Issuu

2026.05.12 - TPMS WMS 2026 -Nigeria Poster Print.pdf

12/5/26

5:38 PM

Father Jean Felicien, diocesan chancellor, and Father Peter James Alindogan, diocesan missions director, are shown during a missions visit to Madagascar.

CMY

World Mission Sunday 2026 October 18th Last year your gift helped:

Form 41% of seminarians worldwide

Build 751 new churches

Sustain over 1,130 mission territories

Educate 843,785 mission catechists

Support 50% of all religious sisters worldwide

Courtesy photo

GIVE BY TEXT “MISSIONS26” TO 53555

PONTIFICALMISSIONS.ORG graphic

A message from Bishop O’Connell Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

oday, as we celebrate World Mission Sunday, I want to speak to you personally about something very close to the heart of the Church–and very close to my heart as your Bishop: our responsibility to share Jesus Christ with the world. A Message from

BISHOP DAVID M. O’CONNELL, C.M. Before He ascended into heaven, Jesus entrusted His disciples with a mission: “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations” (Mt 28:19). That mission did not end with the Apostles. It has been handed down from generation to generation, and today it has been entrusted to you and me.

There are still billions of people in our world who have never truly encountered Christ. In many places, the Church is only beginning to take root. Priests travel great distances to celebrate Mass. Religious sisters serve the sick and poor with very limited resources. Catechists bring the faith to remote villages. Seminarians prepare for priesthood in communities that can barely afford to support them. These are the people we help on World Mission Sunday. This year is particularly meaningful because we celebrate the 100th anniversary of World Mission Sunday. Pope Leo XIV has chosen the theme “One in Christ, United in Mission.” I find those words especially appropriate. We may live on different continents and speak different languages, but through Baptism we belong to one family. Their joys are our joys. Their struggles are our strug-

gles. Their mission is our mission. This year also has special meaning for us because of the beatification of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, one of the great missionary voices of the American Church. Although millions knew him through television and his books, Sheen once said, “My greatest love has always been for the missions of the Church.” For 16 years, he led The Pontifical Mission Societies in the United States and devoted himself tirelessly to supporting missionaries throughout the world. How wonderful that, on this centennial World Mission Sunday, we can now ask Blessed Fulton J. Sheen to pray with us and for us. Pope Leo XIV understands the missionary Church in a deeply personal way as well. He spent many years of his priestly ministry serving as a missionary in Peru. He knows what it means

October 2026

Continued on 32



THE MONITOR MAGAZINE 29

5 PM

:25 PM

m 41% of narians ldwide rm 41% of minarians orldwide

2026World OFFICE OF MISSIONS DONATION Mission Sunday

World Mission SundayMISSION CITY, PARISH eace! ThisMission year, World Mission Sunday has become World Sunday SUNDAY especially personal for me. October 18th, 2026 World Mission Sunday October 18th, 2026 On September 20, I had the2026 extraordinary privilege October 18th, ofOctober serving as homilist at the Cathedral of St. Mary in Peoria, Allentown • St. John $2,469 $4,429 18th, 2026 Asbury Park • Mother of Mercy $3,542 $4,101 $867 164 Illinois, for the 107th anniversary of the priestly ordination of

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

CMY

Missionary School Year 2025-2026 Cooperation October 2025 Plan 2025* Schools Rel. Ed.

“Let us be charitable about the missions,

“Let us be charitable about the missions, remembering that the Lord who said: ‘Go “Let us be charitable about the missions, Atlantic Highlands • Our Lady of Perpetual Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, just four daysremembering before his beatificathat the Lord who said: ‘Go teach all nations’ is the same Lord who remembering that the about Lord who ‘Go “Let us be charitable the said: missions, Agnes $2,379 $3,005 tion.allItnations’ was in that very cathedral was a same LordHelp-St. teach all ordained nations’ is the who bewailed: ‘I have mercy on the multitudes.‘” teach is the who ‘Go that Sheen remembering that thesame LordLord who said: Barnegat • St. Mary $2,863 $12,298 $0 priest in 1919, and today his earthly remains rest there. bewailed: ‘I have mercy on the multitudes.‘” — Blessed Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen bewailed: have mercy the Lord multitudes.‘” teach all ‘Inations’ is theon same who Y

CMY

Bay Head • Sacred Heart

$1,960

$8,332

in thatoncathedral and preaching so— close to Archbishop his Blessed Fulton J. Sheen —Standing Blessed Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen bewailed: ‘I have mercy the multitudes.‘” National Director Bayville • St. Barnabas $3,232 $10,203 National Director National Director tomb was an experience I will carry with me for a long time. The Pontifical Mission Societies USA — Blessed Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen Belmar • St. Rose $5,725 $225 The Pontifical Mission Societies USA (1950 – 1966) $8,420 The the Pontifical Mission Societies USA I had admired Archbishop Sheen long before I entered National Director Beverly • Jesus, the Good Shepherd $2,422 $2,653 (1950 – 1966) (1950 – 1966) Pontifical Mission USA seminary.The I listened to hisSocieties talks, watched his conferences, and Bordentown • Mary, Mother of the Church $1,820 $3,264 $501 (1950 – 1966) K

