CANONICAL VISIT
TO THE REGION OF NORTH AMERICA
(14 April – 9 May, 2004)

June 23, 2004
Feast of St. Joseph Cafasso

Dear Missionaries,
The beginning of the canonical visitation to the North American Region (NAR) took place on Thursday of the Easter week. The liturgy of the day expressed two attitudes of the disciples of Jesus: joy and fear. The joy of the encounter with the Risen Lord and his presence in their midst. The fear, on the other hand, was caused by the perception of a new reality which was being born and was offering many unknowns and challenges. The Resurrection event was still for them a cause of many uncertainties. Commenting the gospel passage in our first concelebration at the Regional House, Father Aquileo and I did express our feelings of joy and fear as we began the canonical visitation. It is true that ours was not the same situation of the first disciples of Jesus, nevertheless it was provoking in us the joy of the encounter with our confreres, of the stimulating experience of being with persons who make efforts to live the mission service, and of the surprise of new regional journeys. The fear was linked not only to the many unknowns which each canonical visitation constantly offers, but also to the sense of littleness and inability which take hold of every person confronted with a task superior to his strength. We felt that the words of the Risen Lord were addressed to us: “Do not fear, it is I!” From the very beginning we felt the assurance that His Spirit would have followed us and the confreres during the entire canonical visitation. He was requesting of us only to remain in syntony with Him, and in a posture of constant discernment of God’s will.
Fr. Lenny De Pasquale, the Regional Superior, has accompanied us throughout the whole visit, and
has been very generous in providing us with the information and clarification which we needed for a better comprehension. For this fraternal and considerate service we thank him very much.

The events which have marked the last six yeas

The last canonical Visitation of the NAR took place during the months of September and October of 1998. It tried to concentrate its attention on some relevant new trends which had marked the missionary journey of the Region in the preceding six years. Those were journeys which seem to engender hope, new choices to be experimented in a fuller way, attempts – probably not fully developed – to fulfill our mission in USA and Canada. That visitation did encourage them, while, at the same time, accentuating a few attitudes which should have never been missed, if we desire to be faithful to the missionary charism of our vocation.
Now, after only six years since that visitation, and in the light of the chapter directives and your Regional Conference 2000, we would like first of all to underline some realities which have characterized the missionary commitment of the Region in the last six years, and also offer our evaluation of the same realities.

The development of Toronto
The Institute is present, in this metropolis in continuous and dizzy growth, for about 25 years. At first with a small mission animation and vocational center, with a small number of confreres. Then followed a tormented discernment towards the realization of a new and bigger house. The invitation issued by the XGC to search for a commitment ad gentes in Europe and North America, led the Region to the choice of St. Andrew, a parish in a popular, multiethnic and pluricultural area, not too far from our center of mission animation. Actually the General Government would have preferred that such a choice would have taken place in another area of the Region, given the fact that in Toronto already was in existence and operative the new CMA. Despite this difference, at the end the General Government accepted the motivations offered by the Region, and approved this new opening for a period of three years. After such a period, the contract with the Diocese can be renewed if the experience is considered positive.
Our presence in the parish of St. Andrew, which started around the middle of last year, offers serious missionary challenges: first evangelization addressed to a population of non Christians; families which have recently moved to the area and which are in need of integration and a serene life side by side with as many as forty minority groups present in the area; great concentration of public and catholic schools (4.000 students); poverty which is not visible in the outside, but rather common among these groups; wide spread micro-criminality. The purpose of this IMC presence is to start a pastoral work, together with first evangelization, clearly missionary in nature and in keeping with our traditional method of evangelization. The formation of the laity and lay ministries is one of the priorities.
The presence in the parish team of a missionary who is dedicated primarily to MAV and the nearness of the parish to our Mission Center, should offer a guarantee of the beginning of a joint missionary work, whereby evangelization and missionary animation and vocation promotion merge together and are integrated harmoniously. Fraternal dialogue, communal planning and reviewing of the activities should become like the daily bread of the two teams, if the Region wishes to obtain the purpose of this new choice.
The MAC of Toronto has been chosen as the house of basic formation, where at present a young man is working on his vocational discernment and sharing life with the local community. The entire community should play an important role in creating the right environment for formation, while the formator has the duty to prepare the formative plan and follow in a systematic way the students in their formation in touch with the Regional Direction and according to the criteria of the Ratio Formationis.

