The Constitutions require the General Government to provide “a service of animation and leadership so that our Congregation may live in fidelity to its vocation and accomplish its mission in the Church according to the charism of our Founder.” (Const. 116). In concluding this report we would like to explain certain issues that received special emphasis during our “leadership” of the Congregation. They derive their inspiration from the Constitutions and especially from the Acts of the Tenth General Chapter which have been a point of reference for all our work over the past six years. We have never missed a chance to call attention to these texts and to urge our confrères to re-read and study them.

1. Serving the Charism
Our charism is the living and unfailing wellspring from which all Consolata Missionaries derive sustenance. Among the principal tasks all General Governments must face are: keeping the Founder’s memory and spirit alive, promoting study of the Congregation to clarify and establish its identity. Appreciating our charism will strengthen our family spirit and sense of belonging. It will define our identity.
On the occasion of our centenary celebrations all Regions have launched a variety of projects to study the person, charism and spirituality of our Founder. Participation of the General Government in these projects was actively sought and when possible achieved. We were happy to preach retreats to our missionaries and young people. We believe firmly that these occasions are opportunities for reaffirming our basic charism with all its implications for our spiritual life.
We have not found real differences in how the charism is understood in the Congregation. We believe that the Tenth General Chapter clarified whatever disagreements may have existed in this area. What role Canon Giacomo Camisassa played in the history of our Congregation is still patient of diverse interpretations, especially among our older members. Translating his remains to the Motherhouse where they lie next to the Founder has helped clarify the role he played in Blessed Allamano’s life and in the establishment and early life of our Congregation.
We have also encouraged the General Office of Postulation to study the possibility of new beatifications. We believe that beatifications are not just a gift to the Church, they are a great help in revitalizing the charism of the Congregation by highlighting the lives of its best sons. The recent translation of the remains of Msgr. Filippo Perlo to the Motherhouse of the Sisters of Mary Immaculate in Nyeri will help us look at the life of this great missionary with serenity and objectivity. He was one of the principal protagonists of the first three decades of our Congregation’s life.

2. Supporting Spirituality
The charism of Allamano and our Congregation returns constantly to a solid, deep, ecclesial, biblical and liturgical spirituality that finds its unity and focal point in the missions. In the hundred years our Congregation has existed our spirituality has grown richer thanks to enormous contribution of the Second Vatican Council and recent Church documents. The Ninth and Tenth General Chapters have helped us overcome – we hope definitively – the harmful dichotomy between religious life and missionary work that has too long persisted among us. These two goals are not opposed, they complement each other and form a unity in us.
Following the lead of the Tenth General Chapter (cf. 40) we have emphasized the importance of consecrated life and all its aspects in the framework of our missionary vocation. Blessed Allamano’s La Vita Spirituale is the handbook of our spirituality. We were not able to fulfill the Tenth General Chapter’s desideratum that La Vita Spirituale be revised – eliminating its anachronisms. More people were against this revision than were in favor of it.
The Tenth General Chapter urged our African and American Confrères to examine the Congregation’s charism and spirituality from the perspective of their own culture. There have been some promising results and successful minor writings on these subjects. The General Office of Basic Formation has encouraged young people to write academic papers on the charism and spirituality of Blessed Allamano.
In the last six years members of the General Government and the General Offices have preached thirty-two retreats. Most of these retreats concentrated on the teachings of our Founder and the essential elements of our identity and spirituality. The letters and writings published in Bollettino Ufficiale [Official Bulletin] and Documentazione IMC [Consolata Documentation] have found an echo outside Consolata circles thanks to the extracts published in periodicals devoted to religious life.
We believe it opportune to insist on the need for greater spirituality and a deeper life of prayer. If necessary we will support specific projects and activities to achieve this goal.