$1,964

was captivated by his ability to speak about Christ with such Bradley Beach • St. Teresa of Calcutta $4,519 $7,839 clarity, conviction, and joy. When I was first invited to preach, Brick • Epiphany $483 $2,376 GIVE BY TEXT my immediate response was simply: “Why me?” BY TEXT $816 Brick • Visitation $1,818 GIVE $4,635 GIVE After being there, however, I found myself asking a different “MISSIONS26” BrickBY • St.TEXT Dominic $4,033 “MISSIONS26” $3,866 $613 $469 TO 53555 “MISSIONS26” question: “What is God asking of me through this?” $1,300 $1,380 Browns Mills • St. Ann TO 53555 TO 53555 Perhaps part of the answer lies in something about ArchBurlington • St. Katharine Drexel $640 $1,972 $243 Cinnaminson • St. Charles Borromeo $1,750 $2,572 $218 $927 bishop Sheen that is sometimes overshadowed by his fame as a Last year Colts Neck • St. Mary $2,500 $4,525 $129 preacherLast and year television personality. He once said, “My greatest your gift Form 41% of Sustain Train 843,785 Support 50% Build Sustain Train 843,785 Support 50% Build • Resurrection $860 always been for the missions Church.” For 16seminarians Delran 1,130 mission missionary of all religious$3,306 751 new 1,130 mission missionary of all religious of thehelped: 751 new love has your gift worldwide catechists sisters worldwide Formsisters 41% ofworldwide Build Sustain Train 843,785 churches Support 50% dioceses dioceses catechists churches Sustain Train 843,785 Support 50% Build Eatontown • Immaculate Conception NC NC years, from 1950 to 1966, he served as National Director of the seminarians 1,130 mission missionary of all religious 751 new 1,130helped: mission missionary of all religious 751 new dioceses catechistsEatontown sisters worldwide churches catechistsworldwide sisters worldwide churches • St. Dorothea $330 $3,844 $150 Society dioceses for the Propagation of the Faith, using his remarkable Ewing • Incarnation-St. James $475 $1,500 $145 gifts to awaken the missionary spirit of American Catholics and Fair Haven • Nativity $3,964 $15,323 $5,333 support the Church’s missions throughout the world. Farmingdale • St. Catherine of Siena $1,180 $2,008 $168 As Diocesan Mission Director, that part of his life speaks Forked River • St. Pius X $2,707 $5,100 $756 very personally to me—especially this year. Freehold • St. Robert Bellarmine On October 18, we celebrate the 100th anniversary of World Co-Cathedral $5,226 $10,316 $25 Mission Sunday, an observance Archbishop Sheen champiFreehold • St. Rose of Lima $2,389 $7,226 $0 $378 oned during his years of national missionary leadership. For Hainesport • Our Lady Queen of Peace $2,609 $5,697 $328 him, World Mission Sunday was never simply about taking up $5,899 $728 $786 Hamilton • Our Lady of Sorrows-St. Anthony $1,531 © Vatican Media

Continued on 32

Father Alindogan is shown with the religious sisters in Madagascar before a 10,000 Sunday Mass crowd at a school gymnasium. Courtesy photo

30 THE MONITOR MAGAZINE



October 2026

Hamilton • St. Gregory the Great Hamilton • St. Raphael-Holy Angels Hightstown • St. Anthony of Padua Holmdel • St. Benedict Holmdel • St. Catharine Hopewell • St. Alphonsus Howell • St. Veronica Howell • St. William the Abbot Jackson • St. Aloysius Jackson • St. Monica Keansburg • St. Ann Keyport • Holy Family Keyport • Our Lady of Fatima Lakehurst • St. John Lakewood • Our Lady of Guadalupe Lavallette • St. Pio of Pietrelcina Lawrenceville • St. Ann/St. Michael Lincroft • St. Leo the Great Little Egg Harbor • St. Theresa Long Beach Twp. • St. Francis of Assisi Long Branch • Christ the King

$5,682 $1,214 $2,454 $1,644 $8,208 $842 $6,224 $1,154 $12,747 $324 $1,044 $1,879 $1,138 $2,385 $4,652 $1,612 $759 $2,403 $3,903 $7,478 $3,812

$10,537 $466 $4,446 $0 $3,000 $105 $7,507 $1,599 $28,712 $1,132 $2,042 $5,522 $315 $3,739 $9,645 $2,473 $179 $1,542 $2,909 $222 NP $3,434 $59 $8,329 $1,794 $8,252 $6,219 $431 $809 $6,198 $0 $635 $5,251 NC $9,564

World Mission Sunday October 18th, 2026 C

REPORT

* Partial or total collection remitted after 12-31-2025 | NC-No collection held CY

CMY

CITY, PARISH

MISSION Missionary School Year SUNDAY Cooperation 2025-2026

October 2025 Plan 2025* Schools Rel. Ed.

