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Back to Ratio IndexChapter III. Our Present-Day Response
as Sons of St. Vincent
3.1 Missions
Already Established by Provinces in Collaboration with the Local
Church
The new context for evangelization and the new missionary
paradigm described above require a renewed response on our part as
members of the Congregation of the Mission.
Throughout our history, many provinces
of the Congregation have responded to the Church¼s call to send missionaries
to areas where the Gospel had not yet been preached. Along with members
of other missionary congregations, our confreres have helped establish
the local Church in many parts of the globe. Some provinces have long
histories of supporting already constituted local Churches by sending
missionaries and material assistance.
Even though local Churches now exist
in almost every part of the globe, many still have significant need
of personnel, finances and professional expertise. The dialogue between
provinces sponsoring missions and the local Churches about their needs
and about our capacity to respond to them is an ongoing one.
Superiors General have often appealed
to our provinces and confreres to respond to missionary appeals. Very
many have done so generously.
3.2 New
International Missions In order to respond to requests
from various local hierarchies, in recent years the Superior General
has established international missionary teams in Albania, Rwanda,
Burundi, Ukraine, Russia, Bolivia, the Solomon Islands and Tanzania.
Volunteers were also sent to established missionary provinces in China,
Ethiopia, Mozambique and Cuba. Since at this time in our history individual
provinces were unable to respond to these appeals, the establishment
of international missionary teams was providential. Not only have they
aided local Churches, but they have been a source of blessing for the
Congregation itself. Through the new international missions we have
experienced belonging to a worldwide community in a new and deeper
way. In many provinces the international missions have enkindled a
new interest in the foreign missions. The members of the international
teams have given eloquent testimony to the universality of the Church
and the possibility of building a fraternal community that crosses
cultural boundaries.
Some of the confreres on the international
mission teams have become full members of established provinces. Some
belong to teams that depend directly on the General Curia or depend
on a particular province. The missions in Ukraine, Russia and Byelorussia
have become a vice-province. The mission in Albania is now the responsibility
of the Province of Naples, with help provided by the other provinces
of Italy. The mission in Tanzania is now the responsibility of the
Province of Southern India. The goal is that, as the international
missions take root, they become part of a particular province. This
does not, however, eliminate the need for international structures
which will capitalize on the new energy unleashed by the new international
missions.
3.3 Organization of our Missions
Sound organization is required to
make our missions effective. This demands hard work and the formulation
of specific criteria. These criteria are not only necessary for new
missions, but can also be helpful for older, established missions:
3.3.1 Criteria
for Accepting and Evaluating a Mission
Local Churches have many, varied
needs. As members of the Congregation of the Mission, we seek to respond
to those needs in fidelity to the Vincentian charism of evangelizing
the poor. This
criterion is the principal one for accepting or refusing missions that
are offered to us by bishops. Article 12 of our Constitutions spells
out quite clearly some other criteria which need to be taken into account:
…
clear preference for apostolates among the poor,
…
attention to the realities of present-day society,
…
sharing in the condition of the poor,
…
a true sense of the communal nature of our apostolic work,
…
a readiness to go anywhere in the world,
…
ongoing conversion.
In accepting a mission dialogue
with the local ordinary is indispensable since he is the leader of
the local Church. From the beginning a written contract should be agreed
upon and signed. The contract should spell out the expectations, rights,
and responsibilities of all parties as concretely and specifically
as possible. This will help avoid misunderstandings and will also provide
clear guidelines for life and ministry in the mission.
3.3.2 The
Character of a Vincentian Mission
While
offering clear general criteria describing what a Vincentian mission
should be like, our Constitutions leave ample space for creativity
in developing specific ministries on our missions in the service of
the poor. A typically Vincentian mission should be characterized by:
…
Evangelization by „Word and Work¾ (SV XII, 87):
o
by word: catechizing,
preaching, educating, building Basic Christian Communities, organizing
Popular Missions;
o
by work: offering
human promotion programs, standing with the poor in their struggle for
human rights, organizing projects for combatting hunger, training the
young in basic human skills, establishing health care facilities, initiating
programs for promoting the dignity of women and the care of children.
…
Formation:
Since the end of the Congregation of the Mission
is realized not only by evangelizing the poor, but also by assisting
the clergy and the laity in their formation in order that they too
might evangelize the poor, our missions should have a special focus
on the formation of leaders for the local Church: clergy, sisters,
lay men and women.
Our missionaries should actively
involve the people themselves in both the ministry of the word and
the ministry of works so that they might be active agents in their
own human and Christian promotion.
