" In the Convention on our missionary spirituality (Nepi 5 - 10 November 1990), among other common topics, we fathers and sisters discussed and reflected together on the theme of "Justice and Peace". From those group encounters, the idea to organise another meeting arose, in order to start down the J&P path together IMC - MC. (pag. 99).
The choices suggested during that gathering gave rise to a concrete response from the various Regions, in keeping with the real situation of the individuals concerned and their awareness at different levels.

" The Appraisal Project underlined and highlighted the disregard of the Church's Social Doctrine. It demonstrated that involvement in the field of Justice and Peace is scarce, and that commitment towards the integral liberation of individuals is extremely weak and lacking in doctrinal content.

" In order to maintain coherence with the charism and the Gospel, the General Chapter 1993 felt a pressing necessity to propose, with greater clarity and involvement, formation in the Church's Social Doctrine and commitment to Justice and Peace.
(A. C. pag. 74-77).

" The Circumscription Conferences, in order to implement the Chapter's decisions in their own particular situation, returned to this theme and made concrete choices on the basis of the real situation of the country and the Church. (Character of each Region - Theme of Justice and Peace).

" The Continental Meeting (Bogotà 24/10 - 8/11/95) proposed the formation of a Continental Justice and Peace Team which, on the basis of the ideas already expressed, could continue the activity of awareness-raising in the Continent, keep the Regions informed and organise activities in this area. (pag.32).

" Following the Intercapitular gathering, during the Caprie meeting with the Mothers Superior of the Circumscriptions, the formation of this Commission was decided, the sisters who compose it were named, and the place and time to start the journey were defined.
It was emphasised that, from the very beginning, this journey should be undertaken in collaboration with the IMC Fathers. In order to accomplish this and establish a dialogue with the superiors of the Circumscriptions in the Continent of America, it was necessary to wait until they had held their consultative meeting (November 1996).
As this commitment is common to both Institutes, we believe in the value of meeting together in order, as a commission, to implement the choices made.
Together we will consider the various situations in the Continent:
==> Insertion of each Circumscription into already-extant Justice and Peace organisations.
==> Planning of an awareness-raising programme and of information concerning Justice and Peace activities.
==> Sharing of responsibility among members of the commission, in accordance with decisions made.
==> Drawing up a calendar of evaluation and planning meetings.
==> Organisation of a Solidarity Fund by the MC Sisters.

THE MC CHARISM AND JUSTICE AND PEACE

1. CHARISM

Let us return to and deeply consider our Charism, so that in its light we may focus on the theme of "Justice and Peace".
The Charism is a gift of the Spirit. It is never static but dynamic, and so it is constantly developing, always new and open to discovery. Modern-day reality, the world and the Church, the history of peoples, require from us, as MC Sisters, ever greater clarity in our identity. This allows us to penetrate the world without letting ourselves be overcome; rather we penetrate it with courage and determination, secure in the energy of the Charism that is in us and that is lived, preserved, developed and transmitted by us.
We are called today to conform ourselves to Christ, Glory and Missionary Son of the Father. Thus we are summoned, like Christ, to witness, announce and reveal the Father's passion for his creature, that she may experience the joy of being daughter of the Father and sister to a new humanity, redeemed, saved and loved.
The integration, deepening and inculturation of the Charism is the condition that qualifies our status as missionaries and promotes new evangelisation in the Church on this Continent, firmly looking towards the future.
"Among these nations they will proclaim my greatness" (Is.66. 19). The experience of Christ - Glory of the Father because he was the obedient and given Son - is the energy that Allamano transmitted to us, the fruit of his prayer and contemplation. This intuition and experience of Christ became a gift that encouraged him to announce the mystery that he personally "saw, contemplated and touched".
The fire that burnt within him was life and had to be communicated: God alone. For Allamano, the mission was the fruit of his own conformation to Christ the Missionary, obedient Son of the Father. For this reason he insisted:
"You need fire to be apostles " (VS. 460)
"You must be missionaries
In your heads have the thoughts of Jesus
In your mouths pronounce the words of Jesus
In your hearts accomplish his deeds
First Saints, then Missionaries".
Allamano was drawn towards a profound search for God and a contemplation of the Consolata as Mother, a model of attention and docility to God. In the long hours he passed in adoration of the Most Holy and in studying the Word of God as proposed by the liturgy, he discovered the characteristic attitudes of Jesus, the Missionary Son.
He communicated this experience to us as a gift of the Spirit.
This is the energy that transforms us, that makes us MC and that enables us to embody ourselves in everyday reality in order to be:
* Testimony of the absolute, of the Father "God alone" in our personal and community life, of God's love for each individual, of the values of the Kingdom, of evangelical joy and hope, just like Mary.
* A humble and respectful presence, active, creative and intuitive, with the heart of a mother who discusses and consoles, ever present alongside the people in their suffering or joy, trusting in God more than in human caution.
* A clear proclamation that, in Jesus, God's mercy and salvation responds to individual expectations; always announcing the Gospel in real-life situations, especially in moments of risk and insecurity, denouncing everything that is opposed to the Father's plan of love, even to the total giving of life.
* United with the life and situation of each individual; embracing the process of insertion, dialogue and inculturation for integral human promotion and against all types of violence, injustice and death.

