Calabar and Kaduna Ecclesiastical Provinces hosted the Floating Institute of Missiology in collaboration with the Pontifical Mission Societies (PMS). The PMS National Director, Rev Fr. Solomon, noted that:

The Floating Institute of Missiology is a mission formation program approved by the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) and entrusted to the Pontifical Mission Societies. Its purpose is to provide missionary formation for all the faithful in Nigeria — priests, religious, and laypeople alike. This program expands participants' understanding of mission and their personal responsibilities in the Church’s missionary work.

The initiative supports the primary goal of the PMS: to foster a universal missionary spirit within the Church. Pope Francis reminds us that the Pontifical Mission Societies are called to awaken and deepen the missionary awareness of every baptised Christian. As stated in Ad Gentes Divinitus, the PMS nurtures a missionary spirit in Catholics from infancy through to the end of life.

Approved by the CBCN in 2009, the Floating Institute of Missiology was first implemented nationally in two phases — the first in October 2012 and the second in October 2013 — with over 100 participants from various dioceses across Nigeria.

Following that, participants were encouraged to replicate the formation at the provincial and diocesan levels. Each year, the national office of the Pontifical Mission Societies selects two to three provinces to organise the program. This year, Calabar and Kaduna provinces were chosen —

Throughout the period of this formation, participants explored various key themes, including:

The meaning and foundations of mission

Biblical and theological perspectives on mission

Communication and mission

New Evangelization

Missionary spirituality

Ecumenism and interreligious dialogue

The structure and global work of the Pontifical Mission Societies

The theme of this year’s formation is “Missionaries of Hope Among the Peoples”, which is also the theme for World Mission Sunday 2025. This theme aligns with the ongoing celebration of the Jubilee Year of Hope. It calls us to be men and women of hope — to be beacons of light and encouragement to those we serve, especially in a world marked by suffering and despair.

Pope Francis, in his message for World Mission Sunday 2025, emphasizes that Christians are called to share the Good News by entering into the daily realities of

others, becoming true witnesses and builders of hope. He echoes the words of Gaudium et Spes (no. 1):

“The joys and the hopes, the grief and the anguish of the people of our time, especially of those who are poor or afflicted, are the joys and hopes, the grief and anguish of the followers of Christ as well. Nothing genuinely human fails to find an echo in their hearts.”

At the conclusion of this course, participants will be commissioned and sent forth to continue the mission. As we know, Christ’s mission is the salvation of all humanity. Before His ascension, He gave the Great Commission:

“Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19–20).

This command remains our call to evangelize and bring the Gospel to the ends of the earth.

At the end of the formation, participants were commissioned to given certificates to equip them for their new role as missionaries of Hope.