AMERICA/GUATEMALA - New Central American Commission for Missions COMCAM will nurture missionary spirit and support Central America’s four ad gentes mission programmes

Tuesday, 4 May 2004

Guatemala City (Fides Service) - Participants at a Central American Mission Meeting held recently in Guatemala City, approved the setting up of a Central American Missions Commission COMCAM, whose main task will be to nurture the missionary spirit and support the four Ad Gentes Mission programmes undertaken by Central America PMAG, CAM 2 Press Office informed Fides.
The Central American Mission Meeting attended by 55 representatives from all over Central America (Bishop Presidents of the respective Bishops Conference’s Missions Commissions, National Directors of the Pontifical Mission Societies, Pastoral Vicars, diocesan Delegates and a large group or lay persons, identified pastoral plans for the actuation of PMAG.
The meeting started with two conferences: one doctrinal (magisterial teaching on mission) and the other illustrated the path which led to the elaboration of PMAG, and presented the present state of the plan through a profound reading and examination of the text.
Enriched by the contributions of the speakers (Bishop Vittorino Girardi, Bishop of Tilarán and President of the Missions Commission of Costa Rica and Father Victor M. Ruano Vice-Rector of the Theological Institute for Latin America ITEPAL, the participants divided in four work groups. After carefully reading and reflecting on the general Programme they outlined pastoral strategies for the four programmes included in PMAG: Central American Centre for Mission Ad Gentes - CEFOMIC; National Council for Missions - CONAMI; Sister Churches - IGHEMA and Missionary Parish - PAMI. The facilitate the work, the organisers of the meeting gave the work groups four guiding questions: Which pastoral strategies need to be strengthened? What structures are needed to help them function? Which will be the laps of the initial state of its full realisation? What immediate actions (during this year) are necessary for each programme?.
The work of the groups revealed itself to be very rich thanks also to the heterogeneity of the participants. Coming from different experiences and countries they offered a varied mosaic of contributions. The findings of each group were collected in one document presented to the plenary assembly for approval. At the end of the meeting the participants drafted a letter in which they underlined the missionary spirit fostered by CAM 2 central America, and the role assumed by the Bishops to guide this missionary spirit to manifest itself in concrete and permanent initiatives. (R.Z.) (Agenzia Fides 4/5/2004; Righe 33; Parole 407)


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