resurrection.

Their task is to help others discover that no situation is beyond the reach of God’s mercy and that every human life possesses infinite dignity and purpose.

5.6 World Mission Sunday 2026: One in Christ, United in Mission

The Message of Pope Leo XIV for World Mission Sunday 2026 represents both continuity and development within recent missionary teaching.

The theme, “One in Christ, United in Mission,” emphasizes that Christian mission flows from communion with Christ and communion among believers. The Pope recalls Jesus’ prayer in John 17, where the Lord asks the Father that His disciples may be one so that the world may believe. Mission and unity are therefore inseparable.¹⁹

This theme possesses profound significance in a world increasingly marked by division, polarization, and fragmentation. Contemporary forms of poverty frequently include relational and social breakdown. Individuals suffer not only because they lack resources but because they lack belonging.

17 Francis, Message for World Mission Day 2024, “Go and Invite Everyone to the Banquet.”

18 Francis, Message for World Mission Day 2025, “Missionaries of Hope Among All Peoples.”

19 Leo XIV, Message for World Mission Day 2026, “One in Christ, United in Mission.”

Against this reality, the Church is called to become a visible sign of communion.

The Franciscan tradition offers a powerful witness in this regard. Fraternity lies at the very heart of Francis’s vision. His dream was not merely to create a religious order but to establish communities where the Gospel could be lived through mutual love and service.

The missionary implications are clear. Evangelization cannot be reduced to individual initiatives. It is fundamentally ecclesial. Missionaries are sent not as isolated agents but as members of a community united in Christ.

5.7 A Special Emphasis: St Francis as a “Missionary of Love”

One of the most noteworthy aspects of Pope Leo XIV’s Message for World Mission Sunday 2026 is his presentation of St Francis as a “missionary of love.” This description offers a key for understanding both Francis’s life and the Church’s missionary vocation today.

Let’s read again Pope Leo’s teaching in this regard:

Mission to love – Proclaiming, living and sharing God’s faithful love

If unity is the condition of mission, love is its essence. The Good News that we are sent to proclaim to the world is not an abstract ideal; it is the Gospel of God’s faithful love, which became flesh in the face and life of Jesus Christ.

The mission of the disciples and the Church as a whole is to continue the mission of Christ in the Holy Spirit: a mission born of love, lived in love, and leading to love. In fact, the Lord himself, in his great prayer to the Father before his Passion, after invoking unity among his disciples, concludes: “so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them” (Jn 17:26). Impelled by the love of Christ, the Apostles then went out to evangelize for Christ (cf. 2 Cor 5:14). In the same way, throughout the centuries, multitudes of Christians — martyrs, confessors and missionaries — have given their lives to make this divine love known to the world. Thus, guided by the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of love, the Church’s evangelizing mission will continue until the end of time.

I would like to express my special gratitude to today’s ad gentes missionaries. Like Saint Francis Xavier, they have left their homeland, their families and all sense of security in order to proclaim the Gospel and bring Christ and his love to places that are often challenging, poor, conflict-ridden or culturally distant. Despite adversity and human limitations, they continue to give themselves joyfully, because they know that Christ himself, and his Gospel, are the greatest treasures we can offer. Through their perseverance, they demonstrate that God’s love transcends all barriers. The world still needs these courageous witnesses of Christ, and ecclesial communities still need new missionary vocations. We must always keep them close to our hearts and continually pray to the Father for them. May he grant us the gift of young people and adults who are willing to leave everything behind to follow Christ on the path of evangelization even to the ends of the earth!

Filled with admiration for men and women missionaries, I make a special appeal to the whole Church to join them in the mission of evangelization through the witness of our lives in Christ, through prayer and through our contributions to the missions. As Saint Francis of Assisi said, “Love is not loved,” and we look to him in a special way on the eight hundredth anniversary of his passing to heaven. Let us find inspiration in his desire to live in the love of the Lord and to transmit it to those both near and far, because, as he said, “this love Who hath loved us much is much to be loved” (Saint Bonaventure of Bagnoregio, The Life of Saint Francis, chap. IX, 1; Fonti Francescane, 1161).

