EUROPE/ITALY - Looking back at 50 years of experience of “Fidei donum” to re-launch this missionary commitment in the Church in Italy to meet new needs and challenges

Rome (Fides Service) - “Drawing courageous prospects from rich memories” is the title of a conference which opened yesterday 8 November in Chianciano near Sienna with the aim of gathering precious personal and ecclesial treasures of experience of sharing among Churches launched with the encyclical Fidei Donum to identify values, methods and options for an effective re-launching of this missionary commitment in the Church in Italy in present day challenges. Almost 50 years since the promulgation of the last encyclical of Pope Pius XII, lFidei donum, dated 21 April 1957, in which the Pope called on Bishops of the oldest dioceses to send priests and lay people as “gifts of the faith” to young Churches in Africa, the Conference promoted by the Italian Bishops’ Office for Missionary Cooperation among Churches, intends to take stock of the experience of Fidei Donum priests who have returned to Italy, about 700, to re-launch this missionary service in the Italian Church.
The first day of the conference “Day of memory” opened with a greeting from Bishop Luigi Bressan, President of the Italian Bishops Commission for the evangelisation of peoples and cooperation among Churches and president of Missio. This was followed by a paper “50 years of Fidei Donum” and a summary of diocesan and regional meetings on the significance of the Fide donum experience. Today 9 November is the “Day of Study”. Participants will take part in a series of thematic workshops (Word of God, pastoral experience, multi-culturality e multi-religiosity, new forms of poverty, sharing and cooperation among Churches). The last day 10 November will be la “Day of re-launching”: after the presentation of the workshop findings, the last paper on “Church in Italy for new commitment to Fidei Donum experience”. (S.L.) (Agenzia Fides 9/11/2005, righe 21, parole 285)