PROSPECT HEIGHTS – Four Diocese of Brooklyn Catholic schools and a church’s faith formation program were honored at the diocese’s annual World Mission Sunday Mass for their fundraising efforts to support mission dioceses worldwide.
Auxiliary Bishop Raymond Chappetto said the students — like Pope Leo XIV, who spent more than a decade as a missionary in Peru — are an inspiration.
“The children are inspirational because they want to support the work of the missionaries,” Bishop Chappetto, who celebrated the Mass, told The Tablet. “They want to give their prayers and their generosity to help the missionaries, and that’s a wonderful thing to have that instilled in them at a young age.”
Celebrated annually on the second-to-last Sunday of October, on World Mission Sunday, Catholics around the world unite in support of the missionary work of the Church, according to the Pontifical Mission Societies, the Church’s official missionary arm.
The four schools honored at the diocese’s World Mission Sunday Mass — held Oct. 19 at the Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph in Prospect Heights — were St. Bernadette Catholic Academy in Dyker Heights, St. Francis Preparatory School in Fresh Meadows, St. Joseph Catholic Academy in Long Island City, and St. Sebastian Catholic Academy in Woodside. The St. Mary Gate of Heaven Church in Ozone Park faith formation program was recognized, as well.
Bishop Chappetto said he hopes the students’ missionary zeal extends beyond the classroom.
“I would love them to be mission-minded in the actions that they perform, on behalf of others, in their daily prayers, in their classrooms,” Bishop Chappetto said. “[And] to pray and remember the missionaries who preach God’s word and bring the Gospel message to the poor and to the needy and to see that missionary spirit grow within themselves.”
St. Sebastian Catholic Academy raised the most money of any Catholic school in the diocese, with more than $7,300 raised for the Missionary Childhood Association between 2024 and 2025. For their efforts, the academy was awarded a plaque.
A part of the Pontifical Mission Societies, the Missionary Childhood Association promotes a missionary spirit in young Catholics worldwide. The money raised in schools and programs in the Diocese of Brooklyn is sent to the association’s national branch. From there, the funds are sent to Rome and distributed to mission dioceses worldwide.
Jeremy Amare, an eighth grader at St. Sebastian Catholic Academy, said it’s essential for students to live as missionaries.
“We have to follow in Pope Leo’s footsteps,” Jeremy said. “Like how he was a missionary when he was younger, how can we help the poor and help others like Jesus did?”