This is highly significant. Why Francis? Because he unites: love of Christ, love of the Church, love of the poor, and missionary outreach. Francis demonstrates that authentic mission is not ideological expansion, but irradiating divine love. Love was the source, method, and goal of Francis’s mission. His encounter with Christ awakened in him an overwhelming awareness of divine love. This experience transformed his relationship with God, with other people, and with creation itself. His missionary activity flowed naturally from this transformation. Francis preached because he had encountered Love. He embraced the poor because he recognized in them the beloved children of God. He crossed cultural and religious boundaries because divine love knows no borders.

20 Leo XIV, Message for World Mission Day 2026.

For contemporary mission, this perspective is crucial. The Church’s response to the new poor must ultimately be rooted in love. Programs, structures, and strategies are important, but they remain secondary. What transforms lives is the experience of being loved by God and welcomed into a community of love. The figure of Francis therefore emerges as remarkably relevant for the Church of the third millennium. His witness demonstrates that authentic mission is not primarily about efficiency or expansion. It is about making visible the love of God revealed in Jesus Christ.

5.8 A Synthesis of the Five Messages

When considered together, the Messages from 2022 to 2026 reveal a coherent process of missionary renewal.

The Church is called:

• to be a witness (2022);

• to encounter Christ and walk with others (2023);

• to invite everyone without exclusion (2024);

• to become a sign of hope (2025);

• and to live communion in mission (2026).

These themes correspond remarkably well to the essential elements of Franciscan spirituality.

Witness, encounter, fraternity, hope, and love constitute not only recurring themes in recent papal teaching but also fundamental dimensions of Francis’s own missionary experience.

For this reason, the Franciscan tradition offers valuable resources for the Church’s response to the new poor. It provides not merely practical methods but a spiritual vision capable of addressing the deepest forms of poverty affecting contemporary humanity.

6. Toward a Franciscan Missionary Response to the New Poor

6.1 From Assistance to Encounter

The Franciscan response to the new poor begins with a fundamental shift of perspective. While material assistance remains indispensable, Franciscan mission cannot be reduced to charitable service alone. The example of St Francis teaches that the poor are not merely recipients of aid but privileged places of encounter with Christ.

This conviction challenges a tendency, sometimes present in modern societies, to approach poverty primarily through administrative, economic, or technical solutions. Such approaches are often necessary and beneficial, yet they remain incomplete if they fail to address the deeper dimensions of the human person.

Francis did not merely help lepers; he encountered them. He did not simply provide assistance; he entered into relationship. The missionary significance of this distinction is profound. The poor are not objects of mission but subjects with whom missionaries enter into communion.

Pope Francis repeatedly emphasizes the importance of a “culture of encounter.” Such a culture requires listening, presence, patience, and genuine openness to others. In a world increasingly shaped by efficiency and productivity, the simple act of accompanying another person can become a powerful form of evangelization.²¹

This approach is especially important when dealing with contemporary forms of poverty such as loneliness, social exclusion, and existential despair. These wounds cannot be healed solely through material assistance. They require human presence, friendship, and communion.

6.2 Evangelical Poverty as a Prophetic Witness

A second dimension of the Franciscan response concerns the witness of evangelical poverty itself.

21 Francis, Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium (2013), nos. 220–221.

The modern world often measures success in terms of wealth, consumption, productivity, and personal achievement. Such values frequently contribute to the spiritual and existential forms of poverty that characterize contemporary societies.

Against this background, the Franciscan embrace of simplicity possesses renewed missionary significance.

Evangelical poverty does not imply the rejection of material goods as such. Rather, it involves freedom from possessiveness and the recognition that all things are gifts received from God and intended for the common good.

This witness is urgently needed today. Many people experience exhaustion from the relentless pursuit of success and consumption. The Franciscan way proposes an alternative vision centered on gratitude, simplicity, relationships, and trust in divine providence.

Such a witness can become particularly attractive to younger generations who often question materialistic models of happiness and seek more authentic forms of life.

The missionary relevance of evangelical poverty therefore extends far beyond economic issues. It offers a countercultural testimony capable of addressing some of the deepest spiritual needs of contemporary society.

6.3 Fraternity as a Missionary Paradigm

One of the most valuable contributions of Franciscan spirituality to contemporary mission is its understanding of fraternity.

