America/Asia: Meeting of the Superiors of Circumscription

Our mission is an invitation to build new relationships. Reflecting on the “Joy of the Gospel” and on “Laudato Sii” we feel stimulated to grow a theology of communion and inclusion, that will incorporate also our concerns for Mother Earth.

For this reason, in our planning we have tried not to forget any aspect of evangelization, especially that of social and environmental justice. This was the spirit that guided the meetings of provincials from Peru-Chile, Central America, Colombia, Brazil, Mexico, North America and the delegation of Asia.

The newly elected received the mandate from those who are coming to the end of their service and the entire group planned the continuity of our missionary project on the two continents.

We listened to the reports from each province, the signs of hope and the worries that the missionaries face in their home grounds. The connections between the provinces of America and Asia have been constantly improved and there is evidence of common pastoral lines.

Over the last six years the formation path of the young people joining us has become more qualified; we have intensified our activities in the field of justice and peace through itinerant courses against land grabbing, through our commitment to Vivat International at the United Nations, cooperating with other institutes in the Pan-Amazonia Ecclesial Network and the Iglesia y Minería Network.

We also held a continental meeting og indigenous pastoral and one on the basic Christian communities in the human peripheries, taking part – in order to ensure continuity – in the planning of the local Churches, learning from them and encouraging them.

We share a feeling of fragility and instability so that at times it is difficult to translate the options of the Institute into concrete and fruitful actions in our territories. But we thank God because we always find young people who come to us as they search for a meaningful life.

With zest and hope we have worked on our Continental Plan, inspired by the larger vision of the last General Chapter. We feel that we are called “to be at the frontiers as witnesses and prophets ofbrotherly relationships based on forgiveness, mercy and the joy of the Gospel.” With this spirit we went to meet the formation community of our international scholasticate in São Paulo. We shared our experiences of life and of mission and we entrusted them to Our Lady of Guadalupe, patroness of Latin America and mother of the indigenous people.

Visit of Fr. Rogelio Bustos Juárez, general assistant, to the community of São José do Rio Preto in the city of São Paulo, in Brazil. In the picture, from left: Fr. Vincenzo Santangelo, Fr. Francesco Lenzi, Fr. Rogelio, Fr. Alfonso Cigarini, Fr. Carlo Naldi and Fr. Lodovico Bonomi.