Recalling ‘The Mission’, a haunting portrait of faith, power, and conscience

By Fr. Cedric Prakash SJ* 

The Mission (1986) is a British period drama that portrays the experiences of a Jesuit missionary in 18th-century South America. The film is complex, compelling, and spiritually resonant. It centres on the moral stand taken by Spanish Jesuits to protect the identity and autonomy of the Guarani, an Indigenous tribe facing exploitation under European colonial expansion. Set against the backdrop of imperial politics, the narrative explores the tensions between colonial power, the greed of pro-slavery settlers, and the pragmatic dilemmas confronting the Church and the Jesuits.

Rooted in historical events surrounding the 1750 Treaty of Madrid, when Spain ceded parts of Paraguay to Portugal, The Mission also reflects the looming suppression of the Society of Jesus in Europe (1759–1773). It depicts the resilience of the Guarani people and the Jesuits’ unwavering effort to defend their rights, culture, and dignity amid systemic exploitation. The film lays bare bureaucratic struggles, political intrigue, religious machinations, and moral compromise while emphasising the courage required to confront injustice. Ultimately, it becomes a meditation on prophetic witness — the readiness to identify with the oppressed and to live out the Gospel in the face of adversity.

As the Catholic Church marks World Mission Day on October 19, the film’s themes find renewed relevance. This Jubilee Year, focused on the call to be “pilgrims of hope,” continues to draw from the Synodal journey’s central principles of communion, participation, and mission.

In one of his final messages before his passing, Pope Francis, in his World Mission Day 2025 address, reaffirmed this hope-filled vision: “For World Mission Day in the Jubilee Year 2025, whose central message is hope, I have chosen the motto: ‘Missionaries of Hope Among All Peoples.’” He reminded the Church of its vocation to embody hope through witness and service: “I trust that it will be for everyone a time of grace with the faithful God who has given us new birth in the risen Christ ‘to a living hope’ (1 Pet 1:3–4).”

Francis contextualised this message within the realities of modern life — alienation, indifference, and consumerism — urging communities to rediscover empathy and interconnectedness. He observed that in technologically advanced societies, people are “all interconnected but not related,” warning that efficiency and ambition often erode compassion. Only the Gospel, lived in community, he noted, can restore humanity’s wholeness.

In his Bull of Indiction Spes Non Confundit (Hope Does Not Disappoint, May 9, 2024), the Pope challenged believers to confront despair and injustice with prophetic courage. True mission, he said, lies in transforming despair into hope — a commitment that must extend beyond rhetoric to tangible witness and solidarity with the most vulnerable.

The Synodal Report A Synodal Church in Mission echoes this conviction, affirming that the Church does not merely have a mission but is mission: “As the Father has sent me, I also send you” (Jn 20:21). The Church’s very identity, rooted in Christ and guided by the Holy Spirit, is expressed through service, witness, and a preferential option for the poor.

While the words “mission” and “missionary” are sometimes misunderstood or viewed with suspicion, their meaning extends far beyond religious conversion. A mission is, at its core, a purpose or calling — an endeavour to serve, uplift, or transform. It belongs to all humanity. Many religious and secular organisations, from the Ramakrishna Mission to global corporations, define their purpose through mission statements that express service and aspiration.

Mission, therefore, is inclusive and universal. As the saying goes, “Life is a mission, not a career. A career asks: what’s in it for me? A mission asks: how can I make a difference?” In a world fractured by violence, hate, and despair, each person is called to make that difference — to become, in word and deed, a missionary of hope.

In the spirit of The Mission, every human being carries a calling — a responsibility to stand with the suffering, to defend dignity, and to build hope among all peoples.

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*Human rights, reconciliation, and peace activist-writer