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A New Era in AFRAM
“What we have seen and heard”
A Circular Letter to all confreres in AFRAM
After the general visitations of 2007
30 January 2008
L 02 / 2008
During our planning sessions in January 2008, we
reviewed the visitations of the provinces, regions, and missions
in AFRAM. In this letter we would like to share with you some of
our reflections on the visitations. Above all we would like to
share with you our joy over a new era in AFRAM, an era marked by
the “coming of age” and growing self-confidence of our
communities and missionary service in the zone. Our membership
in the zone, especially our indigenous membership, continues to
grow, and this has allowed us in the last six years to take up
new initiatives in Chad and South Africa, as well as continue to
take on new responsibilities in the other countries, regions,
and provinces where we work. Soon the Togo/Benin Region will
become a province, and Zimbabwe an independent mission. We
believe that your growing self-confidence was reflected in the
decisions taken at the special zonal assembly held in 2006 in
preparation for the 16th General Chapter to not ask the Chapter
to renew the Society’s priority for AFRAM and to propose a
resolution on the attainment of self-reliance by all of our
provinces and regions. Above all, we note and give thanks to God
for the continuing expansion of formation programs in the zone
and the consequent increasing number of African members serving
in the zone as well as in our provinces and regions throughout
the world.
It is in light of our awareness of this new era
in AFRAM that we share with you our reflections on the social
and ecclesial situation in which we carry out our missionary
service in AFRAM and then highlight some areas of our religious
community life that are meant to enhance our missionary service,
the theme of the recent General Chapter. While we are aware that
there are vast differences in the situation of societies, local
churches, and our own communities across the continent, we have
tried to pick up some elements that seem to be common throughout
the zone, so that this letter might serve as a complement to the
individual visitation protocols and an aid in reflection on our
missionary life and service in the context of this new era on a
zonal level.
As a subtheme for this letter, we have chosen a
passage from the First Letter of John that we used as the
opening meditation for our recent planning sessions: “We declare
to you what we have seen and heard so that you also may have
fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father
and with his Son Jesus Christ. We are writing these things so
that our joy may be complete” (1 John 1:3). We share with you
what we have seen and heard during the recent visitations, as we
also recall that all of our missionary life and service is a
sharing of what we have seen and heard, the Divine Word, so that
we might all be in fellowship with God and with all peoples, and
that our joy may be complete.
1. Our Missionary Service to the People of Africa
1.1. In many ways, the new era in AFRAM is a
reflection of the dawning of a new era in the societies of the
continent. The Lineamenta for the Second Special Assembly
for Africa of the Synod of Bishops lists some of these positive
developments: “the advent of peace in some African countries;
the burning desire for peace throughout the continent,…; growing
opposition to corruption; a deep consciousness of the need to
promote African women and the dignity of every human person; the
involvement of the laity in ‘civil life’ for the promotion and
defense of ‘human rights’; and the ever-growing number of
African politicians who are aware and determined to find African
solutions to African problems” (7).
1.2. However, problems persist: “the infant
mortality rate continues to grow; … the constant deterioration
of revenues persists in some of the poorest countries of Africa;
access to potable water is still very difficult for many; … the
great majority of African people live in a state of want for
basic goods and services” (8). Some of the countries where we
work are now enjoying peace after years of civil war, but still
suffer the effects of the physical and spiritual destruction of
war. Some countries are enjoying considerable economic
development, but that development and growing prosperity often
has no effect on the lives of those most in need of it. All of
the countries of Africa are experiencing a rapid urbanization,
with both the positive effects of greater opportunity for
individual advancement as well as the negative aspects of the
breakdown of families and traditional social ties, the
depopulation of the countryside and overcrowding in towns and
cities, unemployment and squalor. Despite a growing sense of
belonging to a nation and stability in many of the States on the
continent, tribalism continues to be a problem in African
politics, and, tragically, in the lives of people who have
sometimes lived side-by-side for decades.
1.3. This situation renews us in our commitment
to the missionary service of prophetic dialogue: to witness to
what we have seen and heard, to witness to the Reign of God
where all are called to equal fellowship, with the attitude of
solidarity with all (especially those who suffer the effects of
war, lingering tribalism, and the negative consequences of
current social developments), with respect for each individual
and the positive aspects of traditional culture (such as the
emphasis on relationships, conversation, hospitality, and
celebration) and with a love that embraces all and challenges
all to take responsibility for their own lives as well as for
their societies and civil life.
1.4. Concretely we might ask: What aspects of
poverty and the negative consequences of social change are we
called to address in our missionary service today? How can we
help to address corruption? What can we do to support families?
