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Documents

Message of the XIIth general Assembly  of the Foreign Missions Society

To draw the future of the SME at the service of the Gospel, let us continue together to welcome and serve with hope. This is the invitation to trust and to dare which we send to our whole missionary family at the end of this XIIth general Assembly.

This invitation to trust is a call to let ourselves be guided by the breath of the Spirit wherever human beings are searching for the « the way, the truth and the life » (Jn 14, 6). It is a call to welcome the living Christ in our brothers and sisters of every condition, culture and religion, especially the most little ones and the most disadvantaged. (Mt 25, 40). In them we recognize the face of Christ, the human face of God and the divine face of every human being. Here is the Good News which we welcome with joy.

This invitation to daring renews our missionary send-off at the service of peoples and Churches who welcome us. Our service, however small and limited it may be facing the great needs of our actual world, is a bearer of hope when we give the testimony of a missionary family living the communion of cultures, generations, genders, states of life and ministries. Here is the service which we want to render with courage and with realism for the life of the peoples of the world.

In a missionary family like ours, it is good to meet and talk and listen to one another. Moreover, to listen to the Spirit of Christ who ushers us on new Gospel paths. From Asia to South America passing through Africa and Canada, representatives of all the groups were called together to attend that general Assembly. The members by right were happy to welcome 10 invited guests during the first part consecrated to the sharing of information and point of views. We give thanks for that meeting, for the wealth of shared experiences and for the friendship of all those who expressed their solidarity on the occasion of that event.

The working areas (chantiers) of the mission

This XIIth general Assembly was prepared by each local group, then by the regional assemblies through sharing on the topics of the working areas of the mission. The putting together of that missionary life with its multiple facets inspired the choice of the questions chosen for our reflection in the assembly and the discernment of the orientations to draw the future.

An important question was the missionary animation as a service of the Gospel in the local Churches in Canada and elsewhere. In fact, since the international opening of our missionary family, the SME welcomes members and associates coming not only from Canada, but also from Asia, Europe, Africa and Latin America. All of them are invited to contribute to the growth of the missionary commitment of their local Church. New forms of collaboration between us will make it possible for us to widen the circle of the friends of the Society and to share the dynamism of one another’s projects.

The basic formation was again taken into consideration. It is during the basic formation of the missionaries, future priests or lay associates that are laid the foundations of our service of the Gospel. Taking into account the diversity of persons and their vocational development and also the complexity of the challenges of the mission, it is good to revise on a regular basis the stages of the formation, the role of our different formation centers as well as the missionary stages offered to the candidates.

The approach to the on-going formation invites us to recognize the value of all the stages of the missionary life. It brings us to live some crossings which ask for trust and daring, either during the first years of insertion in a new life milieu or at the time of answering to new calls, or again at the end of a long commitment, especially if this means a definitive returning to one’s country of origin. We are missionaries for life, of course, but in different ways according to our ages, our ministries and our states of life. To welcome and to serve that common vocation, we have also looked for better ways to sustain the long term missionary commitment of the lay associates.

The organization and the animation of our groups on the local level as well as on the regional level was also a constant preoccupation of this Assembly. The approach to the regionalization will go on while benefiting the most possible from the experience and the talents of all, members and associates, especially in the fields of the missionary animation and formation. To promote the harmonization, the regional superiors and those in charge of the PGMs will be called for an annual meeting of the coordination Council.

Forward!

During the second slice of that Assembly, which was more juridical, we have translated into concrete decisions the orientations that took shape as we were going on with our work of discernment to draw the future of the SME. Also, we went on with the election of the Superior general and, for the first time, of 3 assistants instead of 4. In dialogue with the regions, the central Council will assume its responsibilities while keeping on listening to the Spirit who will guide them in that service during the 5 coming years.

With its invitation to trust and daring, this XIIth general Assembly wishes to extend its sails so that the breath of the Spirit will push off our barge in communion with the whole missionary Church. According to the words of a prayer which have accompanied us during our coming together, may

« the contemplative look of Mary, the creative enthusiasm of the Apostles and the daring hope of our predecessors » be given to us so as to welcome and serve in hope. Forward!

Laval, May 08, 2008

The members of the XIIth general Assembly:

Guy Charbonneau, Martin Laliberté, Bertrand Roy, Gilles Dubé, Roland Laneuville, Jean Gaboury, Jean-Yves Isabel, Charles-Aimé Bolduc, Jacques Gauthier, Guy Labonté, Florent Vincent, Marc Michaud, Gilles Poirier, Lévis Veillette, Pierre Samson, Jacques Doyon, André Dionne et Denis Carrier.

Many thanks to our invited guests:

Gervais Turgeon, Guy Lamoureux, Frida Erazo, Sofia Diez, Ever Amador, Ana Saldaña, Beatriz Medina, Marie-Laure Joly, Christian Busset and Charlemagne Ouellet.