TO WHOM MUST WE ANNOUNCE?

First announcement: * To those who do not know Christ.
* In unevangelised areas.
* In places where no-one wants to go.
* Preferably to minority ethnic groups, the poorest, the oppressed, the marginalised, those who have no voice.
* With special attention to the family, women, young people and in the formation of leaders.
* In areas where the great religions are not present.

To the Churches of origin: * Act as a critical evangelical conscience in defence of the rights of individuals and peoples.

In CONFERENCES as in prayer and reflection on the dialogue between the Charism and reality, each Circumscription has sought to understand which traits of Jesus, the Missionary Son of the Father, it is called to adopt today in order to be a sacrament of the meeting between God and man.
The Face of Christ which emerges from this process represents the concrete expression of the richness and diversity of the Family which, in the unity of the Charism, assumes a multiplicity of expressions in order to find answers to the real situations in which it exists.

THE FACE OF CHRIST, MISSIONARY SON OF THE FATHER,
which we wish to incarnate in our Circumscriptions in America

ARGENTINA

We must incarnate Jesus, Missionary Son of the Father, in his characteristics of mercy, compassion, welcome and consolation, in order to announce with our lives that he rose again to give us the chance of a full life and speak to us of the merciful and gratuitous love of the Father.

BRAZIL

Like Christ, the Missionary Son of the Father, we must fearlessly announce the Kingdom and bear witness to the merciful love of the Father that generates life, consoles and liberates..

COLOMBIA

We must incarnate Christ the Son in his poverty, adopting his characteristics of love, mercy, life and willingness and so - united with the people who suffer in situations of pain and violence - bring the announcement of hope, consolation and justice.

RORAIMA

Christ, Missionary Son of the Father hears the clamour of his people and has compassion upon them; he sends you out saying: "Arise! Announce and bear witness to my incarnate love, do so in different cultures with courage faithfulness and justice".

U.S.A.

In our society, permeated by the materialism which undervalues human beings, we feel called to conform ourselves to the image of Jesus, sacrament of the Father and life-generating presence.

VENEZUELA

Like Christ, Missionary Son of the Father, we are incarnate in real-life situations. In Venezuela we reveal the love of the Father through closeness, humility and trust, generating reconciliation, creating communion and giving consolation.

CHOICES FOR JUSTICE AND PEACE in the light of the Charism

ARGENTINA: Work in communion with the local Church, prepare ourselves and participate more in the field of justice, with no fear for the risk, accompanying people in their struggle for a more dignified life; take second place in our pastoral work, giving trust to lay people.

BRAZIL: Courageously adopt the inculturated mission with our eyes on Christ; begin with the excluded, animating the local Church with missionary zeal:
* Committing ourselves to a continuing reflection within communities, that we may be ever more prophetic.
* Giving preference to the pastoral care of CEBs and of the grupos de rua, helping women to organise themselves in their search for a role in the Church and in society.
* Committing ourselves to social justice in our pastoral care, favouring insertion into society.
* Adopting a position in support of the excluded and denouncing all situations of injustice.

COLOMBIA: Insert ourselves in the real-life situation while maintaining an appreciative, open and respectful attitude; make every effort to gain a profound knowledge of the culture in order to promote the process of inculturation of the Gospel:
* Gain awareness of the values of Justice and Peace that our presence may become credible, qualified and capable of giving rise to actions of equality, coexistence, reconciliation and Christian fraternity in our people.

RORAIMA: Justice: Make deeper study of the Church's Social Doctrine in order to give courageous and concrete responses in the different situations we face; create a critical conscience for ourselves; avoid preferences and privileges; justly remunerate our collaborators and participate in initiatives in favour of justice.
* Participate in the Community Chest that creates communion and responds to the needs of the poor.
* Commit ourselves to promote courses of formation and human promotion; work with the people, helping them to feel that they are the subjects of their own history.

U.S.A: Take courageous decisions with a view to a possible future presence among Native North Americans and in the Hispanic Community.
* We feel that voluntary service has great validity and we encourage our sisters to continue with it.
* Determined to face whatever risk presents itself, we will defend the principles of Justice and Peace wherever we offer our service.

