- The economy and the religious life in Third World countries: dependency, autonomy, lifestyles, aid.

Our group examined this subject from three points of view:

1. challenges

2. observations

3. the way forward

We will begin our presentation with lifestyles.

1. LIFESTYLES

1) Challenges

            a. The Synod on the VC had already stressed the importance of inculturation of the religious in all areas of the world. This problem is now becoming more apparent because of the emerging global culture. However, this must not lead us to forget the richness to be found in cultural variety.

            b. Western consumerism is a culture that is taking over in developing countries and this has an effect on our candidates and on our brothers. Therefore it is important for the inculturation of the Consecrated Life in developing countries that we demonstrate the simplicity of our lifestyle, especially those of us who are expatriates.

            c. In the past, many people saw the VC as a promotion; this can still happen in developing countries.

2) Observations

            In order to meet these challenges, we see that all the members of our Institutes must make an effort to return to the essential values of the Gospels and of our origins. In this way, with creative fidelity, we will be able to respond to the problems at present affecting the life of the Church.

3) The way forward

            a. Educate the brothers in the Southern Hemisphere for a lifestyle that is inculturated, simple and close to the conditions of the people in those countries.

            b. Consider the possibility of formation in the South instead of the North.

            c. Help our brothers to use local resources so as to be less dependent on outside aid.

II. COMMUNION AND SOLIDARITY

1) Challenges

            a. Our Institutes must face the challenge of increasing Solidarity in the world and in the Church. This solidarity must take the form both of reciprocal understanding and aid and the sharing of financial resources.

            b. The special part to be played by the general administration in promoting awareness and putting this sharing into practice.

2) Observations

            All the Congregations’ assets are at the service of the global mission.

3) The way forward

            a. Organise training sessions for the Treasurers and for the communities with the aim that everyone understand the importance of finances and so that they can take part in planning.

            b. Create an awareness of the Province and of the Congregation so as to overcome parish jealousies and individualism.

            c. Agree as a community on the aid to be given to the poor, to brothers’ families and to the local Churches.

III. FINANCIAL INDEPENDENCE

1) Challenges

            a. The financial independence of our Institutes in developing countries is urgent and necessary.

            b. One of the causes of this problem are the plans made with a Western mentality, which do not correspond to the social and cultural situations in the developing countries.

            c. Funds being created in advanced countries to achieve financial independence in developing countries have met with difficulties because of the fall in interest rates.

2) Observations

            a. The starting point will always be the return to the essential Gospel values and to the person of Christ. He is the way, the truth and the life.

            b. We need a “refoundation” of the religious life which has always begun amongst the poor and at the service of the poor.

            c. We must always proceed with hope. There is no lack of religious, groups, experiences that are islands of creativity for the future.

3) The way forward

            a. Financial independence begins with our own paid work, not forgetting the possibility of aid from international organisations.

            b. Formation has a place in bringing about this change: we need to create a “work ethic” that includes manual labour, and a certain austerity in our lifestyle as the expression of the basic evangelical principles.

            c. Through dialogue with our brothers in the various regions, create structures that are realistic and meet the needs of the culture. Local models of religious life can help us to find solutions.

            d. We must convince ourselves that in some areas it is almost impossible to achieve a state of financial independence that will allow us to meet the costs of university formation for our candidates. Instead, we can work towards financial independence in regard to ordinary expenditure.

            e. A life that brings us into closer daily contact with the poor might make it easier to identify vocations. This could avoid what in the past has been one of the causes of an abundance of vocations – the promotion of the person – and which has then led to so many leaving our congregations.

-         Asset management and evangelical criteria: how to calculate what reserves we need and what to do with the surplus? What role does Providence play in our lives? Is our lifestyle one of poverty?

How do we calculate what reserves we need? What should we do with any surplus?

-     First and foremost, we should not live off our reserves, but by our own work, whether in solidarity with the external environment in which we find ourselves or as a matter of solidarity within our own communities, taking into account the specific nature of the various institutes.

