1. The universal mission of priests "to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:8) has been enthusiastically renewed by the Second Vatican Council and the Magisterium of the Church¹. In the Decree on Missionary Activity Ad Gentes, the Conciliar Fathers exhorted priests to be "profoundly aware of the fact that their very life is consecrated to the service of the missions"².

It is above all a missionary spirit that gives life to this priestly service in the various situations of the world today and, in particular, among those people and in those socio-cultural contexts in which Christ and His Gospel are still unknown³.

Thus, the prophetic insight of Pius XII's Encyclical Fidei Donum that the Conciliar Fathers wanted to foster and to make known was authoritatively underlined by Pope John Paul II in his Encyclical Redemptoris Missio which "encouraged Bishops to offer some of their priests for temporary service in the Churches of Africa, and gave his approval to projects already existing for that purpose"⁴.