On 9 November 2024, on the feast day of the dedication of the Basilica of St John Lateran, the See of the Bishop of Rome, Pope Francis wrote this brief letter which refers to “Gaudete et Exsultate on the call to holiness in the contemporary” world, placing the emphasis on the Saints and the Blessed, as well as the Venerables and the Servants of God of their respective territories.
In this letter, he specified:
During the course of the liturgical year, the Church publicly honours the Saints and Blesseds, on pre-established dates and in predetermined ways. However, it seems important to me that all particular Churches commemorate the Saints and Blesseds on a single date, as well as the Venerables and Servants of God of their respective territories. It is not a matter of inserting a new memorial into the liturgical calendar, but of promoting with appropriate initiatives outside the liturgy, or of recalling within it, for example in the homily or at another time deemed appropriate, those figures who have characterized the local Christian path and spirituality. Therefore, I urge the particular Churches, (…) to remember and honour these figures of holiness, every year on 9 November, the Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica.
The Foundation Catholic Action School of Sanctity Pio XI with the International Forum of Catholic Action invite the diocesan associations of Catholic Action to take part in promoting this day, offering their support to the Bishop and parish priests to recall those figures who have shaped the local Christian itinerary and spirituality – both the well-known figures of each local Church and the many witnesses from Catholic Action and beyond, perhaps less well-known, those ‘next door’ who have formed and continue to form, often quietly, the connective tissue of our parish communities, both adults and young people.
9 november 2026
Catholic Action Myanmar – Taunggyi
Catholic Action of Paraguay – Asunción
