Evangelii Gaudium Sunday is named after Pope Francis’ first (solo) Apostolic Exhortation on the Joy of the Gospel, the day offers the Catholic community in England and Wales the opportunity to celebrate the beauty of our faith and our commitment to witness to the fullness of life in Christ.
The Catholic Church in England and Wales has celebrated Evangelii Guadium Sunday each September.
The origins of this Sunday lie in the work of the Catholic Missionary Society, created by Cardinal Bourne in 1903 and which closed in 2003. This special Sunday focused on the evangelisation work that takes place in each parish and diocese, offered a theme and resources for reflection on this Sunday and asked each parish to have a collection so that the national work of evangelisation could be supported through the Home Mission Office.
Following a restructuring of the work at the Bishops’ Conference, the Home Mission Office no longer exists, but the work of encounter and evangelisation continues through the Directorate for Mission.
Through this directorate, the vision of the Holy Father is embraced in a fuller way and promotes the whole ideal of proclamation, evangelisation, dialogue and catechesis.
The second collection of Evangelii Gaudium Sunday supports the work carried out by the Mission Directorate on behalf of the Bishops’ Conference. In the last year this has included:
