This material for ongoing formation is a proposal that the General Secretariat of Mission makes to each confrere and community. As we all know, the apostolic exhortation Evangelii gaudium noted the epochal change of our time and the need for a profound renewal in the Church in order to live the Gospel joyfully and be faithful to our vocation as missionary disciples of Jesus. With this renewed vision of the Church, emerges ever more a Church that “goes forth, in which mission is the paradigm of her being and doing, as She listens to the Spirit through the cry of suffering humanity, the poor and Creation. The teaching of Pope Francis insists on the vision of a ministerial Church, that is, fraternal, imbued “with the smell of the sheep”, synodal, collaborative and witnessing to the joy of the Gospel through proclamation, lifestyle and service. A Church that undertakes a journey of conversion and that goes beyond clericalism and the convenient pastoral criterion of “we have always done it this way”. (EG 33).
Comboni himself in his Plan for the Regeneration of Africa with Africa, thanks to a direct experience of the mission, to his detailed study of other experiences, found in the ministerial style the answer to the apparently “impossible” challenge of the evangelization of Africa. His Plan reflects a systemic understanding of the ministerial approach: a collective and “universal” work that creates networks of collaboration that bring together all ecclesial forces, and recognizing each one’s specificity and originality. A work that gives life to a plurality of services, in response to human and social needs, for which he scientifically prepares ad hoc ministers. Comboni also envisaged the foundation of missionary communities that are sustainable from the ministerial, socio-economic and social significance points of view. As Benedict XVI and Francis remind us, the church grows out of attraction, not proselytism.
Work plan
= Theme 1: The ministerial role of the presbyter
= Theme 2: Ministerial collaboration
= Theme 3: Evangelization and Ministries
= Theme 4: The ministerial contribution of the laity