VENEZUELA: Contemplating Christ's courage in favour of truth and justice, we feel the urgent need to defend individuals and their dignity:
* Gaining an awareness of the values of Justice and Peace and becoming informed on human rights.
* Educating ourselves to attain critical-evangelical judgement; working as a community to consider events in the light of the Word of God.
* Defending the rights of individuals, accompanying communities that they may be prepared to denounce abuses in a united fashion and with documentary evidence.
* Not supporting the structures of sin and avoiding privileges.
* Faced with pressing forms of injustice, knowing how to stand alongside the Church, the people and human rights organisations, always using non-violent forms of expression.

NEW EVANGELISATION

My intention is not to lay down what the Church in Latin America and the USA says about the choice of "New Evangelisation", but to propose certain lines of thought that bring us to live our missionary calling, according to the specific Charism, in communion with the choices made by the local Church.
The activity of evangelisation responds to what was accomplished by Christ (E.N. no.6), the first Evangeliser.

How did Christ evangelise?
Announcing the KINGDOM ( Mk.1,14-15 e Mt. 3).

This is Christ's message:
"The Kingdom of God is near.... turn away from your sins and believe".

In his words, gestures, and in his very person, Jesus demonstrates that the Kingdom is a call to live in communion, welcoming the gratuity of love.

1) Evangelisation is announcing the Kingdom of God which is:

* Interior freedom: If God loves me unconditionally, I become a free person; it does not matter what others may think, I am dear in God's eyes. We must be the first to comprehend this in order to be able to help others to accept the infinite love of God in their lives. The liberating message is this: "you must have no fear, because you are a child of God".

* Communion - fraternity: Once I am free, I can be everyone's servant. My dignity is my "being loved by God". I am freed to live community relationships. The Kingdom is living in relationship with others.

* Justice: In a world full of injustices, the primary condition for living love is justice. The principal message is belief in the love of God, and this requires conversion.

The first step towards evangelisation is social-theological analysis, an attentive and listening presence, and the testimony of God's unconditional love for each individual.

2) Evangelisation is announcing salvation (E.N.no.9)
What did Christ do to save humanity?
It is important that we clarify this question because it is the objective of our missionary work.
The Bible describes the history of salvation, beginning with how God created life. This life was characterised by an original quadruple communion:
* The interior communion of man ( "naked and happy")
* The perfect communion of man with God (the image of God... walking in the garden)
* The communion between people( "it is not good for man to live alone"... giving and receiving)
* The communion with nature (Adam gives a name to all things).

Man is free - the image of God - in harmony with everyone and everything. Sin is what broke this freedom and harmony.
Salvation consists in restoring the quadruple communion.
Christ in his Paschal Mystery and with the gift of his Spirit, calls us to live in communion.

The aim of evangelisation is to restore this communion and the freedom of man.
Only God saves, we are his instruments.
The indication that we are saved is our being in communion.
There is no dichotomy between evangelisation and humanisation

To save is to make totally and absolutely free from the root of evil and sin, here in the world today.
In order to make the right choices at all levels, we must be free (2 Cor. 3,17): "Where the spirit of the Lord is present, there is freedom".
The Good News is liberation. This path has two dimensions: the personal and the social. These two aspects go together, and the Church is obliged to identify those social structures that offend dignity and freedom, and to commit herself to change them.
The message we bring is that evil will not win. It is the Spirit that operates within us and within others, our task is to work towards liberation and create communion, that the Kingdom may come (Mt. 25- E.N. 10).
The Spirit works in each individual, even if he or she is unaware of it.

3) Evangelisation today

Evangelisation today means being present among the people, entering into the context of their lives rather than doing things for them.
The aim of evangelisation is interior change, the conversion of the personal and collective consciousness of men and women, of the activities in which they are involved, of their lives and of the real environment in which they live.

In order to help people on this path of personal and social liberation we must make use of certain essential elements ("Dialogo e Annuncio" p. 42-44):
* personal testimony
* community testimony
* proclamation
* dialogue
* inculturation (incarnation - kenosis) Puebla 394 - 443
* justice - working in order to obtain just structures (Puebla 472 ff. - 1134 ff.).

Promote the individual, that he may become child - brother - lord.
To promote Justice and Peace is to become a sign and instrument of the Kingdom.

The Good News is this: create children, brothers and lords. This is the cause of conflict and martyrdom because it breaks the "pyramid" and destroys injustice in order to construct Justice and Peace.

The name of God is peace

The process of evangelisation can be summed up in five key words:
FATHER - When we discover that we are all children of the Father, everything changes.

POOR: The companions at the banquet (orphan, widow, stranger).

EASTER : "body given, blood shed" - mediator - life and alliance.

KINGDOM: Here and now it is always a "tiny seed" - the definitive Kingdom will be purely eschatological (heaven and a new earth)

SACRAMENTAL COMMUNITY: "See..."

