Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Vatican City (Fides Service) - This year the Portuguese Society for Missions (Missionários dà Boa Nova) founded 3 October 1930, is celebrating its 75th anniversary. As part of celebrations, Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe, Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples presided a special Mass for the Society in the chapel of the Holy See’s mission congregation in Rome, (see Fides 16/3/2005). Another major event of this jubilee year will be a meeting in Fatima, Portugal. After the Mass Fides spoke to the Superior general of the Portuguese Society for Missions, Fr. Antonio José da Rocha Couto
Please, Father tell us about your Society? What makes you different from other missionary institutes?
We are primarily missionaries ad gentes. We are not a religious congregation, we are a Mission Society of Apostolic Life and our members are clergy and laity dedicated as a community to missionary work. Our goal is evangelisation and helping the Church in countries or communities where it needs to take deeper root. We are all diocesan and this is a fundamental character of our Society. Our Society was founded at the wish of the Bishops of Portugal aware of the need to give new impulse to the proclamation of the Gospel particularly in Portuguese territories. A group of diocesan priests was formed and on 3 October 1930 Pope Pius XI approved the foundation of the Mission Society.
It differs from other missionary institutes because as I said, we are diocesan priests and we each keep close contact with our own local Church. The Society’s lay members make a perpetual promise to dedicate themselves to missionary work. They can be single or married and they work in the broad field of voluntary work to promote development and build a world more just and more human. Altogether we are 130.
Another characteristic of our Society is community life: although we are not religious, we live in small apostolic communities so we can achieve better our mission. Usually the community consists of three persons, as laid down in our Statutes. A third characteristic is total consecration to mission ad gentes.
Where and on which fronts of mission do you work ?
Of course we are in Portugal, where we originated. We are in Mozambique, our first foreign mission opened in 1937, we are in Brazil, in Angola since 1970, in Zambia since 1980. Our most recent community was opened in Asia, Japan, in 1998. In response to Pope John Paul II who said in the Encyclical Redemptoris Missio that Asia was a missionary priority, we made a special effort to be present on that continent.
In the first 40 years we focused on the fields of education and healthcare. We opened hospitals and schools. Later we turned more specifically to evangelisation and pastoral work. We are still present in some schools, mainly in Mozambique and Angola, but no longer in hospitals.
In Brazil and Zambia we are involved exclusively in first evangelisation. In Japan we work to the rhythm of evangelisation in Asia which is slower. Our priests work closely with Japanese diocesan priests. For the first two years they learned the language and then began to engage in apostolic work.
An anniversary is always an opportunity to look back at the past and forward to the future. What stands out in these 75 years, and what are the Society’s plans for the future?
I would say that the great efforts made in the so-called third world, for intense inculturation, promotion of respect for human rights, improving living conditions of poor people, poor in every sense of the word. In these 75 years we have had five martyrs in Mozambique and Angola and I consider this important for the Society.
In Portugal we are making a great effort to help all diocesan priests be more missionary. Some join us for a period of 5 or 10 years to have real experience of missionary activity. They join our work groups and share our activities. After a period of missionary collaboration most return to their previous activity, but some decide to stay with us.
With regard to the future, we intend to deepen our relations with every diocese in Portugal, and with the Bishops committed in the field of mission ad gentes. Moreover I think it is important to give great attention to the role of the laity. Today the activity of the laity in the Church is very important and so we aim to involve more and more lay persons in missionary work. Many lay people would like to go on mission but are not able to do so.
In Angola, Mozambique and Brazil, for example many come to us saying they wish to be missionaries, they are ready to go anywhere in the world and dedicate their life to the missions. Since in their countries Societies such as ours do not exist, they ask to join us in order to respond to their vocation. To meet these requests we have had to change our statutes, because being the Portuguese Mission Society a condition was that the members had to be Portuguese. Now we have changed this and instead of the Portuguese Mission Society we are the Society of Missionários dà Boa Nova. In these countries we have already a dozen members. (RG) (Agenzia Fides 17/3/2005; righe 68; parole 871)
