Comboni Media – From the 19th General Chapter to the Six-Year Plans 2023-2028

Will it be possible to arrive at a single mission paradigm? Looking at the increasing development of new communication and information technologies and the use of the Internet, what changes could we make to our traditional methods of doing missionary animation? Do we still feel the need to keep the flame of missionary animation alive according to traditional models, or do we need to find new ways?

He continues asking some more specific questions about the Six Year Plans.

Have these Plans taken into consideration the Guidelines of the 19^th General Chapter? Have the circumscriptions drawn up a communication plan, which have been approved by their superiors? Does it make sense to say that every member of the Comboni Institute must be a missionary animator?

The aim is to seek answers to these questions, looking at the reality of the Comboni circumscriptions, starting from the author’s thirty years of personal experience in the service of communication.

As can be seen in the title, this study is divided into two parts.

In the first part, all the means of communication, both internal and external, of the Comboni Institute are collected (see Table 1 attached). Today, communication, for the Comboni missionaries, says Father Arlindo, is a necessity, indeed an obligation: to know the missionary activity of yesterday and today of the Church, and therefore of the Comboni missionaries, is a right of friends, of benefactors, and of current and future confreres. Moreover, the efforts of so many confreres in this area are commendable.

Father Arlindo recalls some historical commitments – such as EMI, MISNA, Comboni Press – and observes that many Comboni missionaries make extensive use of the means of communication for the work of evangelisation and missionary animation, especially in the field of printed publications, but also with their presence on the Web.

In the second part, a comparative synopsis is made between the texts of the Chapter Acts (AC ’22, 31.6; 32 and 33) and the texts of the 2023-2028 Six-Year Plans. To analyse what elements of the 19^th General Chapter (guidelines and priorities) are present in these six-year plans, father Arlindo, as a methodology, chooses four summary indicators: Specialisations, Communication, Communication Plan and Collaboration (the results can be seen in Table 2 and Table 3).

In conclusion, Father Arlindo expresses his awareness that he has not said everything, and that it is necessary to continue to deepen many of the issues raised, through a comparison of ideas and a sharing of experiences that the Plans have not always named, in order to get to year 2028 and see one of the dreams of the 19^th General Chapter fulfilled: “We dream of a missionary style more inserted into the reality of the peoples we accompany... A missionary style that is also characterised by simpler lifestyles and structures within intercultural communities where we witness fraternity, communion, social friendship, and service to the local Churches through specific pastorals, ministerial collaboration and shared pathways.”

Comboni Media and Missionary Animation.
From the XIX General Chapter to the 6-Year Plans 2023-2028

We would like to begin this presentation with an appreciation for all the Comboni confrères who, both yesterday and today, are committed to promoting and carrying out numerous initiatives and projects in this vast sector of mission – which specifically includes, among other things, missionary animation – often under difficult and complex circumstances. Special thanks go to the confrères who produce and disseminate information about Comboni activities worldwide with quality and timeliness, through both print and digital media, in all the circumscriptions of our Institute.

Before delving into our topic, we suggest some general questions with a dual purpose: first, to help us enter the current reality of our media and reflect on their connection with missionary animation; second, to verify whether the 2023-2028 Six-Year Plans of the various Comboni circumscriptions have taken into account, or not, the decisions (guidelines) of the XIX General Chapter.

So let us ask ourselves:

1. Does it still make sense to talk about missionary animation in a period of profound social and ecclesial change, such as the one we are living in¹, and especially after the decision of the 2015 General Chapter (AC ’15, 64) to merge the secretariat of evangelization, missionary animation, and the offices (LMC and GPIC) into a single secretariat called the General Secretariat of Mission²?
2. Is it just a problem of understanding – or language – of the two concepts of mission and missionary animation, or are we facing a substantial change in vision and paradigm/model of mission?
3. Can we arrive at a single mission paradigm (or missionary animation model) in a society as plural as the one in which we find ourselves working, whether in Europe, America, Asia, or Africa?
4. Looking at the growing development of new communication and information technologies and the use of the Internet – particularly social media and web platforms – what changes could we make, even gradually, to our traditional methods of mission animation?
5. As Comboni Missionaries, do we still feel the need to keep the flame of missionary animation alive according to traditional models, or do we need to find new ways?
6. Has the 2023-2028 Six-Year Plan of your circumscription taken into account the Guidelines of the XIX General Chapter (AC ’22, 31.6 and from 32 to 33.5)?
7. Does your province or delegation, the Missionary Animation Center (CAM), and the Comboni Media have a written communication plan approved by the circumscription’s superior?
8. Does it make sense to insist that each Comboni Missionary should be a missionary animator?
9. Who do you/we collaborate with in your circumscription?

The main objective of this address is to help us reflect and seek answers to these questions. Let us say immediately and clearly that we have no pretensions of exhausting the topic, but we wish to share some ideas, looking at the reality of the Comboni circumscriptions and starting from our personal experience of mission (missionary animation) of over thirty years in the service of communication, both within the Institute and in numerous local Churches.

1. Comboni Media³ and Missionary Animation

At the threshold of the 21st century, we Comboni Missionaries can no longer consider communication – both internal and external – as an option, a choice among others, but rather as an ‘inevitable mission’, a necessity, an obligation. Saint Daniel Comboni, if he were alive, would be the first to use all available means for mission animation, to tell the daily story of the mission among the most needy nearby and distant peoples, and to seek human, spiritual, and economic resources, involving everyone in the mission of Jesus and the Church.

Knowing about the missionary activity of the Church, both past and present, and thus of the Comboni Missionaries, is a right primarily of the friends and benefactors who know and support us at all levels. Additionally, it is also a right of current and especially future Comboni missionaries who will want to know what we have done and are doing as individual missionaries, as a community, and as an Institute.
Every missionary, therefore, has the undeniable duty to communicate, narrate, and make visible the beautiful stories as well as the difficulties of evangelization and the Comboni mission. This responsibility particularly falls on major superiors who, by the nature of their functions, have a duty to communicate and must strive to keep documents on the life and mission of each Comboni community and circumscription organized and updated.

If we did not have the Acts of the Apostles, what would we know today about the activities of the early Church? If we did not have Comboni’s Writings, what would we know today about the missionary activity and primordial charism of our founder?
The efforts of many confrères from our provinces and delegations in this communication sector are commendable. Many Comboni Missionaries, either full-time or part-time or occasionally, supported by journalists, technicians, and lay staff in administration, make extensive use of communication tools for evangelization work (Rule of Life 59.3) and mission animation.

The main effort is still in the field of printed publications, such as magazines, books, calendars, and newsletters. Following this are web presence, significant participation in social networks, and some initiatives in television, radio (Podcasts), and short video productions, mainly published on YouTube. In Ecuador, for example, a weekly Podcast is broadcast on general missionary themes, missionary spirituality, ecology, Church and other topics.

In this presentation no mention is made of online or in-person courses that the circumscriptions are using as new forms of mission animation.

Out of a total of 28 circumscriptions – including Poland and the Curia/General Direction, which are not circumscriptions – we see that practically every province or delegation has at least one internal communication bulletin. Only two do not mention any. Internal publications, in general, do not have a fixed periodicity. However, we should remember that the Comboni Rule of Life states that at the circumscription level “A newsletter is published periodically for the purpose to keep all members informed and interested in the activities and developments of the province” (RV 128.2).
Regarding external communication, 20 circumscriptions publish one or more magazines, either independently or in collaboration with other neighbouring circumscriptions in the same language – New People, for the Anglophone Africa circumscriptions (APDESAM: Egypt/Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Uganda, Kenya, Malawi/Zambia, South Africa, and Mozambique) and Afriquespoir for the Francophone Africa circumscriptions (ASCAF: DR Congo, Central African Republic, Chad, and Togo/Ghana/Benin) – or with other Institutes – Kontinente in Germany. In Mozambique, the magazine Vida Nova – owned by the Archdiocese of Nampula – was taken over by the Comboni Missionaries shortly after its founding on January 1, 1960, and is still the only Catholic magazine printed and distributed nationwide.

Currently, there are 17 Comboni magazines: Africa (5), America (5), Asia (1), Europe (6). There are 7 more for youth and adolescents: America (3) and Europe (4). Additionally, although not always indicated, the main Comboni magazines in Europe and America have their own publishing house for the publication of books aimed at mission animation and vocation promotion.
In this regard, we would like to point out an example of missionary animation in the Spanish province, where a confrère is dedicated full time and involves local Comboni communities in distributing books and the magazines Mundo Negro and Aguiluchos in parishes, at book fairs, and other public events nationwide.
Each magazine always sends at least one copy of each issue to the Library of the General Curia in Rome. Any subscription by the Library is paid through the office of the General Bursar.

Three circumscriptions do not yet have their own website. The websites of two provinces are currently inactive, although we have been informed that they are trying to resolve some technical issues. Four circumscriptions are not present on social networks. Twenty circumscriptions, in addition to having one or more websites for different audiences, are also present on social networks, even on one or more platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter (now X), YouTube, and Instagram.
It is also important to note that, in addition to the printed edition, many magazines already offer digital subscriptions (e.g., Portugal, Spain, Italy), sending the PDF by email to subscribers or allowing them to read/download it directly from the magazine’s website (or both options).

Observing the richness of print publications, websites, and social network presence, it can be concluded that the Comboni Missionaries make good use of communication tools, including the Internet, to make themselves known and give visibility to missionary activities in the countries where they operate⁴. However, visiting some of our social networks and websites, we notice that the information is not always regularly updated.

A novelty among our publications is the use of Apps for mobile phones (some only for Android), downloadable from Google Play and AppStore. As far as we know, they have already been created by the circumscriptions of Brazil, Colombia, the General Curia, Germany (DSP), and Portugal.

An experience worth reflecting on more and possibly applying to other similar circumstances is the editions published and distributed in communion and collaboration among various circumscriptions. We refer, for example, to the magazines Afriquespoir and New People, published in Africa, and Iglesia sin Fronteras and Aguiluchos in America. The editorial office of Afriquespoir is located in Kinshasa, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), but the magazine is supported and distributed in the circumscriptions of the Comboni Missionary Sisters and the Comboni Missionaries of ASCAF. Afriquespoir prints 4,000 copies in the DRC, 800 of which are sent to Central Africa (RCA) and 2,500 to Togo, distributed among Togo, Ghana, Benin, and Chad. The same applies to the New People Media Centre and the magazine New People, published in Nairobi, Kenya, but supported and distributed in the circumscriptions of APDESAM. The province of South Sudan also prepares a local insert that is added to the New People magazine distributed in the province. The magazines Iglesia sin Fronteras and Aguiluchos of the Colombia Delegation are also sent in PDF to the Ecuador province⁵.

On the one hand, it is true that the print publications of the Comboni Missionaries are highly appreciated by the local Churches of the countries where they are distributed; this is evidenced by the frequent awards received for the quality and timeliness of their informational content. On the other hand, however, it is also true that in the last two decades there has been a continuous and significant decrease in the number of subscribers, so much so that, if this continues, some magazines will have to seriously consider whether to continue or close.
By comparing production costs and subscriptions revenues for our publications, it is observed that the vast majority of magazines are not sustainable on their own. However, these publications are precisely what give visibility to the Institute and its missionary activities worldwide and, for this reason, they foster a true ecclesial and missionary spirit among readers and also create a channel for economic sharing for our missionary work. Furthermore, the Comboni circumscriptions use these publications each year to launch missionary projects and fundraising campaigns, such as the “Crossing the Seas Campaign,” scholarships, and the Holy Redeemer Guild. Overall, our publications are necessary not only for the evangelization and missionary animation of the Church but also for the sustainability of the circumscriptions that publish them.

For publications – not only in Africa – that have greater difficulty sustaining themselves and thus often request financial assistance – including from the General Bursar’s Magazine Fund in Rome – we believe much more could be done in terms of fundraising before seeking help outside the country or circumscription, by increasing dissemination in their own territory and seeking more local benefactors. A problem reported by some circumscriptions, especially in Africa and America, is the difficulty of distributing publications by mail, further aggravated by the Covid-19 pandemic. This reality – as in the case of Ecuador and Peru – forces publishers to find new forms of distribution such as sending in digital format via the Internet.

Worth mentioning at the Institute level is the Comboni Press⁶, the press office of the General Curia in Rome, which originated from an intuition of Father Cirillo Tescaroli and continued the work of AIMIS (Missionary Information Agency) founded by him in 1964. Over the years, Comboni Press has consolidated itself as a missionary news agency, primarily disseminating texts and photos. Throughout these years, the following comfrères have been in charge of Comboni Press: Fathers Cirillo Tescaroli (1969-1981), Ezio Sorio (1981-83), Gaetano Nazzareno Contran (1984-90), Giuseppe Bragotti (1990-94), Manuel Augusto Lopes Ferreira (1995), Giovambattista Antonini (1996-2007), Gian Paolo Pezzi Trebeschi (2008-2009), Jorge Oscar García Castillo (2009-2010), and Arlindo Ferreira Pinto (from 2011 to today). However, for about fifteen years, with the development of communication technologies and the digital world, Comboni Press has been almost exclusively a point of reference for Comboni publications⁷.

Today it is no longer news to affirm that digital communication tools – without completely eliminating print media – are the more privileged forums for evangelization and mission and vocation animation, particularly among new generations. Therefore, they need to be given time and space in our circumscriptions, just as we do with other ecclesial and social ministries.
In short, the publications of the circumscriptions and of the Institute, while adapting to changing situations over time, are called to foster communion within the Institute, internally and externally, to provide an adequate and increasingly qualified service to evangelization and mission and vocation animation, to form consciences at the religious, social, and environmental levels, to commit to proclaiming the values of the Kingdom, to foster encounters between Churches and interreligious dialogue, to work with JPIC (Justice, Peace, and Integrity of Creation) Commissions, to cooperate among peoples, and to promote intercultural formation and respect for cultures.

In the history of the Italian Province and the Institute – it seems important to remember – there have been at least two significant commitments in the field of communication. First, the EMI publishing house, Editrice Missionaria Italiana, founded in 1973 in collaboration with the missionary institutes present in Italy, including Comboni Missionaries, PIME, Consolata Missionaries and Xaverian Missionaries. EMI entered a serious administrative crisis from 2008 to 2016, the year in which the Italian Province of the Comboni Missionaries withdrew from the project, and EMI has since been managed by professional laypeople. Second, the online news agency MISNA (Missionary International Service News Agency), founded in December 1997 by some Italian missionary institutes and closed on January 1, 2016, due to economic and personnel difficulties in continuing to manage the service. Evaluating the role or decisions of the Comboni Missionaries in both cases – EMI and MISNA – is not the purpose of this presentation.

2. From the XIX General Chapter to the 2023-2028 Six-Year Plans⁸

2.1 What Does the XIX General Chapter Say?
The fourth priority of the XIX General Chapter is “Ministeriality at the Service of Requalification”. On page 29 of the Guide to the Implementation of the XIX General Chapter – Having Dreams and Making Plans to Fulfil Them, it is stated that “Requalification also passes through a relaunch of missionary animation, which, in turn, requires reflection and deepening in view of its contextualisation in this new era in which we are living and in the specific contexts in which we work”.

However, we find the foundation for our theme, and for subsequent reflections, in Guideline 4 of the Chapter Acts 2022: “We value missionary animation, personal contact and social and digital communication, privileged means for reaching people, in our effort to make use of new forms of proclaiming the Word of God” (CA ’22, 32).

From this same Guideline come three commitments made by the chapter members that must be implemented during the six-year period 2023-2028, as indicated in the Guide to the Implementation of the XIX General Chapter on p. 30: “At the end of the sexennium, we expect to see consolidated paths of requalification of our missionary service, through (…) renewed missionary animation”.

Here are the three commitments made by the chapter members regarding Guideline 4:

– To accept the challenge of digital transformation that drives us to seek new ways to reach people in a sustainable way and to influence Christian communities and public opinion, collaborating with existing networks and territories (CA ’22, 32.1).

– To make communication plans that help us programme our work in this field (CA ’22, 32.2).

– To prepare missionary animators to promote new ways of missionary animation in the various continental contexts (CA ’22, 32.3).

Furthermore, Guideline 5 (CA ’22, 33) reinforces: “We promote ministerial collaboration as a style of mission, starting with the Comboni Family, the local Churches, the ecclesial movements and civil society according to the Comboni charism. The laity are our companions everywhere in the work of evangelization and transformation of society. Like Comboni who dreamed of a “Catholic” work, we try to bring together all the ecclesial and social forces for the Regeneration of Africa with Africa”.
Consequently, the chapter members made the following commitments regarding Guideline 5:

– To promote the ministerial formation of the laity and their insertion in the various pastoral services as partners in the mission and enhance their skills and service. (CA ’22, 33.1).

– To Promote and participate in experiences of apostolic communities to respond to the new challenges of the territories (CA ’22, 33.2).

– To appreciate the gift of the Comboni Family as the first area of collaboration. In particular, we follow up on the journey already started with the social ministries of the CF and we promote other forms of collaboration (CA ’22, 33.3).

– To strengthen our involvement also at the continental and / or circumscription levels in collaboration with the bodies of which we are members, such as Africa Europe Faith and Justice Network (AEFJN) and VIVAT International, and ecclesial organizations such as REPAM, REBAC, CLAR etc. (CA ’22, 33.4).

– To remain committed and meaningful in those areas where our human resources are diminishing, through collaboration and partnerships with other forces, offering a witness of profoundly evangelical life alongside other pastoral agents (CA ’22, 33.5).

Now that we know what the Chapter Acts say, let’s see to what extent the Six-Year Plans of the circumscriptions have taken into account the chapter decisions.

2.2 What Do We Find from the XIX General Chapter in the 2023-2028 Six-Year Plans?

There are currently 26 Comboni circumscriptions. If we include Poland and the Curia District, which are not circumscriptions in the strict sense, there are 28. Since the Curia District usually does not make a Six-Year Plan and two other provinces – for understandable reasons⁹ – have not yet developed it, we will consider a total of 25 Plans¹⁰.

From the commitments defined in Guidelines 4 and 5 of the XIX General Chapter, we chose four indicators, which became the focus of our research: Specializations, Communication, Communication Plan, and Collaboration.

After reading and collecting all references to these indicators in each of the 25 Six-Year Plans, we decided, as a methodology for reading the data collected, to organize them under three levels, to facilitate and simplify the report: the circumscriptions that planned it; the circumscriptions that only mentioned it without providing details; the circumscriptions that did not mention it at all, and therefore did not plan it in their Six-Year Plan.

Before we begin reporting the results for each indicator, we want to note that only one circumscription made clear reference to all four indicators.

2.2.1 Specializations (CA ’22, 31.6 and 32.3)

This indicator includes all references in the Six-Year Plans to the specialization (training/preparation) of Comboni missionaries (and laypeople) in the mission sector, particularly mission animation and social communication media – journalism, advertising and marketing, distribution – both print and digital.

Out of the 25 circumscriptions, 14 planned it, 7 did not plan it, and 4 merely expressed the intention to prepare mission animators, depending on local contexts.

Considering the amount of media that the Comboni Missionaries manage, one would expect a greater awareness of the need to specialize more confreres, especially in the media sector.
In our opinion, considering that we are a missionary Institute, we would expect that, in a six-year plan, there would also be some specific reference to requalification and training updates for confreres on other themes related to mission – such as Missiology – to offer a more qualified missionary and evangelization service to the Institute and the particular Churches in which we are present. According to the Chapter Acts, there is no doubt that we need to open ourselves to systematic and interdisciplinary study in those human and theological sciences disciplines that characterize our apostolic action in the world.

2.2.2 Communication (CA ’22, 32 and 32.1)

The “Communication” indicator considers all textual references regarding the importance and commitments made by the circumscriptions in the context of digital transformation challenges (CA ’22, 32.1) and social communication media in general, for an effective missionary presence and a qualified mission animation service.

The data collected show that only 3 circumscriptions reported nothing, while another 4 only mentioned it, expressing the intention to prepare personnel, but without specifying the concrete sector, particularly in communication. However, the majority (18, representing 72% of the circumscriptions) planned for it. This means that the communication sector is considered a fundamental field in the planning of our mission animation.