3.3.3 Candidates
for the Missions
3.3.3.1 Selection
Individual provinces have their
own missions and may invite confreres from other provinces to participate
in them, following the procedures described in the Constitutions and
Statutes. The Superior General also has the right and responsibility
to invite and send, in dialogue with the provincials, confreres to
international missions (cf. Statute 3 approved by the 38th General
Assembly, 1992).
[3]
Candidates for the missions should
possess a number of human, Christian and Vincentian qualities: psychological
and relational maturity, good physical health, flexibility and the
capacity to respect other cultures. Language skills are also essential.
A spirit of self-sacrifice, service, humility, and simplicity are necessary,
along with a sense of community and identity with the Church.
3.3.3.2 Preparation and Entry into the Mission
Entry into a new culture is difficult.
Confreres sent to the missions need adequate preparation. Besides basic
theological and Vincentian formation, their preparation should include
anthropological and sociological study. An understanding of inculturation
in general and study of the specific culture and language are essential.
Even the best prepared missionary
finds the transition to a new culture a difficult enterprise. New
missionaries need to be accompanied. A mentoring program or apprenticeship period should
be designed to assist them in their entry into the mission. Experienced
missionaries should set aside time to listen to the fears, difficulties,
doubts and other feelings that inevitably arise in a new missionary
when entering a foreign culture. Spiritual direction is a very valuable
and, unfortunately, frequently untapped resource.
After a suitable period of apprenticeship,
during which language training and an initial understanding of the
culture are emphasized, the new missionary will assume his new assignment.
Dialogue with the new missionary himself and with the other confreres
will help the superior of the mission determine the best placement.
The relationship between the missionary,
the new mission to which he is sent, and his province of origin ought
to be clearly defined by a contract or letter of agreement. This contract
should specify among other things: his apostolic assignment on the
mission, its duration, where he enjoys active and passive voice, who
bears economic responsibility for his life and work, health insurance,
social security, and vacation periods.
3.3.4 Financial
Plan
Each mission must have sufficient
economic resources to support its works of evangelization and formation
and to provide for the well-being of the confreres. It should work
toward the goal of moving beyond the stage of economic dependence and
advancing toward financial independence and self-reliance. For that
reason, it is important to find ways of capital development in each
mission.
In the long run, the struggle against
poverty and the quest for economic justice, at the national and international
levels, are essential for overcoming economic dependence in mission
countries. In the meantime, we must be creative in developing means
for promoting relative economic autonomy for our missions, with a view
toward a progressively more stable future.
On the local level, each mission
should have a budget, taking into account the works, initial and ongoing
formation, the care of aging missionaries, the needs of all the confreres,
and the lifestyle of the local poor. Financial transparency among the
confreres on the mission is essential. The creation of sources for
raising capital and making investments for the future should be planned.
The Treasurer General, provincial treasurers and lay advisors can be
of great assistance through their counsel in this regard.
At the level of the worldwide Congregation,
financial collaboration is being more and more encouraged, flowing
from the communitarian nature of our vow of poverty, which envisions
solidarity with one another and with the poor. Our Constitutions explicitly
state: Provinces and houses should share their temporal goods with
each other so that those who have more help those in need (C 152, ß 1). This is already being accomplished in
a number of ways. Hopefully even more can be done. One means is the International
Mission Fund,
which is used to provide money for specific projects in our missions
and our poorer provinces. Provinces with greater economic resources
are encouraged to include in their yearly budget money to be donated
to this fund. Another means of financial collaboration is the direct
response of provinces to projects and petitions presented by missions
and poorer provinces. This not only promotes solidarity, but highlights
the international nature of the Congregation.
Yet another means of collaboration
and of promoting the economic independence of missions and poorer provinces
is the setting up of patrimony funds. These are funds established by a donor province or
several provinces to help a missionary province with its formation
needs, its works in the service of the poor, and its care of aging
and infirm confreres. The donor province collaborates with the receiving
province in helping prepare it to take over responsibility for the
management of the fund. After a period of time, the fund is turned
over completely to the receiving province.
3.3.5 Community
for Mission
Community life has been a special characteristic of the Congregation
and its usual way of living... (C 21, ß 1). Confreres called to the missions should
be conscious that our mission is carried out in community. In fact,
our community is a community for mission.
A shared life characterized by fraternal love, cordiality, respect
for differences and reconciliation creates a context within which
evangelization of the poor can be more effectively accomplished.
Our works should, as far as possible, be community works. The undertaking
of purely personal works, in isolation from other confreres, is not
in the spirit of our vocation.
