2. Pastoral innovations and revising our presence and ministry

MR was concerned with the insertion of the men and women religious in the particular Church and pointed out the development of some problems that have now been overcome. However, it also alluded to new foundations, the suppression of works and to pastoral innovation⁵⁸. Today, as shown in chapter V of the IL and in the last part of VC , in pastoral ministry there is a broader field of action, one that is more complex, more specialised, and demands greater expertise and more dedication of those who serve in the apostolate. On the other hand, throughout the Church there is an increased missionary spirit and solidarity with the people of other continents.

As consecrated persons who want to be attentive to the call of each age and place in order to make the Kingdom present, we have gone through different phases in the renewal of structures and pastoral service. Today it is not enough to evangelise in the schools, parishes, or clinics, etc. The key question today, in the “today” to which we want to respond, is, are we really where we should be and,  should we therefore stay there, and if we are not where we should be, we must go there. Renewal comes about not only by discerning the signs of the times, but the signs of the places as well. Asia, Africa and Eastern Europe are places challenging us today with a special intensity, through the insistent calls of the Pope, and they are making us regain the freshness and availability, the energy and fervour for service to the Universal Church, that is found at the origin of every Institute. This brings about tension, but a tension that in principle is healthy and dynamic, between the interests of the universal Church and of the particular Churches.

In exercising the government of communion in the apostolate, we too must ask ourselves some questions. What organisational criteria do we hold in common for carrying out a renewed and innovative apostolate that responds to the needs that have been so clearly detected in our Chapter? How do we become integrated when we begin a new presence or a type of service in the particular Churches? What new apostolic plans are we preparing together in Europe and North America in the face of the declining number of vocations and the ageing of the priests and religious? Is it legitimate today to maintain a pastoral approach that merely preserves the status quo or replaces it with something the same? Is it normal for Bishops or consecrated persons to adopt an individualistic stance, and for each of us to do as we see fit? Have we contributed sufficiently to preparing lay people to assume the responsibilities that they should assume?

If we want to open new mission posts in another nation, sometimes we have to close something in another place. What impact is caused in the particular Churches by the fact that the Institutes of consecrated life, so sensitive to and committed to the “missio ad gentes,” have removed their personnel from Europe to go to other continents? What criteria do we use to make these decisions and what opportunity do we give the Bishop to join in the discernment and offer solutions?

In the last Assembly we reflected together on how we are affected by globalisation and how we can progress toward a multi-centric, intercultural communion. The challenges coming from the facts that have been stated, and the possible solutions to them, impact on the pastoral government of the particular Churches and have repercussions in strata that go beyond the diocesan level. Should we not commit ourselves to communicating, sharing and seeking harmonious criteria for action with our Pastors?