There can be no evangelisation where the structures of injustice are not evangelised.

Together we ask ourselves.....

- How can we give concrete form to the prophecy of our Charism in our announcement, and give testimony in real-life situations of injustice, of non-life and of structural sin?

- What is our voice, in our local Church and in everyday reality?

- As local and regional Communities, to what measure have we assumed the choices of COMLA V at the level of awareness-raising, formation and promotion of justice and peace and human rights (women and minority ethnic groups, education, health, disarmament, land etc.); and in what way do we push for the implementation of these choices?

Our task as members of animation groups in our Circumscriptions in the sector of Justice and Peace - the path of the New Evangelisation - is to find answers to this and other challenges, and to propose significant initiatives and ways forward.
May our Father Allamano, prophet of his time, accompany us in our reflections and stimulate us to be prophets today, with that missionary zeal that guided him to such courageous choices in the Mission.
THANK-YOU for having accepted this proposal.
THANK-YOU for having come to this meeting.
THANK-YOU for the path down which we will start with the Allamano Family, in faithfulness to the Church and the individual, in defence of life and of human rights.

We ask the gift of Peace for ourselves and for all humanity:
"May the Lord bless you and take care of you;
May the Lord be kind and gracious to you;
May the Lord look on you with favour and give you peace". (Num.6,24-27).

PATH OF THE MC IN THE SECTOR OF JUSTICE AND PEACE

Faithful to the choices of the universal and local Church, we have travelled together as MC Sisters on a journey of formation, information, awareness-raising and commitment in the field of human rights and of Justice and Peace, stimulated by the decisions taken by our General Chapters.

1. GENERAL CHAPTER 1981

2. GENERAL CHAPTER 1987

3. CONVENTION ON OUR MISSIONARY SPIRITUALITY - Nepi

With the aim of giving concrete form to the choices made together by the MC Sisters and the IMC Fathers, the respective General Councils organised a Convention on "our missionary spirituality" at Nepi from 5th to 10th November 1990.
The following choices were put forward for common implementation:

4. GENERAL CHAPTER 1993

On the basis of proposals presented at the Chapters, the Regional Conferences made their own choices, depending on their particular social and ecclesiastical situation.

5. FIRST CONTINENTAL MEETING FOR L.A. - 1992

The First Latin American Continental Meeting was planned to fall during the Fifth Centenary of the Evangelisation of Latin America (L.A.), and took place in Roraima from 20th to 30th July 1992. In the presence of the Administrator and the entire General Curia, this meeting aimed to evaluate our existence as M.C. Sisters in Latin America and to give significant responses to modern-day challenges, in keeping with our own Charism and the choices made by the Latin American Church.

In the sector of Justice and Peace the following decisions were made:

6. FIRST CONTINENTAL MEETING FOR AFRICA - 1995

In cohesion with the Synod of Bishops for Africa, and in order to make the choices of the Church in the Continent our own, this Continental Meeting was organised in Nairobi, from 2nd to 23rd January 1995, in the presence of the Administrator and the General Curia
As part of the intensification of new evangelisation in this Continent, the meeting took up the challenge of Justice and Peace, proposing the following choices:

7. SECOND CONTINENTAL MEETING FOR THE AMERICAS - 1995

This Meeting of the Americas took place in Bogotà from 24th Oct. to 8th Nov. 1995 and its aim was to intensify both our Charism and new evangelisation in the diverse present-day social and ecclesiastical situation of the Continent.

One of the great challenges is the commitment to Justice and Peace:

The following initiatives arose from this meeting:

" To organise the Justice and Peace Commission at the level of Circumscriptions and of the Continent itself.

" To organise a Solidarity Fund at the continental level in order to support continental initiatives in this sector.

Together with the IMC Fathers the following has been achieved:

Two Continental Meetings:

AMERICA : 8th-11th January 1997 in Caracas (Venezuela)

28th April - 2nd May 1998 in Bogotà (Colombia)

EUROPE : 9th-11th June 1997 in Madrid (Spain)

23rd-28th June 1998 in Lisbon (Portugal)

AFRICA :23rd-28th January 1998 in Dar-es-Salaam (Tanz.)

January 1999 in Maputo (proposal)

In order to co-ordinate information and collaborate in Meetings, a Central Co-ordinating Group has been set up, based in Canada. It is headed by Fr. Jean Paré , IMC and Sr. Adelangela Paita MC (U.S.A.).

The commitment to Justice and Peace is an important aspect of the new evangelisation and, as missionary sisters, we wish to assume that commitment, in faithfulness to the mission, to the people and to the local Church, that the Kingdom of Peace and Justice may come and each individual may have the right to life and play a part in a more fraternal and united world.