2.2.3 Communication Plan (CA ’22, 32.2)

“To make communication plans that help us programme our work in this field” (AC ’22, 32.2) is one of the very concrete commitments desired by the chapter members. By saying this, they intended to emphasize the importance of a “Communication Plan” for the circumscription, the CAM (Mission Animation Center), and each of the individual publications produced in each circumscription. The success of communication greatly depends on its detailed planning at all stages. Additionally, a Plan serves as a guide throughout the communication process, ensures continuity, and – not least – facilitates the replacement of a confrere in our CAM structures.

Now, considering what has already been said about the importance of communication in evangelization and mission animation, it is unclear why this indicator appears only in the six-year planning of 2 circumscriptions. This means that 92% of the circumscriptions ignored this chapter commitment.

There are two possible interpretations: either the circumscriptions did not include it in their planning because they have already done it – and we know that some of our publications already have a Communication Plan – although a Communication Plan needs to be periodically reviewed; or they did not consider it important or necessary.

Here we want to reiterate that the success of communication fundamentally depends on its accurate planning and its frequent evaluation and review.

2.2.4 Collaboration (CA ’22, 32.1; 33 and 33.3 – 33.5)

The “Collaboration” indicator includes the work and mutual cooperation in the programming and execution of missionary activities – in the circumscription or continent – with the Comboni Family (Sisters, Secular Missionaries, and Lay Comboni Missionaries), with other institutes, with the organizations we are members of – such as Africa Europe Faith and Justice Network (AEFJN) and VIVAT International, and ecclesial organizations like REPAM, REBAC, CLAR, etc.; with the local Church, with other ecclesial and civil forces, and with Comboni circumscriptions at the continental level, especially in the field of mission, mission animation, publishing, and information dissemination through media

Despite the clarity of the chapter commitments and our long Comboni tradition of collaboration, we note that 5 circumscriptions only mentioned one or another of the possible collaborators listed above; another 2 completely ignored the issue.

Finally, we are comforted by the fact that 72% of the circumscriptions believe in the richness of ministerial collaboration as a style of mission.

Final Considerations

The main objective of this contribution was to help us reflect together and seek answers to the questions posed at the beginning of this text. We are aware that not everything has been said and that we must continue to deepen many of the issues raised through a healthy exchange of ideas and sharing of experiences, which the Plans have not always mentioned, to reach 2028, the end of the six-year period, and see one of the dreams of the XIX General Chapter realized: “We dream of a missionary style more inserted into the reality of the peoples we accompany towards the Kingdom, capable of responding to the cry of the Earth and of the impoverished. A missionary style that is also characterized by simpler lifestyles and structures within intercultural communities where we witness fraternity, communion, social friendship and service to local Churches through specific pastoral care, ministerial collaboration and shared pathways” (CA ’22, 28).

For our Institute and the local Churches in which we work, adopting this lifestyle, both individually and communally, is urgent, as Pope Francis states in the apostolic exhortation Evangelii gaudium, referring to the primary task of the Church: “today missionary activity still represents the greatest challenge for the Church”[15] and “the missionary task must remain foremost. (…) Missionary outreach is paradigmatic for all the Church’s activity; we need to move from a pastoral ministry of mere conservation to a decidedly missionary pastoral ministry” (EG 15). Today, the social, economic, and cultural world needs to be illuminated by the Word of God and evangelical values more than ever.

To conclude, we hope that throughout this six-year period, some improvements can still be added to the Six-Year Plans sent to Rome for approval, as suggested in the Note of the General Council Consultation of January 2024: “To all circumscriptions, in general, some actions have been suggested to be undertaken immediately and which have not been clearly stated in the plans…”.

Fr. Arlindo Pinto, mccj
Communications Office of the General Administration
General Secretariat for Mission

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1 “Requalification also passes through a relaunch of missionary animation, which, in turn, requires reflection and deepening in view of its contextualisation in this new era in which we are living and in the specific contexts in which we work.” (Guide to the Implementation of the XIX General Chapter, p. 29)

2 The Statutes of this new General Secretariat of the Mission was approved by the General Council on 15 March 2017 (ad experimentum) and on 10 October 2020 (definitively).

