From Comboni’s Plan to the Comboni Missionaries’ Plan

“My Father’s glory is shown by your bearing much fruit, and in this way you become my disciples. I love you just as the Father loves me. Remain in my love… I have told you this so that my own joy may be in you and your joy be complete.” (Jn 15:8-11)

It is with this quotation from Jn 15:8-11 that the Introductive document to the study aids for the XVII Chapter , dated: Rome, 6 November 2008.

The Preparatory Commission has worked out this compendium by sorting through the many documents received from the Thematic Commissions. It is intended to be a guide in studying the documents that provide information to the confreres and the Provincial Assemblies.

With a further contribution of the Pre-capitular Commission, appointed during the October-November Consulta, these texts will be the basis for the work of the Chapter Delegates’ Continental Assemblies that will take place during April-May next year.

The four Thematic Commissions, appointed by the General Council in November 2007, have produced the basic papers and documents that have to guide the confreres’ reflection on the four main themes that have emerged: Ratio Missionis, Formation, Government and General Chapter’s By-laws.

The present synthesis, together with the contributions and documents prepared by the Thematic Commissions and the individual contributions received so far, form the basic text for preparing the XVII General Chapter.

After this introductory explanation, the Documents give details on how to interpret the reports of the Thematic Commissions, thus highlighting the important themes of the next General Chapter, namely the Ratio Missionis, Formation, Government and By-laws (Statute).

The main themes identified by the Ratio Missionis are: spirituality, identity-charism, mission-evangelisation.

The document of the Thematic Commission for Formation considers three aspects: the Comboni educative model is one of integration; the educative model has as its focal point the mission model, which was stressed during the journey of the RM during these years; the formative proposals originating from the two preceding points were summed up by the Commission in four proposals.

The Thematic Commission on Government attempts to highlight a certain uneasiness and it proposes again alternative systems of government, inviting us to study them in the light of some characteristics, like simplicity, personnel management, continuity, subsidiarity and general secretariats.

Finally, the By-laws (Statute) of the Chapter offer points for a methodology in order to proceed in an orderly fashion to allow dialogue among the Chapter Delegates. The text of the By-laws proposed by the Thematic Commission gives the possibility, at the discretion of the Delegates, to follow a procedure of community and collaborative discernment concerning the most important or hottest topics, avoiding the premature focusing on the drafting of the document.

Comboni Press