Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Fatima (Agenzia Fides) - " The future of Mission Ad Gentes - prospects for the 21st century " was the theme for reflection during the annual Mission Days 2007 held 14 - 16 September, promoted jointly by the National Office of the Pontifical Mission Societies in Portugal and the Portuguese Bishops' Commission for Missions. In the final statement the participants recall that "Christ is the unending source of the Church's missionary activity" which demands an "experience of faith in order to rediscover the fundamental reason for Mission, to announce Christ and bear witness with one's life". Moreover, the statement says, a constantly changing world, "marked by a great variety of religious manifestations and a relativism of values, demands a new form of missionary activity", inseparable from “concrete commitment for missionary and vocation animation involving every member of the local Church” since “we are all responsible for mission”.
The participants underlined the importance of cooperation among lay people and Institutes of Consecrated Life, which presupposes "mutual enrichment and demands the creation of new forms of belonging and co-responsibility for the Church's missionary activity”.
Bishop Carlos Azevedo, Auxiliary Bishop of Lisbon, said mission ad gentes must develop in a new situation where "faith is no longer a cultural heritage received from the family or society, instead it is a personal response to a call. The bewildering novelties of our cultural universe demand a new announcement of the Gospel". During the Mission Days there was a presentation of the National Mission Congress to be held in Fatiam, 3-7 September 2008 on the theme "Portugal, live mission, open your horizons". (RG) (Agenzia Fides 18/9/2007 - Righe 19, parole 260)