How can we help young people to dream and work towards a better
society? How can we help people recover self-esteem by
rediscovering their positive cultural values? How can we help
awaken a sense of duty and obligation towards others? We are
invited to spend time and energy in exploring answers to these
questions during community meetings and assemblies, in order to
enhance our contribution to the people of Africa, especially
through the perspective of prophetic dialogue with the poor and
marginalized, with cultures and religions.
2. Our Missionary Service to the Local Churches
of Africa
2.1. The new era in AFRAM is also a reflection of
developments within the local churches of Africa. For example,
the Lineamenta lists these developments: “the remarkable
increase in Africa of the number of Catholics, priests and
consecrated persons; the growing number of African missionaries
in Africa and outside the continent … ; the vitality of African
liturgies and living ecclesial communities; the creation and
restructuring of dioceses and ecclesiastical territories; the
growing role of the Church in promoting the continent’s
development, especially in education, health, the struggle for
the emergence of legally constituted States throughout the
African continent; and, lastly, despite her weaknesses, the
great credibility which the Church continues to enjoy among the
African peoples” (6).
2.2. On the other hand, one negative aspect of
the local churches seems to be a strong and growing clericalism.
This is especially disturbing when we consider that the church
has been able to grow in Africa largely through the dedicated
efforts of lay catechists.
2.3. In our conversations with bishops, with
parish councils, and with others during the recent visitation,
it seems clear that the local churches in Africa are asking us
particularly to share our characteristic dimensions and our
internationality. We are known especially for our work with the
biblical apostolate and mission animation, but the situation of
the local churches in Africa also seems to be calling us to
share more our characteristic dimensions of JPIC and
communication: to work with the churches in their struggles
against corruption, environmental destruction, and tribalism.
The multiethnic situation of the societies and the churches
where we work also challenge us to witness to the diversity and
openness of the Reign of God through an authentic
internationality: a true appreciation of the different gifts
that we bring to the community through our cultural heritages,
as well as an awareness of, and ability to learn and teach
others about, the different cultural signals that so often lead
to misunderstanding, and even rejection.
2.4. One further contribution we are called upon
to make to the local churches today is to help them to become
self-reliant. Our constitutions proclaim that, “as members of
the Society of the Divine Word, we consider it our duty to
proclaim the word of God to all, to bring new communities into
being within the people of God, to foster their growth and to
promote communion among them as well as with the whole church”
(c. 102). An essential part of bringing new communities into
being and fostering their growth is to help them to support
themselves. While solidarity, the sharing of resources with
those in need because of emergency situations or particularly
important projects, is an important part of the communion
between churches that we seek to foster, the new era of the
local churches in Africa must entail the ability of the churches
to support their normal livelihood and structural growth on
their own. Our mission theory for some time already has pointed
out the problems of using money from abroad to build structures
that cannot be maintained by the local community, and we are
more and more aware that the best contribution we can make to
the local churches is not building big new structures but rather
promoting lay formation and a common responsibility for mission
in the local church.
2.5. The financial situation of the Society has
also now made it imperative that we take to heart the conversion
called for by the 16th General Chapter: “Living prophetic
dialogue in regard to finances implies a really fundamental
change of mentality. We need to leave behind the stereotype of
the missionary as a ‘giver-of-things’ and to live as partners
with the people, staying and working with them, listening to
their voices and worries, not being afraid to be powerless and
vulnerable” (IDW6, 75).
3. Our Religious Community Life in Service to Our
Mission
3.1. The recent General Chapter reminds us that
our religious community life, the way that we live prophetic
dialogue, is itself part of our missionary service. From the
visitations we would like to offer the following reflections as
a means to enhance this part of our witness in AFRAM.
3.2. Mission Spirituality
In our missionary service we share with others what we have seen
and heard, the Divine Word. But in order to speak the Word of
God in prophetic dialogue, we must first see, hear, experience
it ourselves, through our meditation and community prayers,
through bible sharing and the sharing of our experience of God
in spiritual direction, through a life lived in solidarity with
the people and our listening in dialogue, through the social and
ecclesial situations in which we live. We are
called—individually, as a community, and with the people with
whom we work—to see and hear God’s word today, to discern from
the present concrete situation in which we live how God is
active in our lives today.
