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European Continental Council
The European Continental Council for Vocation Promotion (VP) and Basic Formation (BF) was held from 12 to 14 April 2005 in Sunningdale, at the LP’s provincial house. In a serene climate and the confreres’ wonderful hospitality, the work proceeded well as it dealt with the proposed agenda.
Participants: Br. Hans Eigner (DSP) hans.eigner@comboni.de
Fr. Giorgio Padovan (I) giorgiopadovan@tin.it
Fr. Filipe Resende (P) secpvfdb@combonianos.pt o filiperes@combonianos.pt
Fr. Stefano Giudici (PO) stefano_giudici@yahoo.it o stefanogiudici@o2.pl
Fr. Enrique J. Rosich (E) quiquerosich@gnail.com
Fr. Francesco Chemello (LP) vrf@carglw.fsnet.co.uk
Fr. Laureano Rojo (SP E) provincial-es@combonianos.com
Fr. Girolamo Miante (C) formamccj@pcn.net
The European Continental Council for Vocation Promotion (VP) and Basic Formation (BF) was held from 12 to 14 April 2005 in Sunningdale, at the LP’s provincial house. In a serene climate and the confreres’ wonderful hospitality, the work proceeded well as it dealt with the proposed agenda.
1. Reports from the Provinces
Each secretary presented a report on the vocational and formative journey set in the provincial context (see the Appendixes).
The reports were followed by an exchange of questions and reflections.
a. London Province: We are doing a good work in schools – we are now at a delicate transition stage. From a pastoral work directed to young people in general, we are now moving to a more direct vocational approach and specific missionary commitment. This is quite important: the province is committing another confrere to work in VP (also in Leeds, besides Glasgow). The confreres are becoming more sensitive to this vocational approach. It is necessary to have continuity in this work.
We have given priority to visiting schools, because often in the parishes the young people are rather left on their own and there are no real activities for them.
b. Spain: In the province there are various initiatives for young people. The vocation promoter follows them for two years. The difficulties, however, are many. Often our meetings are occasional and there is no continuity. The Church in this country has not been efficient in providing particular attention to the youth reality.
c. Portugal: Though continuing with our vocation service among boys and adolescents, we are in the process of taking a greater commitment for the young people. Besides the Coimbra community, also the one in Maia will work among the youth.
The transition towards a more committed vocation work among the youth is considered to be an important and valid decision.
d. Italy: It is important to be attentive and to conjugate youth pastoral work and vocation work.
We are thinking of implementing activities in places where young people are present, like Taizé, Assisi… The presence of a vocation promoter and some youth belonging to the GIM, would allow new ways of approaching them and let them know about the Comboni missionary vocation journey.
We are trying to see how to start the presence of a small community with the help of the GIM in Naples.
e. DSP: Bro. Hans Eigner has returned from Kenya a few months ago and is slowly getting to know the situation of the DSP’s province. In Germany the youth is characterised by indifference, just like in Spain. There are young people searching for spiritual commitment, but not lifetime commitment. We hope to organise a team of confreres in the province for vocation promotion work and address in this way young people in search of a commitment.
For the GMC in Cologne there is nothing special organised. We have made ourselves available and cooperate with the dioceses. It is the same for the other European provinces.
f. Poland: In spite of the difficulties, we are working hard. We expect 3 or 4 candidates per year for the postulancy.
As for personnel, we would need extra confreres. We haven’t managed, for the moment, to have a formative community for the postulancy.
The suggestion to reorganise the third-year postulancy in order to better prepare the candidates for the novitiate, is very important and to be carefully followed up in its implementation.
2. Challenges for VP and BF and conclusions of the 2004 assembly in Venegono
Beginning from the challenges presented during the European Continental Council for VP and BF in Madrid (2004) and from the conclusions of the Venegono assembly (2004), we tried to underline some important aspects concerning vocational and formative journeys in our provinces.
a. We have often stressed how important it is that Mission be, in a constant manner, the inspirational source of our formation. We would like to stress also another aspect that has emerged in the meeting of the provincials/delegates superiors in Cairo: It is the Institute as a whole, with its identity and witness, which “forms us”. This, then, requires a greater and better involvement of all confreres.
