Meeting of the Superior General with the Young Missionaries
from Italy
(Rome, 10th October 2005)
By Alfredo Becerra Vazquez, C.M.
The Superior General, Fr. G. Gregory Gay, C.M., met with the young missionaries from the three Italian provinces. Eleven missionaries participated. Two are from the Province of Rome: Frs. Eugenio Gioia and Mario Puppo; two from the Province of Turin: Fr. Antonello Lodi and Deacon Ignacio Neyda and seven from the Province of Naples: Frs. Salvatore Fari, Vincenzo di Cicco, Carmine Madalese, Valerio Di Trapani, Luis Napoleone, Calogero Di Fiore and Brother Emmanuel Di Luzio. Fr. Alfredo Becerra from the Curia was also present.
After a prayer led by Fr. Salvatore Fari, the missionaries listened to a short presentation.
Three points to be considered
The Superior General focused on three points in his talk.
1. I want to encourage all the missionaries to maintain enthusiasm in their hearts and in their apostolic efforts, but even more so in order to share in the great mission of Jesus Christ in the evangelization of the poor. “To evangelize the poor is such an exalted office, that it is, par excellence, the office of the Son of God. And it is entrusted to us, as instruments, by the Son of God, who continues His work from the heavens as it is done on earth…Certainly, it is a noble thing for a missionary to have and to maintain this desire to go to the missions, to nourish this determination of assisting the country poor with that spirit which would be present in our Lord, if He were still on earth and finally the directing of one’s intention to live and die in this holy work (SV XII, 80, 82-83; ES XI, 387, 398. Conference from December 6, 1658, about the end of the Congregation of the Mission).
2. We need to be sensitive to the need of renewing continuously within ourselves a spirit of humility, as indicated in the First Letter to the Corinthians (1: 26-29): “Brothers, you are among those called. Consider your situation. Not many of you are wise, as men account wisdom; not many are influential; and surely not many are well-born. God chose those whom the world considers absurd to shame the wise; he singled out the weak of this world to shame the strong. He chose the world’s lowborn and despised, those who count for nothing, to reduce to nothing those who were something; so that mankind can do no boasting before God.”
3. The third point is taken from the motto of the Congregation of the Mission, Lk 4: 18-19: “The spirit of the Lord is upon me; therefore, he has anointed me. He has sent me to bring glad tidings to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives, recovery of sight to the blind and release to prisoners, to announce a year of favor from the Lord.” In order to announce the Word of God, as it is proclaimed here, one also has to denounce the injustices that are always present. To do this one needs courage. Let us pray to the Lord to deepen this gift of courage in the hearts of all our missionaries.
Future plans
The Superior General continued with reflections about plans for the upcoming years:
1. To develop the identity of the Congregation of the Mission as a missionary congregation. “In light of our Constitutions, I want to encourage all the members of the Congregation of the Mission to deepen within themselves their own identity as missionaries. As it is written in our Constitutions (52, 1): ‘All the members of the Congregation participate by baptism and confirmation in the royal priesthood of Christ. Some are clerics and others are brothers and all are called to be missionaries’.”
2. To deepen the understanding of the Congregation of the Mission as an international institution. Because of this, there has begun the promotion of conferences of visitors and an assistant has been assigned to a designated group of provinces.
3. To promote the vowed life. In the General Assembly, the young missionaries asked the Superior General for a meeting and from there emerged the idea of establishing a network of young missionaries. It is necessary to concretize our reflections around the vows. Problematic situations exist in the Congregation in the living out of our vows, and we need to address them and provide adequate solutions.
4. Promotion of the Vincentian Family. It is necessary to be proactive in our relationship with that extraordinary force of laypeople who follow in the footsteps of Vincent de Paul, who want to consecrate themselves to Jesus Christ in the service and evangelization of the poor.
5. Initial and ongoing formation. The Congregation has various opportunities of ongoing formation. One of them is SIEV, which has undergone some changes. The executive secretary is Fr. Alex Jernej. Another example is CIF that is organizing new programs of ongoing formation.
6. Formation of diocesan clergy. Taking note of the words of Pope John Paul II in his letter to the General Assembly of 2004, we want to find and support new and creative ways to be of service to the diocesan clergy.