3. Fuller and Deeper Communion
Our Founder fostered and passed on to us deep-seated attitudes: we must be and feel like a family; all missionaries must work with a common purpose; we must love the Church. For our part we have cherished this heritage and reaffirmed it at all stages of our Congregation’s life.
We realize that there are many ways to develop and foster a family spirit: communicating with others about what is happening in the family; sharing our sad and joyful events with our brothers; striving to appreciate the contributions each of us makes to the Congregation. Whenever possible we have made an effort to be present at those special occasions that mark the life of missionaries and the Congregation. Lively reports on what is happening in the life of our Congregation certainly contribute to this family spirit.
If a spirit of communion is alive and well in our own community it will be passed on to the larger Christian community and the Church. We must do everything to promote greater communion with local Churches and bishops and stronger links with priests and religious. On the whole there is approval and support for our sincere and active collaboration with diocesan organizations, religious conferences, ecclesial movements and promotional/welfare projects. It is always better to choose working with others rather than working alone – even if we are capable of carrying off projects by ourselves.

4. An International and Multi-Cultural Family
The international nature of our family is ever more marked and will be even more prominent in the future. Being international is a fundamental element of our charism, it is a constituent part of our identity (cf. Const. 23). The calm and beneficial acceptance of our international dimension is not automatic. It is the result of an educational process that must be fostered, promoted and directed with care and attention. Creating the international community our Constitutions hope for is not simply a matter of putting people of different nationalities together in the same house. True inter-culturalism tends towards cultural integration: diverse cultures do not compete but complement each other. Differences do not constitute obstacles but are occasions for growth for all.
The General Government had endeavored to promote this process by striving to create international communities in our theological seminaries. The key to success in these situations is to make sure the local element is sufficiently represented. We have striven to make it possible for newly assigned missionaries to leave their own Region and take part in a first, meaningful missionary experience. Another important element is personal preparation. This is especially true in the younger Regions that are learning how to assume tasks of responsibility. One thing we must be careful to avoid: exposing young missionaries to tasks that exceed their abilities or preparation. Of fundamental importance in this regard is creation of apostolic communities with a sufficient number of missionaries to guide those who are being exposed to an international situation for the first time.

5. Deepening the Spirituality of Consolation amongst Us
The Tenth General Chapter suggested various ways we can cultivate consolation. This aspect of spirituality is at the very heart of our one-hundred year history. The Chapter’s suggestions reflect a present-day interpretation of Blessed Allamano’s insight: evangelization and the promotion of human welfare can never be separated.
The Chapter also suggested formation programs to guarantee that consolation is never limited to simple human welfare concern. As Consolata Missionaries we must cultivate a genuine “culture of consolation;” it acts as leaven and flavor our every missionary project. The Chapter illustrated a spirituality of consolation that embraced openness, sensitivity, humility and solicitude for our brothers. It urged us to study the social teachings of the Church. It called on the Regions to examine their structure and how they carry out their mission lest they find themselves becoming aloof from the poor and people in general. It asked the General Government to promote reflection on this theme during its six-year term.
Centenary celebrations and other Chapter concerns made it impossible to devote all the time we would have liked to reflection on consolation in the past six years. We provided a series of eleven meditations as subjects for community discussion or monthly days of recollection. We are grateful for the assistance of our confrères in this effort. The project met with approval in the Congregation and was appreciated in all Regions.
Three of these reflections on consolation have particular significance at this present moment in the life of the Congregation.
- The School of “Pardon and Reconciliation” established in Colombia is spreading to other countries. It is an effective antidote to the climate of violence (especially political) to be found in so many places. The positive effects of this “school” might indicate the importance of cultivating this project in all those places the Congregation is carrying out missionary work.
- The HIV/AIDS pandemic: To counteract the devastating and well-known effects of this scourge a series of worthwhile projects are being launched in our Congregation – especially in Africa – that deserve our support. We believe that deeper reflection and better managed projects will make our work on behalf of the victims of this disease more conscientious and effective.
- Immigration: this is especially important in Europe. A whole host of problems are arising; civil society is meeting these challenges with repressive and often punitive solutions. The charism of consolation and the missionary vocation oblige all three European Regions to intervene and alleviate the sufferings of immigrants. We must help them fit into their new countries and the Church – neither of which is always very welcoming.


VI. NEW FRONTIERS

Uncertainty and questions about new areas for promoting missionary work have been topics of discussion in recent years. We ask ourselves why we don’t seek out new lands in Europe for our work since those in which we have been present for so many years are almost bereft of vocations. In America there has been much discussion about going to Mexico, and in Asia they are looking at the Philippines …
Since the General Government had received no specific mandate from the Chapter it would not assume responsibility for launching such projects. The Directorate was willing to accept projects initiated by a Region or continent as long as they were on a limited and experimental basis.
This subject came up again at the Inter-Chapter Meeting. This is what they had to say:
“The Chapter provided clear guidelines on new foundations. The Inter-Chapter Meeting considered the fact that in recent years there have been no new foundations with mission/vocation promotion as their primary goal and expressed its approval of such foundations.
Working guidelines:
- No new foundation should be for the exclusive purpose of recruiting vocations but should involve the service of mission promotion to the local Church .
- The Continental Councilor should guide discussion and research for his continent in close contact with Region Superiors.
- In preparation for the next General Chapter, Regional Superiors should discuss this subject within their own Regions and involve the opinions and consent of all their members.
We believe that a new foundation, whatever its purpose, must be mandated by the Chapter. Without the assistance and support of the whole Congregation no single Region would have the necessary personnel and financial resources to establish and sustain a new foundation. Our Regions face very different vocation situations. The countries of Western Europe are not promising terrain for missionary and religious vocations. Eastern European (ex-Communist) countries are rich with vocations although it is unlikely that this situation will persist. They too are subject to globalization and secularization. In Latin America vocation prospects would be better if our Regions involved more men in recruitment. Here the problem is not so much looking for new places to recruit vocations but rather to better cultivate the places where we are already present. In Asia the problem seems premature. Thank God, Korea seems to represent a missionary vocation awakening at present.
We believe the Chapter should discuss this subject since so many Regions have brought it up. The Chapter should provide guidelines for the Congregation’s future choices.
We have received requests for new foundations in various places:
√ Belarus (Diocese of Vitebsk);
√ Chad (Diocese of Laï);
√ Lithuania;
√ Mexico.
Along with this list of possible foundations we have received an interesting proposal from the Missionary Sisters of St. Peter Claver that we join them in a collaborative effort in Poland designed to promote mission awareness among the clergy. The Polish clergy is numerous and open to the ad gentes missionary dimension.

Conclusion

We have described the life of the Congregation in the past six years and the leadership provided by the General Government during this time. We would now like to express our heartfelt gratitude to all the confrères we have met in our visitations; in their humility and devotion they bear the burden in the heat of the day. We would also like to thank Region Superiors and their Councils as well as those in charge of General and Regional Offices. Without their generous contribution it would have been impossible to do what we have accomplished in these last six years.
In my own name I would like to offer my sincere thanks to the members of the General Council. We have worked side by side helping and complementing each other in our service to the Congregation. We know that there have been mistakes and shortcoming and for this we would like to ask pardon and understanding from all of you. We are comforted by the conviction that we have always worked for the good of the Congregation and not our own satisfaction.
We are celebrating the eleventh General Chapter of our Congregation while the Church is experiencing the joy of Easter and the Year of the Eucharist. We close this report with our sincere best wishes for this Chapter and our whole Congregation; may our work proceed in prayer. The Easter experience of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus is an example for our Chapter.
May we know how to welcome the Risen Lord in our midst; may we be guided step by step by Him as we discuss what our missionary family is living through at present – its problems and difficulties. May we ever be credible witnesses of His Presence among all peoples.
May each of us know how to welcome the cross of Christ into our lives; it is the secret of His success and the success of the Congregation. May we be convinced that every form of martyrdom is the best witness we can bear to the Gospel of Christ.
May we find the source of our inspiration during this Chapter in the Word of God and in the Eucharist so that He can open our eyes and make us see His Will. It will warm our hearts and preclude any lack of fraternal charity in our midst.
May our Chapter work help the Congregation; may we never lose confidence in the face of the challenges and demands of the missions; may we foster hope and optimism.
May we come to see that only through conversion to Him, the Center of our life and source of our mission, will we find the necessary strength to lead the Congregation into its second century of life with determination and farsightedness.
May Our Mother, the Consolata, and our Father Founder bless and intercede for all of us.
Father Piero Trabucco, IMC (Superior General)
Father Antonio Bellagamba, IMC
Father Norberto Ribeiro Louro, IMC
Father Aquiléo Fiorentini, IMC
Father Jean André Benedetti, IMC