We find in our provinces, at times, a sense of discouragement and disinterestedness concerning the service of vocation promotion, as if it were no longer worth to work in this field.
b. We feel the need of greater cooperation between mission animation and vocation promotion: not only for what concerns the work, but especially for the sharing of ideas.
c. Personnel: As for the vocation promoters in Europe, it would be good to have confreres who have already had a missionary experience.
As for the formative communities for the postulancies: It is necessary to have a special attitude that shows how the whole community becomes involved in this “formative” process. It has to have a lifestyle that truly bears witness to our choice, which is one of a fundamentally missionary attitude.
d. Criteria and values for the formative journey: we trying to propose and implement them together with the candidates. We believe that the personalisation of formation, in the life of a group, is the best way to accompany the young people.
e. We would like to underline the importance of discernment, a great responsibility in our provinces. If on the one hand clear criteria and values for the transition through the various formative stages have been articulate, on the other hand, often, these are not implemented in the same way and depth.
We have to support one another in a better way in the discernment with greater collaboration among the promoters and formators (like, for instance, to have a discernment week for the candidates before entering the postulancy).
In the formative community: dialogue between the formators and the confreres in the community.
Provincial Councils: an interest from and visits by the provincial superior and his council to the formative communities.
An important point: listening to and dialoguing with the formators.
f. We are aware of the attitudes of today’s youth, with their riches but also with their fragility and fragmentariness. At times, young people who show commitment for a certain period of time (like in one of the formative stages), going on to the next stage lose their enthusiasm and motivations. There are also quite strong social and family conditionings.
It is a challenge for us to get to know today’s youth in a better way, together with their expectations, and to accompany them in their desire to commit themselves with the gift of their life.
3. The 2006 VP and BF assembly
The next assembly of vocation promoters and formators, as decided last year in Venegono, will mainly deal with basic formation.
To this effect, the commission set up by the General Council for ongoing formation of promoters and formators (AC ’03, 62.1) is preparing an agenda for the 2006 and 2007 continental assemblies.
The proposal focuses on the service of the promoters and formators about the candidates’ accompaniment. We would like to offer the confreres a theoretical picture in an interdisciplinary perspective concerning the anthropology of Christian vocation, which would help us to get an integral vision of the person, so that we may know how to integrate the psychological growth with the spiritual and theological one. Such an integrative process will be useful both to the person in formation as well as to the formator.
The Continental Council accepts and approves the proposed programme that will have to be further elaborated by the commission in the months ahead. Some suggestions to keep in mind:
- The work in the assembly must not be too technical, but of practical help to the confreres in their service.
- In the agenda it must be added the research for a core of values on which to base our formation.
- In the workshops we must take into account the service of promoters and formators by suggesting various tracks of deepening.
- The programme has to take into account the number of days available.
- It is fitting that such an experience becomes “formative” first of all for the promoters and formators: an experience, therefore, of ongoing formation.
- We suggest that the commission for Ongoing Formation (OGF) for formators plans a time for sharing on one’s own experience concerning the accompaniment (accompanied in order to accompany) as a strong experience for our living out our missionary vocation (in relation to the Ratio Missionis).
The assembly will take place in Coimbra (Portugal) from 26 June to 6 July 2005.
26 June: arrival (by plane: arrive at Oporto).
27 June – 4 July: formation of promoters and formators (keeping in mind that the 2nd of July is a Sunday): six and a half days of OGF.
5 July: at least half a day of assembly for the participants on various aspects of VP and BF.
6 July: departure.
The assembly will be organised with the collaboration of the secretary for vocation formation of Portugal, of Fr. Girolamo Miante and Fr. Laureano Rojo, in conjunction with the commission for OGF of the formators.
