Catholic missionary orders must make the Church an "open house" which is "for all, ready to welcome and accompany" everyone, Pope Francis has told a missionary order.
"Today, every land is a 'mission land,' every dimension of human life is mission territory awaiting the proclamation of the Gospel," the Pope said on October 7 during a meeting with delegates to the general congregation of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate.
The delegates were led by Fr Louis Lougen, a native of Buffalo, New York, whom they had re-elected superior general on October 1. After 17 years in Brazil, Fr Lougen returned to the United States as a pastor and novice master, and he was named provincial in 2005. He was elected superior general of the order in 2010 for his first six-year term.