The Young Missionaries ask Questions
The Superior General entertained questions from the missionaries:
Question 1: Since much importance is being given to ongoing formation but little to initial formation, would it not be a good time to revise the ratio of the formation programs of the internal and major seminary? There is a lack of official directives from the Congregation about the preparation time that is operative in various provinces.
Reply: We certainly need to look for ways to renew our formation. The General Assembly of 1998 challenged directors of formation and from this time on the Congregation has had the intention to respond to this challenge. Several conferences of visitors (CLAPVI) have implemented formation programs for formation directors. Others have started such programs (COVIAM), and some do not have them in place (CEVIM and NCV). It might be good to consider the possibility of having several general directives from the Congregation for this phase of preparation.
Question 2: You spoke about the international flavor of the Congregation. I believe it is necessary to promote collaboration among the three Italian provinces. Right now, it seems that the spirit of integration means that we come to know each other better, in the works that we do together. It is necessary to concretize our collaborative experiences and those of our works. Especially, we need to continue thinking about the possibility of involving confreres from other countries.
Reply: One of our projects is the reconfiguration of various provinces of the Congregation in different parts of the world. We are able to say that we are thinking about different models. Certainly, greater collaboration is needed so that we might know each other better, and together we can create common works.
Question 3: I believe there are difficulties in the reconfiguration in Italy. That is why I believe it is necessary that you, as Superior General, give clear signs about how to initiate concrete steps about the “internationalizing” of the Congregation. At various times, the young missionaries get involved in the administration of some traditional apostolates, and they lose their missionary enthusiasm. They fall victim to bourgeois values and the poor become a distant reality. Perhaps it is possible to involve the Vincentian laity in some apostolates in which some of the young missionaries are working, for example, in the area of administration.
Reply: Each region of Italy has its own richness, and we are able to learn to respect the differences. One thing that has caught my attention is among Italians there is a certain discrimination: some Italians do not like the Italians from the South and that mentality can also affect us. It is necessary that we change our mentality. One thing that can help us is to center our lives around the poor and ask ourselves: What is the best way to serve the poor? That will help us to change. When a province has a high median age, the concern of that province is to maintain the status quo. That is most understandable. We ought to propose the following: What really needs to be done? What is the role of the laity in our ministries? Many times we leave alone situations which go against our Constitutions. For example, you definitely are able to oppose some ministry that is not in accord with our Constitutions.
Question 4: About the international flavor of the Community. The situation at the Leonine College is difficult. Maybe it is necessary to change the experience, because at times it seems that the confreres there do not feel a part of the local community in Rome. It is necessary to revisit the situation at the College. Only a formal relationship has been established, and more attention needs to be given to this situation. Something needs to be tried that will benefit all those concerned, that is, the local community in Rome and the confreres who come to study.
Reply: The Leonine College ought to give us an opportunity to live more energetically the international flavor of our Congregation. In a meeting I had with the missionary students they expressed a desire to have an experience of more closeness. One possibility that might help is to invite them to these meetings of young missionaries.
Question 5: I want to express the following about my experience as a deacon. There is a real problem of living out fully my diaconate ministry in the province. On certain occasions there is a real feeling of distance between what is written and what is lived. We are not a community of friends. There are experiences of being false in our relationships. There is a spirit of being isolated and of having to confront problems by ourselves. There is a spirit of individualism in our community houses and that does not help us to grow. We really need to support each other.
Reply: Possibly we have yet to discover the richness of the ministries of the diaconate and of the Brothers in the Congregation. Many times what has been written are experiences of what has been lived and these can encourage other confreres. In reality, it is necessary to work for the benefit of the poor. Let me pick up on the theme of a lack of friendship in the Congregation. We need to ask ourselves often: Where do we find our best friends? Inside of or outside of the community? When I began my term as Superior General, I noticed that our young missionaries in the Congregation are living in a time of crisis. I have met resistance from the older missionaries toward the younger missionaries. There are many young missionaries in various provinces: Columbia, Poland, India and Brazil, for example…It is necessary to care for one’s vocation. From here came the idea of establishing a network of communication and encouragement for missionaries, who, like yourselves, want an exchange of experiences, of encouragement and of working with the poor.
The meeting ended with the celebration of the Eucharist with the Superior General as the main celebrant. Afterwards, the confreres shared a meal
(James Ward, C.M, translator)