3.3. Community in Service of Mission
As mentioned above, especially the internationality of our
communities is seen as a positive contribution to the societies
and local churches where we work. However, we need to ask
ourselves whether our internationality isn’t sometimes little
more than mere tolerance, rather than a real appreciation, even
celebration, of diversity. International living cannot be left
to good intentions, but must be worked at, including the use of
input and training in recognizing cultural signals and in the
dynamics of cross-cultural communication. Such courses or
workshops should be a part of our initial formation, as well as
part of the introduction of new missionaries and other forms of
ongoing formation for all of us. In the increasingly
individualistic societies that are a consequence of
urbanization, our communities are also called to be witnesses to
traditional values of family, relationship, conversation, and
hospitality. Despite the demands of our various apostolates, the
call to witness to these values invites us to make participation
in community functions—meals, prayers, community meetings,
celebrations—our priority.
3.4. Leadership in Service of Mission
To a large extent, the quality of our community life depends on
those called to the service of leadership. Our leaders are
called to sacrifice their time and their own projects in order
to care for our communities: to foster a spirit of brotherhood
and commitment to our missionary service, to enhance
collaboration through the preparation of fruitful community
meetings and the promotion of dialogue, to see to the good
stewardship of our common resources. In this they are called to
be witnesses to the kind of political and ecclesial leadership
needed in the societies and local churches where we work.
3.5. Finances as Commitment to Mission
The push to attain self-reliance is one indication of the new
era in AFRAM and a positive contribution that we are called upon
to make to the local churches in Africa today. As mentioned
above, it involves a fundamental change in mentality regarding
the way that we conduct our missionary service. We must be
careful not to rely too much on investments or income generating
activities; these can be part of the solution towards financial
self-reliance of our communities, but they must be undertaken
with prudence and in consultation with those who have the
expertise in this area that we do not have. Rather than placing
our trust in the security that these kinds of investments seem
to promise—a security that has all too often proven to be
false—we are called to trust in the generosity of the people
with whom we work, and above all to trust that God will provide
what we really need for our missionary service.
3.6 Effective witness against corruption also
calls us to be accountable and transparent in all our financial
dealings, and to live the simple life style called for by our
vow of poverty. The General Chapter stresses that, “all of our
confreres must have some training in administration and
accounting” (IDW6, 79). We need to make this a part of both our
initial and ongoing formation in order to practice good
stewardship, as well as enhance financial accountability and
transparency.
3.7. Formation in Service of Mission
We witness to each other as much as we witness to those we
encounter in our missionary service. Our own personal commitment
to lifelong “growth by the power of the Holy Spirit into unity
with the Incarnate Word of the Father and into a missionary
community comprising members from many countries and cultures”
(c 501) is the most effective witness that we can give to each
other, especially to our younger confreres in initial formation.
It is for this reason that the 16th General Chapter reminds us
that, “formation is a concern for all provinces, and it is an
obligation for all confreres and communities. The overall
situation of the mission and the community life of a province
should contribute to a climate that is favorable for formation”
(IDW6, 89). The flourishing of our formation programs in AFRAM,
and the perceived need to open new programs, is another sign of
the new era in AFRAM for which we give thanks. But it also calls
us all to recommit ourselves to the formation of our younger
confreres through the authenticity of our religious community
life in service of mission.
3.8. Throughout the zone we noticed a great
interest in pursuing higher studies. While the interest in
further education is indeed commendable, we should remember the
distinction between advanced studies and ongoing formation.
Advanced studies are undertaken to prepare a confrere for a
specific specialized task, and this should be weighed against
the real needs of the province and the Society. In contrast, all
confreres are encouraged to participate in the Nemi renewal
course and periodic local workshops or short courses as part of
our ongoing formation. Here we are invited especially to make
use of programs offered by the local churches and associations
of religious, to the extent that these can help us in our
mission in the provinces, regions, and missions in the zone.
4. Conclusion
We invite you to make use of this letter for
reflection together in our communities and formation houses, in
conjunction with a similar letter written after the visitations
six years ago. We feel that many of the suggestions made there
are still valid, and thus worth considering again. Once more we
give thanks for what we have been privileged to see and hear
during the recent visitations in the provinces, regions, and
missions of AFRAM, to what is being accomplished through the
grace of God and the power of the Spirit in ushering in a new
era for the peoples and local churches of Africa, as well as for
our SVD communities in the AFRAM zone. In this spirit of
gratitude, let us recommit ourselves to discerning how best we
can fulfill our call to missionary service in AFRAM today, and
how we are called to live prophetic dialogue in our communities
and with the people with whom we work.
Fraternally in the Divine Word,
Antonio M. Pernia, SVD
Superior General
Emmanuel Kofi Fianu, SVD
Secretary General
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