-     Moreover, if we set aside reserves, then we must set a ceiling on them, for without fixed limits there is a risk of holding too much capital.

-     In general, any surplus should be used to support formation, new foundations and those people who are no longer active; the institute’s own external solidarity must also be kept in mind.

-     We must determine which kind of reserve and which type of long- or short-term investment fund to use. We might set our criteria on the basis of recognised needs and fix the reserve ceiling in proportion to the return on capital. The needs referred to may include provision for social welfare and there are various ways in which they can be identified: actuarial studies (long-term plans for the future), an evaluation of accounting results and future prospects (carried out by the plenary council of the community), etc. This kind of audit may result in monies being set aside in a shared common fund.

-     The need has been demonstrated not only to train people as experts in finance and administration, but also to educate people not only to receive surpluses, but also to share them with others. If the criteria for sharing are not clear enough problems and misunderstandings may arise, so clear criteria must be established for sharing any surplus.

-     We suggest a study be undertaken into the various types of management (more or less centralised) in order to evaluate their advantages and disadvantages.

-     Congregations without sufficient resources are beginning to request assistance; the USG should examine the possibility of creating a fund and of extending this examination to the level of the Church.

The place of Providence in our life

-     We must begin by considering that Providence comes firstly from our own efforts. Trust in Providence does not relieve us of the obligation to produce something. We must make a commitment to do so, but we must not worry about it.

-     The trust in Providence that is a feature of our charism leads some people to ask continual questions, especially about how that trust is to be transmitted to the younger generations.

-     In general, this point obviously needs on-going examination and comparison with the example set by our founders, who knew how to marry trust in Providence with practical dedication.

-     There is a conflict between man’s inherent desire to accumulate and the limits that need to be set. This means thinking about how we understand Providence.

-     We believe Providence should be understood as committing ourselves to co-operate with actions that originate from God; careful management of the assets entrusted to us is part of that co‑operation.

-     Certain kinds of mission should not have finance as their chief criterion, but rather be motivated by the desire to support the actions that come from God.

-     We must all think about how we can be Providence for other people.

-     For us, the poor are teachers who teach us how to live with trust in Providence.

A life of poverty

-     We must insist on a visible life of poverty at the level of the community.

-     This makes us somewhat ill at ease because it questions the relevance of some of our choices.

-     How does the cultural environment in which we live react to our life style? How do we react to the drives or temptations that come to us from that environment?

-     There is a certain amount of difficulty between missionaries working in developing countries and the local brothers; the missionaries can often count on far greater resources from their countries of origin to support the mission. All the resources for the mission must become community property and be managed by the community.

-     We must join a life of poverty in the evangelical sense with the fight against poverty that is oppressing the human race.

-     We should put greater emphasis on understanding and sharing the life of the poor in the environment in which we find ourselves. This means sharing not only resources but also our time, our whole lives.

-     We sometimes run the risk of becoming involved in the consumer society.

-     We must believe that a life of poverty also means not having too much security.

At the end of this examination, we cannot fail to indicate that we find ourselves faced with a complicated subject, which may make many Superiors General feel incompetent; they may feel poorly motivated or at best not very much involved. Nevertheless, the financial reports of a Religious Institute or a Province reveal many factors and data that will help us to analyse the path of spiritual revitalisation which the group is taking. It is important that good management and distribution of assets based on the teaching of the Gospels are reflected in proposals and implementation of new plans for using and sharing what we have. We must demonstrate fraternal solidarity to a point beyond what might be judged as financially sensible. And we can only do this if we start with a simple way of life and with full trust in Providence.

There is no doubt that the way of focusing on and dealing with financial matters expresses very well what a congregation believes and hopes, and in which it places its trust on a practical basis. The Gospels remind us that, “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Mt 6,21). Throughout this documents we have tried to offer guidance to make our mission, the proclamation of the Kingdom, our “treasure”, and to put our assets at the service of this mission. Making the economy serve the person and the mission is a practical way of serving the Church.

Rome, May 2002