Chapter Communication - 18 May 2022
The work of the Chapter begins today. On Monday, six working teams were constituted, three French and three in English; the See-Judge-Act method was adopted too.
See: read, listen, and share. It is a matter of taking the pulse of the society, of the mission and of arriving at a global vision. This task is carried out with the different reports and sharing.
Judging: filtering the information and discerning the major orientations.
Acting: the implementation of the decisions and orientations, with the work of the post-chapter assemblies.
The first report to be presented is that of the Superior General. In his approach, the Superior General focuses more on the past six years than on projections for the next six years. He did not read the report. Rather, he provided a reading and working grid..
The General Council of the MSOLA addressed a word to the chapter, briefly describing the main orientations during its mandate and the collaboration between our two institutes, without forgetting the suggestions for the next General Council, coming from several members of the MSOLA. Our sisters participated in the Eucharist as well.
In the afternoon, the Superior General spoke mainly on four points:
1/- Six unique years for our Missionary Society:
Significant events have taken place during these six years. There was the celebration of the 150th anniversary of our foundation, the beatification of four confreres martyred in Algeria, the audience with Pope Francis, the plenary council in Kampala, our involvement in the preparation of the Abu Dhabi meeting, the cardinalate of our confrere Michael Fitzgerald. All these events encourage us in our missionary commitment. Moreover, they allow us to connect more intensely with our missionary origins and perceive God’s benevolence towards us.
The General Council initiated new projects for refugees in South Sudan and Uganda, as well as accepting a commitment in some parishes in Europe and North America for an apostolate among the African population. We experienced a live internet meeting with the three confreres who are involved in the South Sudan project and witnessed their happiness as they shared the challenges they face.
2/- 2016 Chapter Orientations:
The general council encouraged the ministry of Justice and Peace, Encounter and Respect for Creation. It did its best to appoint confreres in the Maghreb. Projects for refugees and migrants were started in and outside Africa. Efforts have been made to support IFIC in Bamako, Pisai. Covid has accelerated our use of technology and media, allowing many online meetings.
The general council regrets that it was not possible to establish a community in Addis Ababa.
3/- Challenges:
Pope Francis inspires us with a new missionary impulse. He does so constantly with important priorities:
- The Church reaching out to peripheries, on mission, stepping out of its comfort zones. The Church exists for mission.
- Integrity of creation and care for our common home. Ecology, climate change.
- The Church reforming itself in depth with transparency, interculturality, respect for differences and synodality, dialogue.
4/- Towards the future, and our chapter 2022:
How do we keep our jubilee flame lit and remain missionaries, prophetic witnesses? With what consequences for our community life, our lifestyle, our finances, the formation of candidates? In the synthesis of the responses, the themes of interculturality, dialogue constantly come up both at the level of community life, missionary apostolate and governance.
The teams continued the reflection.