The modern world experiences an increasing fragmentation of social relationships. Political polarization, cultural conflicts, ethnic tensions, and growing individualism frequently undermine social cohesion. Many persons experience profound loneliness even within highly populated urban environments.

The Franciscan vision of fraternity offers a powerful response to these realities.

For Francis, fraternity was not merely a practical arrangement for communal life. It was a theological reality rooted in God’s fatherhood and the universal dignity of all human beings. Because all are created by God and redeemed in Christ, all are called to become brothers and sisters.

This vision has significant missionary implications.

Mission is not simply about transmitting religious truths. It is about creating spaces where communion becomes possible. Christian communities are called to become signs of reconciliation and schools of fraternity.

Pope Francis’s encyclical Fratelli Tutti further develops this insight by proposing universal fraternity as a path toward peace and social renewal.²² In many respects, the document can be read as a contemporary expression of Franciscan spirituality.

For the new poor, who often suffer from isolation and exclusion, the experience of belonging to a community may itself become a transformative encounter with the Gospel.

6.4 Integral Evangelization: Charity and Proclamation

The history of Christian mission has sometimes witnessed tensions between social service and evangelization. Some approaches have emphasized proclamation at the expense of concrete charity, while others have focused almost exclusively on humanitarian action.

The Franciscan tradition offers a more integrated vision. Francis cared for the bodily needs of the poor while simultaneously proclaiming Christ. These two dimensions were never separated in his life. Modern missionary teaching strongly reaffirms this perspective. Pope Paul VI’s Evangelii Nuntiandi insists that evangelization includes both the proclamation of salvation and the transformation of human realities. St John Paul II’s Redemptoris Missio similarly emphasizes the inseparable relationship between witness, proclamation, and human promotion.

Pope Francis continues this tradition by insisting that the Church must go forth toward the peripheries while never neglecting the centrality of Jesus Christ. The new poor require precisely this integral approach.

The hungry need food. The homeless need shelter. Migrants need protection. The lonely need companionship. But all also need hope, meaning, forgiveness, and the saving encounter with Christ. Authentic Franciscan mission seeks to respond to the whole person.

22 Francis, Fratelli Tutti, nos. 1–8.

6.5 Missionary Presence Among the New Poor

A particularly important characteristic of Franciscan mission is presence. Francis did not remain distant from those he served. He chose to live among the poor, share their conditions, and accompany them in daily life.

This principle remains highly relevant today. The new poor often inhabit places that are not immediately visible. They may be found in urban neighborhoods, refugee camps, hospitals, prisons, universities, digital environments, or even affluent societies marked by spiritual emptiness. Missionary presence requires entering these realities with humility and compassion. Such presence is not passive. It involves attentive listening, discernment, and a willingness to recognize God’s action within complex human situations.

In this sense, missionaries become companions on the journey rather than mere providers of solutions. The Emmaus paradigm highlighted by Pope Francis in the 2023 World Mission Sunday Message illustrates this approach beautifully. Like the Risen Christ, missionaries are called to walk with others, listen to their stories, illuminate their experiences through the Gospel, and help them recognize God’s presence in their lives, particularly with His Word and His transforming grace through the sacraments of the Church.

6.6 Formation for Missionary Discipleship

A renewed missionary response to the new poor also requires renewed formation.

The challenges facing contemporary mission are increasingly complex. Missionaries must be capable of engaging diverse cultures, responding to new social realities, and addressing forms of poverty that often involve psychological, spiritual, and existential dimensions.

For this reason, missionary formation cannot be limited to technical skills or pastoral methods. Franciscan tradition emphasizes the integration of contemplation and action, prayer and service, theological reflection and pastoral practice.

Missionaries must first become disciples. They must cultivate a deep relationship with Christ through prayer, Scripture, the Eucharist, and the sacramental life of the Church. Without such spiritual foundations, missionary activity risks becoming mere activism.

The Pontifical Missionary Union, founded by Blessed Paolo Manna and described by Saint Paul VI as “the soul of the Pontifical Mission Societies,”²³ has a particularly important role in this regard. Through missionary animation and formation, it contributes to the development of a missionary consciousness among clergy, religious, and laity alike.

In the context of the new poor, such formation must include not only theological and spiritual dimensions but also sensitivity to contemporary social realities.