4. European assembly of the Comboni Brothers
The 2004 continental assembly at Venegono was encouraging a European meeting of Brothers’ representatives from each province for the purpose of helping in the reflection about exploring new ways of proposing the vocation to the Brotherhood and for accompanying the Brothers candidates.
A commission of Brothers from the Italian province has met to reflect and suggest a practical proposal in view of such an assembly (see the “conclusions” of the 2004 Assembly in Venegono).
The Continental Council has accepted and approved the proposal, underlining how the European assembly will have, on the one hand, to take into account today’s concrete reality of our Institute and, on the other hand, to encourage all those who will take part to make a global reflection with plenty of suggestions, filled with hope, and for a qualitative service in the European provinces.
How to proceed?
- The provincial superior of Spain, Fr. Laureano Rojo, coordinator of the sector for VP and BF, will write to the European provincials to present his proposal and ask for their opinion.
- With the provincials’ consent, the Continental Council will propose Bro. Simone della Monica, councillor of the Italian province, and Bro. Hans Eigner of the DSP and member of the Continental Council, to be the coordinators of this initiative, in collaboration with the commission of some of the Brothers of the Italian province who have made the proposal in the first place.
- We leave it up to them to prepare the agenda and plan the meeting in details.
- The venue could either be Limone or Ellwangen. As for the dates: to choose between the two dates already proposed for the month of September.
5. Interprovincial European Postulancy
We have reflected, once again, on the problem of a European postulancy. Presently there are three postulancies in Europe: Krakow in Poland (8 postulants), Padova in Italy (6 postulants) and Maia in Portugal (4 postulants). The candidates’ number is rather small.
In other provinces, for now, we work in VP. The question is: What would we do if there were also candidates from these provinces? Should we begin to think of a European postulancy?
The first steps in formation should be taken in one’s own cultural environment. Looking at our various steps of formation, we must also keep in mind the importance of the “language”, trying not to make the candidates go through acrobatic somersaults. For some, a jump into an international postulancy is already quite difficult. An interprovincial postulancy, therefore, does not seem appropriate.
We decided to try to find the solution in the province: by inserting the young candidates in a community that becomes involved with their formation and a confrere to accompany them on their journey.
6. European Novitiate
The present experience of the novices is positive; the climate is one of commitment.
The proposal of a different location as the venue for the Novitiate comes up again:
The province of Spain offers the house of Granada. The LP suggests that the house of Elstree could be adapted for this purpose, now that the scholasticate is closing down.
Concerning the two new proposals, we stress that the house must not be too big and that the language has to be one that will be useful for the purpose of the scholasticate/CIF and the mission.
For the preparation to the Novitiate:
The 2004 assembly in Venegono has underlined the importance of a good introduction to the Novitiate, especially for the non-Italian candidates: language, culture, social and ecclesial reality…
There have been, so far, various experiences but not always with good results.
Our proposals are as follows:
a) The initiatives planned during the period of postulancy (like language study) are the decision and the responsibility of the formative community for the postulancy in charge of it.
b) During the months before the beginning of the novitiate: the established programme of introduction for novice candidates will be the responsibility of the formative team of the Venegono novitiate.
7. Scholasticates
Rome: The General Council in June 2004 wrote to the provincial council of Italy with the proposal that the scholasticate at the Curia passed under the responsibility of the of the Italian province. The proposal was well accepted by the secretariat for VP of the Italian province. We are waiting for the PC’s reply to this proposal.
Elstree: For the school year 2005-2006 there will be a formator and four scholastics (three finalists and one deacon ordained this year, but who will finish his studies in February 2006). We are studying an alternative possibility: either to leave the group in Elstree or transfer it to another community (Dawson Place…).
8. Laypeople
We briefly discussed the situation of the laypeople in our provinces, especially with reference to the youth. The young people, indeed, who do not choose a missionary commitment for life, may well take part and live the missionary charism through new possibilities. About this, the next European meeting will be important for clarifying the laypeople’s situation: 6-9 May in Ellwangen.
