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Communiqué #2 - May 11 2007
Reports
of the Regional Superiors and the Superior General
On Tuesday
and Wednesday, May 8th and 9th, the members of the
Assembly listened attentively as the regional superior of each
of the 19 circumscriptions of PIME presented their reports. Each
superior was limited to 20 minutes of report, with an additional
10 minutes at the end for questions and clarifications. The
reports were given first by the three Regions in Brazil (Amapa,
Amazonas, South Brazil), then the three African Regions
(Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Guinea Bissau), the Regions of Asia
(Bangladesh, Hong Kong-China, Japan, the Philippines, India,
Thailand), and finally the reports of Papua New Guinea, the
United States, the General Delegation, Delegation of Lay
Missionaries, South Italy and Northern Italy.
After
these reports, most of which were oral, some of which also
included power-point presentations, the members of the Assembly
spent two hours of discussion in small groups on Thursday
morning. The topics of this discussion were threefold: To
evaluate the climate of the Assembly, in its first week, and the
practical aspects to it; to comment on the preparation and way
the Assembly was progressing, for futures Assemblies; and
finally, perhaps most importantly to identify in the reports of
each Region the values, issues, problems and proposals that
emerged, in order to bring them to a discussion in the General
Assembly.
In
general, the members of the Assembly are happy with the climate
and the way that things are going. Some comments were made about
practical things that will be brought to the attention of those
in charge.
The third
topic gave us more issues to think about. There were a number of
topics that reoccurred in the reports of the small groups after
the reports of the regional superiors.
Some of
the issues that came forth from the third question include:
attention to primary evangelization (among non-Christians) in
respect to ordinary pastoral ministry, the existence of a
familial spirit with greater sharing, service and openness to
the local church while guarding our PIME’s specific charism
ad gentes, welcoming and accompanying candidates interested
in PIME who come from nearly all of our Regions, the situation
of the lay missionaries of PIME and the Lay Associates, New
Humanity, PIME’s various collaboration with the laity, our
presence in Italy, the phenomenon of migration, urban mission,
vocation and missionary animation, assistance and accompaniment
of young missionaries who go to the missions for the first time.
These regional
reports helped to give a broad view of PIME in the world and the
great diversity that exists in the various countries and
cultures where we are present and the different ministries we
are involved in. The information gathered from these reports,
together with the report of the Superior General, the
Instrumentum Laboris and other contributions, will make up the
platform for our discussion. This will begin on Monday, May 14,
and will lead to specific decisions and give guidance for the
future.
Thursday afternoon,
Fr. Gian Battista Zanchi, Superior General, presented his
report. The first part of this report was prepared and given to
all the members of the Institute last October. He added a few
points and touched upon them in his presentation. Among them, he
pointed out that in the last six years, PIME has had 63 new
members, 75 deaths, 20 members who have left the ministry and 7
others who left PIME to join the diocese. He also touched upon
the situation and activities of PIME in Italy especially
regarding the journey that the two regions of Italy have been
making together; initial formation of PIME candidates and the
difficulty in finding properly trained formation personnel;
continuing formation; New Humanity.
In the
second part of his presentation, Fr. Zanchi spoke about the
identity of PIME, with a report entitled: The Charism of
PIME: its evolution and its present state. This second part
of Fr. Zanchi’s presentation focused on the identity of PIME,
the forces that are before us today, the concrete steps we have
taken and the criteria that are necessary to remain faithful to
in being missionaries to the non-Christians.
Today, Friday the
11th of May, will be dedicated to the presentation,
discussion and approval of the Instrumentum Laboris. This
document was prepared from the various reports of the regions
and put together by the preparatory commission. It should help
to facilitate the work of the Assembly in relation to the six
integral issues that emerged from those reports: Evangelization,
Life in the Regions, Initial Formation, Continuing Formation and
well-being of the members, collaboration with the laity in
evangelizing, and means of social communication.
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