3 After the presentation of the report of the Communication Office to the members at the XIX General Chapter in June 2022, one of the chapter members asked us: “What is the health status of Comboni communication?” The answer to this question made it clear that we did not have sufficient data to make an adequate and consistent evaluation. This gap gave rise to what we present here. First, we collected data from each Comboni circumscription related to communication (to the media). Next, we examined the data and communicated the findings to the superiors and communication directors of each circumscription to ensure accuracy and confidence in what we subsequently state. Sincere thanks to everyone who contributed by providing data and suggestions.

4 This means that we are putting into practice what the Rule of Life recommends: “Every community may become a centre of mission promotion in different ways: maintaining contact with benefactors; making the life and work of the Institute known through the means of social communication, especially by distributing of mission literature; and presenting mission activity and the missionary vocation in gatherings, liturgical celebration, study-groups, vocation days and retreats” (RV 75.1).

5 In this same spirit of collaboration between the circumscriptions, it is good news that the directors of the Comboni publications in Europe have recently proposed to open a Comboni European Media Centre (CEMEC), based at Dawson Place (London), with the following aims: offering practical training in journalism (particularly for confreres); networking, including exchanging materials among our media outlets; creating a digital photo archive – with exclusive copyright for the Comboni Missionaries – accessible to all our publications; and managing a European website in English. The proposal was presented to the provincial superiors of Europe, who met from April 8 to 13 in Krakow, Poland. Their response is now awaited.

6 Comboni Press (for print, radio, and television) is an information body about the Comboni Missionaries and the Churches and peoples they serve. Therefore, it disseminates information activities, initiatives, and events of the Institute by connecting with external and internal information institutions and bodies (print, radio, and television) of the Institute. It maintains the photographic archive for internal use and the media, in collaboration with the general archive, for photos (and videos) of confreres, communities, and Comboni events. It supports the activities and initiatives of Comboni media. It manages relationships with the media and the contact database. It organizes press conferences and distributes press releases and newsletters about significant Comboni events and projects. The Comboni Press service is carried out in the spirit and purposes of Rule of Life no. 78 (Directory of the General Administration, 98.2).

7 MCCJ Bulletin, dicembre 1994, n° 185, pp. 52-56; MCCJ Bulletin, gennaio 1995, n° 186, pp. 40; MCCJ Bulletin, ottobre 1996, n° 193, pp. 17-18; MCCJ Bulletin, ottobre 1999, n° 204, pp. 19-20; P. Antonini Giovambattista, “Comboni Press 1996-2000”, in MCCJ Bulletin, ottobre 2001, n° 212, pp. 33-37.

8 The purpose of this presentation is not to make a judgement, but simply to make a comparative synopsis between the texts of the Chapter Acts (CA ’22, 31.6; 32 and 33) and the texts of the 2023-2028 Six-Year Plans – the versions sent to the General Council for approval – of each of the 25 Comboni circumscriptions, including Poland, even though it is not a circumscription. As a methodology, we chose four indicators (Specialisations, Communication, Communication Plan and Collaboration) and then went to look for data referring to these indicators in the Six-Year Plans. Of the data obtained, we tried to make a brief reading, with the aim of finding out how far the constituencies had taken the Chapter Guidelines into account or not.

9 Since a number of the six-year plans of the constituencies did not arrive in time, the General Council has decided to reserve a few days in January for an extraordinary consultation dedicated exclusively to the evaluation of the six-year plans and their approval. This consultation will begin on 15th January 2024. The GC asks all circumscription superiors who have not yet done so to send their respective six-year plans to Rome no later than 15th January 2024.

10 The 25 circumscriptions that have sent their Six-Year Plans to the General Council for approval are (initials and name of the constituency) A Asia; BR Brasil; CO Colombia; DSP Deutschsprachige Provinz; E España; EC Ecuador; ER Eritrea; ET Ethiopia; I Italia; KE Kenya; LP London Province; M México; MO Moçambique; MZ Malawi-Zambia; NAP North American Province; P Portugal; PCA Provincia de Centro América; PE Peru; PO Poland; RCA République Centrafricaine; RSA Republic of South Africa; SS South Sudan; TGB Togo-Ghana-Bénin; TCH Tchad; U Uganda.

Attached, see full text in Italian