6.7 The Eucharistic Source of Mission

At the heart of Franciscan spirituality lies a profound love for the Eucharist. Francis recognized the Eucharist as the privileged place of encounter with Christ. It was there that he contemplated the humility of God, who continues to give Himself for the life of the world.²⁴

This Eucharistic spirituality has profound missionary implications. Mission originates in communion with Christ. Before being sent, disciples must first receive. The Eucharist forms believers into a missionary people by drawing them into Christ’s self-giving love. It teaches them to become bread broken for others.

In a world marked by division and fragmentation, the Eucharist also reveals the possibility of genuine communion. It gathers diverse peoples into one body and anticipates the universal fraternity toward which mission ultimately tends.

For this reason, a Franciscan response to the new poor must remain deeply Eucharistic. The service of the poor and the proclamation of the Gospel flow from the same mystery of divine love made present in the Eucharist.

Conclusion

The emergence of the new poor constitutes one of the most urgent missionary challenges facing the Church in the twenty-first century. While material poverty continues to demand attention and action, contemporary societies also reveal widespread forms of spiritual, relational, cultural, ecological, and existential deprivation.

The life and spirituality of St Francis of Assisi offer a remarkably relevant response to these realities. His encounter with the leper, his embrace of evangelical poverty, his commitment to fraternity, and his missionary passion provide enduring principles for Christian discipleship and evangelization.

The recent World Mission Sunday Messages from 2022 to 2026 further illuminate this path. Their emphasis on witness, encounter, invitation, hope, communion, and love reflects many of the central themes of Franciscan spirituality. Particularly significant is Pope Leo XIV’s presentation of St Francis as a “missionary of love,” a description that captures the essence of Francis’s life and mission.

The Franciscan response to the new poor is therefore neither merely social nor exclusively spiritual. It seeks to unite charity and proclamation, service and contemplation, justice and evangelization. It recognizes that the deepest human need is ultimately the need for God, while also acknowledging the concrete conditions that affect human dignity and flourishing.

In every age, the poor reveal something essential about the Gospel. As Francis discovered, they are not simply those to whom the Church is sent; they are often those through whom the Church herself is evangelized and renewed.²⁵

For this reason, the cry of the new poor must be heard not only as a challenge but also as a grace. It is an invitation to missionary conversion, a call to rediscover the heart of the Gospel, and an opportunity to witness anew to the transforming love of Christ.

Eight centuries after the life of the Poverello of Assisi, his example continues to inspire the Church to go forth with humility, joy, and courage, proclaiming by word and deed that every human person is loved by God and called to share in the fullness of life revealed in Jesus Christ. Thus, the Franciscan response to the cry of the new poor is clear: not only to share material bread, but also and above all to share the Bread of Life, Jesus Christ Himself, because the poor need not only assistance, but hope, dignity, communion, and salvation. And this is the deepest meaning of Franciscan mission: to become, like St Francis, missionaries of love.

Let’s conclude then with Pope Leo’s final exhortation and prayer from his Message for World Mission Day 2026:

Inspired by these testimonies, let us all commit to contributing to the great mission of evangelization — which is always a work of love —according to our own vocation and the gifts we have received. Your prayers and practical support, particularly on World Mission Day, will be a great help in bringing the Gospel of God’s love to everyone, especially the poorest and those most in need. Every gift, no matter how small, becomes a meaningful act of missionary communion. I renew my heartfelt gratitude “for everything you will do to help me help missionaries throughout the world” (Video Message for World Mission Day 2025, 19 October 2025). To foster spiritual communion, I give you my blessing with this simple prayer:

Holy Father, make us one in Christ, rooted in his love that unites and renews. May all members of the Church be united in mission, docile to the Holy Spirit, courageous in bearing witness to the Gospel, proclaiming and daily embodying your faithful love for all creatures.

Bless all missionary men and women, support them in their efforts, and watch over them in hope!

Mary, Queen of Missions, accompany our work of evangelization in every corner of the earth: make us instruments of peace, and grant that the whole world may recognize in Christ the light that saves. Amen.

(Anh Nhue OFMConv is the Secretary General of the Pontifical Missionary Union Dicastery for Evangelization, Section for the First Evangelization and New Particular Churches.)

25 Francis, Message for the Fifth World Day of the Poor (2021), “The poor evangelize us.”