4.2. Concrete Application

4.2.1. Places

Every missionary leaves his country to proclaim salvation (Const. art. 2). We still consider ad extra as part of our patrimony. The experience of integration in a new culture is a reality which engages us and prepares us to meet those who are different from us. It allows us to be at the service of the universal dimension of mission. Committed to a process of internationalization we refuse to have two categories of members. Whatever their nationality, all the members belong to the Province in which they are at work.

It is imperative to evaluate regularly the missionary nature of the commitments we accept. We must ask ourselves whether the time has not come to leave certain places or activities and to undertake elsewhere tasks which are more in line with our charisma ad gentes. This can lead to tensions between the missionary views of the Congregation and the request of the bishop when priorities are at stake. When we try to reassess our charisma we are easily accused of not respecting the diocesan priorities.

Hence the questions: What should be carried on? What should be entrusted to the local Church? What should we pass on to other Congregations? Should we start something new elsewhere? The temporary nature of our presence seems to be an element that needs to be rediscovered.

4.2.2. Method

Mission fosters encounter (dialogue and proclamation) and solidarity.

As missionaries, we are called to meet peoples of every religion and conviction, and to establish a dialogue of life with them. This commitment implies among other things the acquisition of a fair knowledge of the language and the culture of the people that welcome us. We try also to integrate ourselves in the context in which God has placed them.

This encounter can take different forms:

a. First evangelization

First evangelization can be seen as a specific form of the encounter with believers of other faiths or with persons who have no religion at all. It occurs in various situations: in geographical areas where the Gospel is not known; in regions where the baptized are not affected by the Gospel; among groups who do not know or do not live the Gospel, etc. Convinced of God's active presence in the people's culture and living according to the Gospel, we proclaim the Message to those who, attracted by our witness and moved by the Spirit, open their hearts to the Good News, and eventually express the wish to join the Church. We share with them the message of joy that has transformed our lives and we invite them to share with us their own faith experiences. Together, we are being converted to God and create dynamic communities that live and proclaim the Gospel in the context in which God has placed them.

b. Interreligious Dialogue

Dialogue is part of mission, not only in the general sense that every missionary activity must be respectful of persons and cultures, but also in the (restricted) sense that dialogue is a specifically missionary activity. Some of us, more and more aware of religious pluralism even in the western world, devote themselves to an in-depth interreligious dialogue.

c. Universal Solidarity

The presence of an increasing number of members of the Third World and our presence in frontier situations enable us to experience almost physically the tragedies of poverty and confront us with the challenge of universal solidarity. With regret we acknowledge the continuously growing gap between the evangelical vision of a new mankind founded on liberty, fraternity and justice and the world that confronts us with poverty, oppression, lack of liberty, inequality, injustice, violence and hatred. This is not due to a simple accident. It is rather the result of a situation created by a powerful minority. That is the reason why we take part in the struggle of the marginalized to restore their dignity as responsible persons, created to the image of God and called to participate fully in the building of a better world for everybody.

ad gentes

ad extra           the poor

4.2.3. Commitments

Due to the decrease or the restructuration of personnel, our missionary Congregations started some few years ago a process of self-evaluation. As missionaries, are we where we should be to do what we should do? The mission regions are changing. So are the challenges.

a. At the level of the Provinces: missionary projects, evaluations, conventions.

Over the years the conviction has grown that our missionary presence must be attuned to cultures and societies. Hence it must be shaped by the various changing realities of the countries and regions where we work. The Japanese context is different from the Zambian. There can be no question of uniformity for all our missionary commitments. Yet, we must make sure that fidelity to the missionary charisma is kept alive: our availability is no reason to do anything anyway, provided we do it abroad. A regular evaluation and an up date are called for.

Each Province is invited to draft a missionary project. This project describes clearly its view on today's mission in the particular context of the region in which the confrères live and work. It is future-oriented and takes into consideration the main challenges and missionary needs of the years to come. It explains why and how the Province intends to face these challenges.

Drafting conventions and contracts as foreseen by Mutuae Relationes is the right way to reveal and actualize our charisma. Yet, some bishops are not convinced of the need of contracts. In general, it is easier to sign a contract at the moment we respond to the precise request of a bishop to start a new insertion than in local Churches where we are already working for several decades.

b. At the level of the Congregation: the new Foundations

We receive many requests, especially from African bishops. Quite often they are requests for personnel. Here also, the criteria must help us to make a choice when establishing priorities in missionary urgency. It should not only be a question of making up for the lack of priests. We should be invited for "missionary" tasks in frontier situations: peoples who are not yet affected by the Gospel; interreligious dialogue; contribution to inculturation as long as the local Church is not yet capable of doing it; autochthonous groups or populations who are marginalized; communities suffering from wars or atheistic communism.