Our community is not only a community
for mission, but also a community of prayer in which we seek the Lord
with one another faithfully, especially in the daily celebration of
the Eucharist and in daily mental prayer.
Our houses should be a place where
faith-sharing and mutual exchange about human, pastoral and spiritual
experiences will foster the growth of the members. Much will depend
on a spirit of trust among all our members.
Our Constitutions do not impose
a single type of community structure. Various styles are possible.
In some places all of the confreres of a house live under the same
roof, are involved in the same ministry, and have the same schedule.
In other places, the confreres live together, but work in different
zones or villages. In still other places, they live in different localities
because of the needs of the mission, but belong to one canonical house,
striving to create community through regular gatherings for prayer,
common pastoral reflection, and recreation. Each of these situations
demands active interest in the well-being of other confreres and an
effort to share life and ministry with each other. The development
of a community plan is an important means for promoting communal bonds
in these different settings.
It is important for the community
to hold frequent meetings for evaluation of the various facets of our
life and ministry. Evaluations must not become mere formalities. They
should be carried out in a spirit of truth and charity, so that, with
one another, we can assess the high points and the low points, the
lights and the shadows of our life and ministry on the mission. The
frequency of meetings is established in the local community plan. At
times, our meetings might include co-workers, especially those serving
with us in our pastoral ministries.
3.3.6 Vocational
Promotion
If the Vincentian charism is to
be inculturated and the mission of the Congregation continued, local
vocations need to be fostered. The example of joyful service to the
poor in community is in itself attractive to young people. But we should
also establish programs for vocational promotion. Young people should
be invited into our houses to experience our community life and prayer
and should be incorporated into our ministries so that they might experience
for themselves .the joy of serving the poor. Discernment houses and
groups can also be an effective way to promote vocations.
Of course, only some young people
are called to the Congregation. Vocational discernment should take
into account other callings as well: lay ministries, diocesan priesthood,
religious life. Promotion of all such vocations is a singular service
to the local Church.
3.4 Collaboration
between Provinces
The new international missions,
as well as our older established missions, are very positive instances
of collaboration among the provinces of the Congregation. The developing
of bonds between the mission and the province that provides it with
personnel and other resources should be fostered. The experience of
the missionaries, their successes and failures, their breakthroughs
and insights should be shared with the confreres in their home countries,
so that the spark of the missions will enkindle a fire in the hearts
of all. All members of the Congregation of the Mission should sense
that the missions are a special way of living out our charism.
Belonging to the universal Church
and to a truly international Congregation demands real solidarity among
the members and communities of the Congregation of the Mission. One
way that this solidarity might be expressed is by common reflection
on the theological presuppositions and pastoral perspectives that flow
from being a community for mission. Dialogue among the provinces can
be mutually enriching. Some simple, practical steps for promoting interprovincial
sharing might be: creating opportunities for the members of various
provinces to meet one another, to listen to one another¼s needs and
concerns, to share experiences of working with the poor, to develop
common pastoral plans and to pray together. Information can also be
communicated by exchanging provincial bulletins and by posting news
on the Vincentian Family web site (www.famvin.org).
Solidarity must move beyond the
level of reflection and become concretized in collaborative action.
Sharing human resources is an important step in collaboration between
provinces. An international vision of the Congregation and a sense
of solidarity with other provinces pave the way for creative initiatives
for mobilizing personnel. Missionaries are still needed in the Southern
Hemisphere and in Asia. But missionaries from there might also be sent
to participate in the New Evangelization of the North. Mutual financial assistance among
the provinces is indispensable. Our vow of poverty calls us to solidarity.
Provinces should not only give of their surplus, but should also at
times feel the sting of giving what seems very valuable to them, so
that they might share the burden of the mission.
3.5 Collaboration
with the Vincentian Family
Collaboration within the Vincentian
Family for the service of the poor has dramatically increased in recent
years. Each branch of the Vincentian Family has its own identity and
autonomy, which must always be respected by others. But we have much
in common too. Our mutual cooperation will be much more effective to
the degree that we have regular contact with one another at local,
national and international levels. This will facilitate the channeling
of our energies and resources toward the goal we all share: the service
of the poor.
New ways of including lay Vincentians
and young volunteers in our missionary teams should continue to be
explored. Lay missionaries, like all missionaries, need preparation.
The integration of lay missionaries into our foreign missions will
require adjustments and sacrifices on our part and theirs. But the
benefits for the poor, for the Vincentian laity and for us far outweigh
the difficulties.
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