9. Ratio Missionis
Fr. Enrique Rosich, a member of the core commission for the Ratio Missionis, has presented a report on “how to be animators in the secretariats of VP and BF concerning the Ratio Missionis.”
There followed a discussion and sharing on some of the points:
We take part in the commitment of the provinces to reflect about the Ratio Missionis. The confreres’ acceptance varies a bit. Some are more attentive and receptive; others show less enthusiasm. A strong encouragement from the base will be needed.
For the next assembly for BF in 2006 we propose that the commission for the OGF for formators plans a moment for sharing on one’s own experience of accompaniment (accompanied in order to accompany) as a strong experience of our own living out our missionary vocation.
Fr the Continental Council: on the eve of our 2006 assembly, 26 June, we shall spend the day in sharing, as suggested by the journey for the preparation of the Ratio Missionis (RM).
For the provincial secretariats: in their planned meetings, to set aside a time to share about the “inserts” that have appeared in Familia Comboniana during these months.
The “questionnaires” that have been prepared for the confreres of Africa and America have to be handed in to the commission for the RM.
The meeting of formators working in houses of formation in Italy, which is planned for the week after Easter of 2006, should have as a theme: Ratio Missionis. The invitations to the meeting may be extended to other formators: Innsbruck, Poland, etc.
Ask other groups (like the laypeople…) how they see us in our missionary commitment.
10. Continental Council
The Continental Council will meet during the 2006 European assembly in Coimbra.
On 26 June: reflection and sharing on the Ratio Missionis.
On 6 July, at the end of the assembly: to plan ahead.
The members of the Council will have to arrive in Coimbra on 25 June and leave on 7 July.
The Continental Council wishes to stress the significance and importance of the meeting, as encouraged and proposed by the 2003 General Chapter. The fact that we can meet as provincial secretaries allows us not only to reflect on the various vocational and formative situations in Europe and the provinces, but also to experience communion and collaboration by building bridges to link us up and overcome possible walls and barriers, so that we may grow in unity and creativity in the same Comboni missionary vocation.
Rome, 20 April 2005
Fr. Girolamo Miante
Secretary of Formation
Fr. Giorgio Padovan (I) giorgiopadovan@tin.it
Fr. Filipe Resende (P) secpvfdb@combonianos.pt o filiperes@combonianos.pt
Fr. Stefano Giudici (PO) stefano_giudici@yahoo.it o stefanogiudici@o2.pl
Fr. Enrique J. Rosich (E) quiquerosich@gnail.com
Fr. Francesco Chemello (LP) vrf@carglw.fsnet.co.uk
Fr. Laureano Rojo (SP E) provincial-es@combonianos.com
Fr. Girolamo Miante (C) formamccj@pcn.net
The European Continental Council for Vocation Promotion (VP) and Basic Formation (BF) was held from 12 to 14 April 2005 in Sunningdale, at the LP’s provincial house. In a serene climate and the confreres’ wonderful hospitality, the work proceeded well as it dealt with the proposed agenda.
1. Reports from the Provinces
Each secretary presented a report on the vocational and formative journey set in the provincial context (see the Appendixes).
The reports were followed by an exchange of questions and reflections.
a. London Province: We are doing a good work in schools – we are now at a delicate transition stage. From a pastoral work directed to young people in general, we are now moving to a more direct vocational approach and specific missionary commitment. This is quite important: the province is committing another confrere to work in VP (also in Leeds, besides Glasgow). The confreres are becoming more sensitive to this vocational approach. It is necessary to have continuity in this work.
We have given priority to visiting schools, because often in the parishes the young people are rather left on their own and there are no real activities for them.
b. Spain: In the province there are various initiatives for young people. The vocation promoter follows them for two years. The difficulties, however, are many. Often our meetings are occasional and there is no continuity. The Church in this country has not been efficient in providing particular attention to the youth reality.
c. Portugal: Though continuing with our vocation service among boys and adolescents, we are in the process of taking a greater commitment for the young people. Besides the Coimbra community, also the one in Maia will work among the youth.