Manalapan • St. Thomas More $5,803 $7,161 Manasquan • St. Denis $2,782 $3,994 Maple Shade • Our Lady of Perpetual Help $986 $4,314 Marlboro • St. Gabriel $711 $5,193 Last year Marlton • St. Isaac Jogues $1,975 $3,912 your gift Form 41% of worldwide Marlton • St. Joan of Arc $4,395 $12,983 helped:$0 seminarians Matawan • St. Clement $1,049 $4,108 $406 Medford • St. Mary of the Lakes $3,376 $6,719 $837 $2,856 Middletown • St. Catherine Laboure $4,903 $5,020 $375 Middletown • St. Mary $2,791 NP $1,353 $863 Millstone Township • St. Joseph $1,481 $5,220 Monmouth Beach • Precious Blood $462 $3,348 $300 Moorestown • Our Lady of Good Counsel $2,172 $8,048 $3,309 $415 Mount Holly • Sacred Heart $918 $11,023 $472 $412 Mount Laurel • St. John Neumann $1,522 $4,613 Neptune • Holy Innocents $2,219 $3,023 $187 New Egypt • St. Isidore the Farmer $1,333 $4,954 Pennington • St. James $2,293 $2,728 $400 Point Pleasant Beach • St. Peter $2,733 $7,977 $872 Point Pleasant • St. Martha $5,904 $10,941 $3,016 Princeton Junction • St. David the King $500 $21,085 Princeton • St. Paul $4,432 $6,026 $0 $2,097 Red Bank • St. Anthony of Padua $2,956 $15,155 Red Bank • St. James $3,151 $5,284 $0 Riverton • Sacred Heart $2,665 $3,215 Rumson • Holy Cross $3,505 $10,741 $0 $1,494 Sea Girt • St. Mark $2,999 $20,919 Seaside Park • St. Junipero Serra $757 $6,880 Spring Lake • St. Catharine-St. Margaret $6,276 $5,289 Tabernacle • Holy Eucharist $4,079 $5,053 Titusville • St. George $1,562 $3,899 Toms River • St. Joseph $9,208 $13,526 $6,471 $1,463 Toms River • St. Justin the Martyr $1,789 $7,020 $632 Toms River • St. Luke NC $4,248 Toms River • St. Maximilian Kolbe $4,232 $8,400 Trenton • Korean Martyrs $202 $1,405 Trenton • Our Lady of the Angels $485 $800 Trenton • Sacred Heart $2,321 $2,049 $266 Trenton • St. Hedwig $590 $650 Trenton • St. Joseph $2,039 $3,936 Trenton • St. Mary of the Assumption Cathedral $2,000 $4,500 $1,600 $1,606 $5,256 Wayside • St. Anselm West End • St. Michael $3,253 $5,807 West Long Branch • Our Lady of HopeSt Jerome $2,958 $6,002 $3,307 $703 West Trenton • Our Lady of Good Counsel $1,057 $2,946 Whiting • St. Elizabeth Ann Seton $2,901 $5,079 Willingboro • Corpus Christi $1,104 $2,564 Yardville • St. Vincent de Paul NC $3,500 Total $251,503 $571,923 $22,011 $35,610

“Let us be charitable about the missions, remembering that the Lord who said: ‘Go teach all nations’ is the same Lord who bewailed: ‘I have mercy on the multitudes.‘”

2026 AWARDS

— Blessed Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen National Director ongratulations toUSA the following parishes and schools The Pontiﬁcal Mission Societies (1950 – 1966) who have the highest contributions to the missions

this year. This is based on the amount they gave as reflected on the number of enrolled students. Thank you for GIVE BY TEXT your help and support.

“MISSIONS26” TO 53555

Per Capita Contributions ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS: First place: Our Lady of Good Counsel School, Moorestown Sustain Train 843,785 Support 50% Build 1,130 mission missionary of all religious School, West Long Branch 751 new Second Place: St. Jerome dioceses catechists sisters worldwide churches Honorable Mention: St. Joseph School, Toms River Total Contributions RELIGIOUS EDUCATION PROGRAMS First Place: Nativity Parish Religious Education Program, Fair Haven Second Place: St. Martha Parish Religious Education Program, Point Pleasant Honorable Mention: St. Mary of the Lakes Parish Religious Education Program, Medford

