Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Rome (Fides Service) - “In recent decades the Church in Italy has made a missionary journey rich in fruits but the time has come to start a new missionary stage”. This statement is part of a Message issued at the end of the National Mission Congress held in Montesilvano (Pescara) 27 to 30 September attended by more than 1,800 bishops, priests, men and women religious, missionaries and many lay people involved in pastoral work, movements and voluntary services.
The Message reads: “Our congress has convinced us that we must walk more speedily along the roads of the world as pilgrims, as companions of humanity to whom we must announce salvation worked by the Father in Christ through the power of the Spirit. Our steps must be secure because at this time in history with global changes, conflict of cultures and creeds, violence, injustice, the Church and each one of her members is called to welcome, announce and spread the Gospel which is the only source of full realisation for humanity”.
Mission is a major need today. “As believers we are convinced that only in Christ humanity finds itself and becomes that family of God as it was intended by the Creator. Our programmes and our doctrine have no power of salvation, only Christ saves. The encounter with him gives fullness of life to all men and women this is why we intend to continue announcing him and bearing witness to him, docile to the working of the Spirit.”
From the Congress two important elements emerged, first of all from the title “Communion and Co-responsibility for mission” in keeping with guidelines for this decade issued by the Italian Bishops. “We identified new fields and areas and receivers which must mark the missionary march of our Churches- the Message said -. Our efforts would be poor and sterile unless the missionary efforts of church bodies were marked by true and effective communion. Mission ad gentes, in fact stems from communion and its goal is communion among all peoples and with God. We realise that very often lack of communion, the existence of counter-positions or competition among missionary forces delayed or even hindered the spread of the Kingdom of God. Mission belongs to God alone; it is not the property of the Church or some church bodies. During this Congress we tried to discern, verify and give new impulse to structures of communion for the one mission in which all the members of the Church and all Church bodies are involved. Only if we evangelise in communion will Mission ad gentes be the heart of the Church’s very life rather than something for missionaries only.”
This will take much time and much effort, the Message affirms, underlining that the time has come for the Church in Italy “to outline a common plan for mission in which every subject plays its part according to gifts received from the Spirit”. Mission ad gentes, the Message concludes, “calls for radical poverty” which leads us to rely solely on the Word of God rather than on our capacities and economic resources, it is “total offering of life, offering our life for those to whom we wish to announce God’s love (S.L.) (Agenzia Fides 30/10/2004; Righe 40, Parole 552)