The transition towards a more committed vocation work among the youth is considered to be an important and valid decision.
d. Italy: It is important to be attentive and to conjugate youth pastoral work and vocation work.
We are thinking of implementing activities in places where young people are present, like Taizé, Assisi… The presence of a vocation promoter and some youth belonging to the GIM, would allow new ways of approaching them and let them know about the Comboni missionary vocation journey.
We are trying to see how to start the presence of a small community with the help of the GIM in Naples.
e. DSP: Bro. Hans Eigner has returned from Kenya a few months ago and is slowly getting to know the situation of the DSP’s province. In Germany the youth is characterised by indifference, just like in Spain. There are young people searching for spiritual commitment, but not lifetime commitment. We hope to organise a team of confreres in the province for vocation promotion work and address in this way young people in search of a commitment.
For the GMC in Cologne there is nothing special organised. We have made ourselves available and cooperate with the dioceses. It is the same for the other European provinces.
f. Poland: In spite of the difficulties, we are working hard. We expect 3 or 4 candidates per year for the postulancy.
As for personnel, we would need extra confreres. We haven’t managed, for the moment, to have a formative community for the postulancy.
The suggestion to reorganise the third-year postulancy in order to better prepare the candidates for the novitiate, is very important and to be carefully followed up in its implementation.
2. Challenges for VP and BF and conclusions of the 2004 assembly in Venegono
Beginning from the challenges presented during the European Continental Council for VP and BF in Madrid (2004) and from the conclusions of the Venegono assembly (2004), we tried to underline some important aspects concerning vocational and formative journeys in our provinces.
a. We have often stressed how important it is that Mission be, in a constant manner, the inspirational source of our formation. We would like to stress also another aspect that has emerged in the meeting of the provincials/delegates superiors in Cairo: It is the Institute as a whole, with its identity and witness, which “forms us”. This, then, requires a greater and better involvement of all confreres.
We find in our provinces, at times, a sense of discouragement and disinterestedness concerning the service of vocation promotion, as if it were no longer worth to work in this field.
b. We feel the need of greater cooperation between mission animation and vocation promotion: not only for what concerns the work, but especially for the sharing of ideas.
c. Personnel: As for the vocation promoters in Europe, it would be good to have confreres who have already had a missionary experience.
As for the formative communities for the postulancies: It is necessary to have a special attitude that shows how the whole community becomes involved in this “formative” process. It has to have a lifestyle that truly bears witness to our choice, which is one of a fundamentally missionary attitude.
d. Criteria and values for the formative journey: we trying to propose and implement them together with the candidates. We believe that the personalisation of formation, in the life of a group, is the best way to accompany the young people.
e. We would like to underline the importance of discernment, a great responsibility in our provinces. If on the one hand clear criteria and values for the transition through the various formative stages have been articulate, on the other hand, often, these are not implemented in the same way and depth.
We have to support one another in a better way in the discernment with greater collaboration among the promoters and formators (like, for instance, to have a discernment week for the candidates before entering the postulancy).
In the formative community: dialogue between the formators and the confreres in the community.
Provincial Councils: an interest from and visits by the provincial superior and his council to the formative communities.
An important point: listening to and dialoguing with the formators.
f. We are aware of the attitudes of today’s youth, with their riches but also with their fragility and fragmentariness. At times, young people who show commitment for a certain period of time (like in one of the formative stages), going on to the next stage lose their enthusiasm and motivations. There are also quite strong social and family conditionings.
It is a challenge for us to get to know today’s youth in a better way, together with their expectations, and to accompany them in their desire to commit themselves with the gift of their life.
3. The 2006 VP and BF assembly
The next assembly of vocation promoters and formators, as decided last year in Venegono, will mainly deal with basic formation.
To this effect, the commission set up by the General Council for ongoing formation of promoters and formators (AC ’03, 62.1) is preparing an agenda for the 2006 and 2007 continental assemblies.