DIOCESAN WORLD MISSION SUNDAY MASS October 18 at noon in St. Ann Church, 1253 Lawrence Rd., Lawrenceville Principal Celebrant: Father Peter James Alindogan, diocesan missions director

2026 ANNUAL REPORT Year ending 12/31/25 CASH RECEIPTS Personal Donations Legacies Bination Stipends Mass Stipends Missionary Cooperation Plan Interest Mission Sunday Collection*

$25,713 $1,269,300 $46,419 $7,985 $547,262 $34,514 $305,486

$2,236,679 DISBURSEMENTS The Society of the Propagation of the Faith Missionary Childhood Association Missionary Cooperation Plan Mass Stipends Catholic Near East Welfare Association

$1,600,782 $48,391 $489,794 $8,405 $6,813

$2,154,185 *Includes WMS collections from Oct. 2024

 To learn more, scan the QR code or visit: dioceseoftrenton.org/missions October 2026



THE MONITOR MAGAZINE 31

World Mission Sunday October 18th, 2026 C

“Let us be charitable about the missions, remembering that the Lord who said: ‘Go teach all nations’ is the same Lord who bewailed: ‘I have mercy on the multitudes.‘”

CMY

Bishop’s greeting

— Blessed Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen National Director The Pontiﬁcal Mission Societies USA (1950 – 1966)

Continued from 29

for a small and struggling Catholic community to realize that Catholics somewhere else in the world are praying for them and have not forgotten them. Last year your gift His appeal to us is very simple: “Please help helped: me help missionaries everywhere.” Today, I join the Holy Father in making that appeal to you. Please pray for our missionaries. Pray for the priests, religious, catechists, and lay missionaries who serve far from home. Pray especially for the people they serve, many of whom live with poverty, persecution, violence, or circumstances we can scarcely imagine. And if you are able, please give generously to today’s World Mission Sunday collection. I know there are many demands upon you and your families. I know our own parishes have needs as well. That is why I am especially grateful for whatever sacrifice you are able to make. No gift offered in faith is insignificant. Together, our gifts educate seminarians, support priests and religious, train catechists, sustain struggling parishes, and bring the Gospel to places where Christ is still waiting to be known. We may never meet the people who will be helped by what we give today. We may never see the chapel that was built, the seminarian who became a priest, the child who learned to pray, or the family that discovered Christ. But God sees them. And through our generosity, they will know that they are not alone and that the Church has not forgotten them. Thank you for the goodness and generosity with which you continue to support the Church and her mission. As your Bishop, I am deeply grateful for your faith and for the many ways you make Christ present here in our Diocese and far beyond its boundaries. May the Holy Spirit rekindle in each of us the joy of sharing Christ with others. And through the intercession of Blessed Fulton J. Sheen, may our entire diocesan family truly become One in Christ, United in Mission. With affection and every good wish, I remain Faithfully yours in Christ, Most Reverend David M. O’Connell, C.M. Bishop of Trenton Form 41% of seminarians worldwide

Build 751 new churches

Sustain 1,130 mission dioceses

32 THE MONITOR MAGAZINE

Train 843,785 missionary catechists



Support 50% of all religious sisters worldwide

GIVE BY TEXT “MISSIONS26” TO 53555

Father Peter James Alindogan and Father Jean Felicien are pictured with priests of the Congregation of the Mission, Madagascar Province. Courrtesy photo

Missions is about bringing Christ to others Continued from 30

a collection. It was about reminding every Catholic that the missions belong to all of us. How fitting that we celebrate this centennial only weeks after the Church formally recognized his holiness through his beatification. The man who once traveled across America In Madagascar, Father Alindogan visits the home asking Catholics to pray and that the Daughters of Charity sisters operate for sacrifice for the missions children with disabilities. Courtesy photo is now Blessed Fulton J. Sheen, whose intercession we may invoke for the missionary work he loved so deeply. So this World Mission Sunday, I ask you personally to honor his missionary legacy in a very practical way: pray for our missionaries, pray for the people they serve, and please be generous to the World Mission Sunday collection. Somewhere today, a priest is traveling many miles to celebrate Mass for a small community. A religious sister is caring for someone the world has forgotten. A catechist is teaching a child the name of Jesus for the first time. A seminarian is preparing to serve a Church that has very little materially but possesses tremendous faith. They may be far from us, but they are not strangers. They are our brothers and sisters. Their mission is our mission. My time in Peoria reminded me of something I hope I will not soon forget: mission is not measured by how far we travel, but by how far we are willing to let the love of Christ reach through us. May Blessed Fulton J. Sheen intercede for our missionaries, our Diocese, and each of us, so that we may truly be One in Christ, United in Mission. With gratitude for your prayers and generous partnership in the missions, Rev. Peter James Alindogan, Diocese of Trenton, Mission Director

October 2026

 For Pope Leo’s message for World Mission Day 2026, visit pontificalmissions.org/wms-2026