AMERICA/ECUADOR - Final Declaration from CAM 3: “Jesus sends us out to all the ends of the earth to be witnesses to all that we have heard, learned, and announced.”

Quito (Agenzia Fides) – Missionaries from all over the world issued a final document at the close of the Third Missionary Congress (CAM 3) in which they declared their willingness to announce the Gospel, build a world of brotherhood, justice, and solidarity, and be united to the Spirit in building the Kingdom.
The declaration is broken down into 17 points that touch upon various aspects of the Church’s mission. Firstly, it mentions that the mission ad gentes is a “mission for humanity” and they manifest their commitment to “take up the mission ad gentes with enthusiasm and co-responsibility with the Church, implying a personal conversion and the change of certain pastoral structures so that the Gospel can reach all people.” Within this mission, “there is a firm emphasis on the formation and guidance of Christian families, so that they become evangelizers and missionaries in their lives, in fidelity and communion,” and thus, they hope to give a boost to Family Pastoral Care and family missionary experiences in the mission ad gentes.
Another important subject is immigration and the exclusion of those that present “ a first-rate challenge, noted in the situation of children, women, men, and families that struggle for their rights.” Therefore, a culture that promotes the dignity of the human person must be fostered.
As to the laity, there is a great need for an integral spiritual formation which is both pastoral and missionary, that is, one that makes them collaborators in the Great Continental Mission. Likewise, the youth assume the American Missionary Project.
“As Church, we value and respect the indigenous peoples and those of African-descent on the continent. We are aware of the urgent need to recognize their role and traditions, so that they can find their place in society and in the Church,” the declaration continued.
Another important point was the mission and its relation to the mass media in order to “respond to the new historical, social, and ecclesial situations, transmitting God’s love and the Good News of the Kingdom with a communication that gives testimony and is both coordinated and integrated into the routine of pastoral care.”
The missionaries are also committed to education, in order to “work with members of the educational field in creating areas for formation and dialogue in order to bear witness to the Good News of the Kingdom in the modern world.”
The religious men and women are also called to be missionary disciples “with a solid Trinitarian spirituality in their work with the poor and marginalized, maintaining an undivided heart that is capable of loving all people and being present in every culture without preferences, open to the mission, especially the mission ad gentes.”
“Missionaries of America, today as the CAM 3 comes to a close, Jesus sends us out to all the ends of the earth to be witnesses to all that we have heard, learned, and announced,” the Final Declaration stated in conclusion. (RG) (Agenzia Fides 1/9/2008)