The proposal focuses on the service of the promoters and formators about the candidates’ accompaniment. We would like to offer the confreres a theoretical picture in an interdisciplinary perspective concerning the anthropology of Christian vocation, which would help us to get an integral vision of the person, so that we may know how to integrate the psychological growth with the spiritual and theological one. Such an integrative process will be useful both to the person in formation as well as to the formator.
The Continental Council accepts and approves the proposed programme that will have to be further elaborated by the commission in the months ahead. Some suggestions to keep in mind:
- The work in the assembly must not be too technical, but of practical help to the confreres in their service.
- In the agenda it must be added the research for a core of values on which to base our formation.
- In the workshops we must take into account the service of promoters and formators by suggesting various tracks of deepening.
- The programme has to take into account the number of days available.
- It is fitting that such an experience becomes “formative” first of all for the promoters and formators: an experience, therefore, of ongoing formation.
- We suggest that the commission for Ongoing Formation (OGF) for formators plans a time for sharing on one’s own experience concerning the accompaniment (accompanied in order to accompany) as a strong experience for our living out our missionary vocation (in relation to the Ratio Missionis).
The assembly will take place in Coimbra (Portugal) from 26 June to 6 July 2005.
26 June: arrival (by plane: arrive at Oporto).
27 June – 4 July: formation of promoters and formators (keeping in mind that the 2nd of July is a Sunday): six and a half days of OGF.
5 July: at least half a day of assembly for the participants on various aspects of VP and BF.
6 July: departure.
The assembly will be organised with the collaboration of the secretary for vocation formation of Portugal, of Fr. Girolamo Miante and Fr. Laureano Rojo, in conjunction with the commission for OGF of the formators.
4. European assembly of the Comboni Brothers
The 2004 continental assembly at Venegono was encouraging a European meeting of Brothers’ representatives from each province for the purpose of helping in the reflection about exploring new ways of proposing the vocation to the Brotherhood and for accompanying the Brothers candidates.
A commission of Brothers from the Italian province has met to reflect and suggest a practical proposal in view of such an assembly (see the “conclusions” of the 2004 Assembly in Venegono).
The Continental Council has accepted and approved the proposal, underlining how the European assembly will have, on the one hand, to take into account today’s concrete reality of our Institute and, on the other hand, to encourage all those who will take part to make a global reflection with plenty of suggestions, filled with hope, and for a qualitative service in the European provinces.
How to proceed?
- The provincial superior of Spain, Fr. Laureano Rojo, coordinator of the sector for VP and BF, will write to the European provincials to present his proposal and ask for their opinion.
- With the provincials’ consent, the Continental Council will propose Bro. Simone della Monica, councillor of the Italian province, and Bro. Hans Eigner of the DSP and member of the Continental Council, to be the coordinators of this initiative, in collaboration with the commission of some of the Brothers of the Italian province who have made the proposal in the first place.
- We leave it up to them to prepare the agenda and plan the meeting in details.
- The venue could either be Limone or Ellwangen. As for the dates: to choose between the two dates already proposed for the month of September.
5. Interprovincial European Postulancy
We have reflected, once again, on the problem of a European postulancy. Presently there are three postulancies in Europe: Krakow in Poland (8 postulants), Padova in Italy (6 postulants) and Maia in Portugal (4 postulants). The candidates’ number is rather small.
In other provinces, for now, we work in VP. The question is: What would we do if there were also candidates from these provinces? Should we begin to think of a European postulancy?
The first steps in formation should be taken in one’s own cultural environment. Looking at our various steps of formation, we must also keep in mind the importance of the “language”, trying not to make the candidates go through acrobatic somersaults. For some, a jump into an international postulancy is already quite difficult. An interprovincial postulancy, therefore, does not seem appropriate.
We decided to try to find the solution in the province: by inserting the young candidates in a community that becomes involved with their formation and a confrere to accompany them on their journey.
6. European Novitiate
The present experience of the novices is positive; the climate is one of commitment.
The proposal of a different location as the venue for the Novitiate comes up again:
The province of Spain offers the house of Granada. The LP suggests that the house of Elstree could be adapted for this purpose, now that the scholasticate is closing down.
Concerning the two new proposals, we stress that the house must not be too big and that the language has to be one that will be useful for the purpose of the scholasticate/CIF and the mission.
For the preparation to the Novitiate:
The 2004 assembly in Venegono has underlined the importance of a good introduction to the Novitiate, especially for the non-Italian candidates: language, culture, social and ecclesial reality…
There have been, so far, various experiences but not always with good results.
Our proposals are as follows:
a) The initiatives planned during the period of postulancy (like language study) are the decision and the responsibility of the formative community for the postulancy in charge of it.
b) During the months before the beginning of the novitiate: the established programme of introduction for novice candidates will be the responsibility of the formative team of the Venegono novitiate.
7. Scholasticates
Rome: The General Council in June 2004 wrote to the provincial council of Italy with the proposal that the scholasticate at the Curia passed under the responsibility of the of the Italian province. The proposal was well accepted by the secretariat for VP of the Italian province. We are waiting for the PC’s reply to this proposal.
Elstree: For the school year 2005-2006 there will be a formator and four scholastics (three finalists and one deacon ordained this year, but who will finish his studies in February 2006). We are studying an alternative possibility: either to leave the group in Elstree or transfer it to another community (Dawson Place…).
8. Laypeople
We briefly discussed the situation of the laypeople in our provinces, especially with reference to the youth. The young people, indeed, who do not choose a missionary commitment for life, may well take part and live the missionary charism through new possibilities. About this, the next European meeting will be important for clarifying the laypeople’s situation: 6-9 May in Ellwangen.
9. Ratio Missionis
Fr. Enrique Rosich, a member of the core commission for the Ratio Missionis, has presented a report on “how to be animators in the secretariats of VP and BF concerning the Ratio Missionis.”
There followed a discussion and sharing on some of the points:
We take part in the commitment of the provinces to reflect about the Ratio Missionis. The confreres’ acceptance varies a bit. Some are more attentive and receptive; others show less enthusiasm. A strong encouragement from the base will be needed.
For the next assembly for BF in 2006 we propose that the commission for the OGF for formators plans a moment for sharing on one’s own experience of accompaniment (accompanied in order to accompany) as a strong experience of our own living out our missionary vocation.
Fr the Continental Council: on the eve of our 2006 assembly, 26 June, we shall spend the day in sharing, as suggested by the journey for the preparation of the Ratio Missionis (RM).
For the provincial secretariats: in their planned meetings, to set aside a time to share about the “inserts” that have appeared in Familia Comboniana during these months.
The “questionnaires” that have been prepared for the confreres of Africa and America have to be handed in to the commission for the RM.
The meeting of formators working in houses of formation in Italy, which is planned for the week after Easter of 2006, should have as a theme: Ratio Missionis. The invitations to the meeting may be extended to other formators: Innsbruck, Poland, etc.
Ask other groups (like the laypeople…) how they see us in our missionary commitment.
10. Continental Council
The Continental Council will meet during the 2006 European assembly in Coimbra.
On 26 June: reflection and sharing on the Ratio Missionis.
On 6 July, at the end of the assembly: to plan ahead.
The members of the Council will have to arrive in Coimbra on 25 June and leave on 7 July.
The Continental Council wishes to stress the significance and importance of the meeting, as encouraged and proposed by the 2003 General Chapter. The fact that we can meet as provincial secretaries allows us not only to reflect on the various vocational and formative situations in Europe and the provinces, but also to experience communion and collaboration by building bridges to link us up and overcome possible walls and barriers, so that we may grow in unity and creativity in the same Comboni missionary vocation.
Rome, 20 April 2005
Fr. Girolamo Miante
Secretary of Formation