The House of Washington
The house of studies of Washington is soon to be closed, since the purpose for which it was initiated no longer exists. In fact the house was opened as a joint venture of the Regional and General Governments about 10 years ago, as a center for higher studies, and to offer a formative atmosphere to possible IMC local candidates to our Institute. But in effect, the house was always and exclusively a center for studies where about fifteen confreres were able to obtain a specialization especially in theology and philosophy.
The experience acquired in those years, both in North America and other Regions, made the General Council come to the decision not to send any longer confreres for specializations at the end of the basic theological studies. These specializations will be reserved for missionaries who have completed a suitable and positive missionary experience.
The experience accrued in Washington and other such centers of higher studies convinced the General Council to stop sending confreres chosen for specializations at the end of their basic studies. Such higher studies are allowed to missionaries who have complete positively their first experience of missionary life.
The same experience suggested to the General Council the opportunity to appoint the missionaries who pursue specializations to one of our communities located close to the center of studies, rather than to centers set up exclusively for these students. In fact, it is our conviction that houses open to the apostolic work can better help our young missionaries to integrate in a more harmonious way their studies with some missionary work, which should never be missing in any of the formative phase of the missionary life.

The experience of California
Our missionary presence in California, which began in 1992 with the purpose of uniting pastoral work with missionary animation and vocation promotion in one tight project, has experienced alternative ups and downs. The work in the Diocesan Missionary Office of San Bernardino, and that of the parish, have been rather constant, with positive outcome. What has been lacking almost completely was our specific involvement in missionary animation and vocation promotion, both in San Bernardino and neighboring dioceses. A few fathers have taken charge of this work, but the outcome has been equally scarce. We think that the distance of these confreres from the other regional centers should not be undervalued, because it does not allow always their attendance to all the regional initiatives. The original purpose of this new opening was to explore a new missionary frontier which would allow for better vocational input. Unfortunately this has not happened.
We think that the next Regional Conference should express itself on the convenience of continuing this presence in California, in case a further and more substantial development becomes impossible. In our tradition such a small presence and such a distant community from the other regional centers would not find much justification.

In Québec with a solid missionary presence and a reduced number of personnel
The presence of the Institute in the Province of Québec has a long and rich tradition in various fields of labor: pastoral, formative and of mission and vocation animation. In our two existing communities there is still a good organizational structure which facilitates our work and makes mission awareness more efficacious. The difficulty of finding qualified personnel or renewing the available personnel has created serious difficulty for the Regional Council which had the result of forcing them to propose the closure of Ste. Foy. The discernment that was done during the visit was quite thorough and the ideas that were presented could be useful to the Regional Government and to the Region in looking for a solution.
We have also taken notice of other big challenges which the Province of Québec presents to our missionary work: there is still a very high process of secularization in this society which since a few decades ago was notably characteristic of the presence of the Catholic Church; the scholastic sector, which had passed form the Church to the State, tends to exclude religious teaching and likewise exclude our missionary presence. The parishes are moving towards pastoral mergers in order to confront the dramatic scarcity of clergy. The presence of young people is very limited everywhere.
These and other similar aspects need to be taken into consideration in order to arrive at a serene and constructive orientation for the good of the Region and of our missionary work in North America. We propose that the next Regional Conference establish useful guidelines concerning the type of presence that we should have in Québec and the methods of work. This ought to come therefore in the context of a restructuration in a broader development of the life of the Region, in keeping with the present reality of personnel and of the rapid changes that are taking place in the two countries where we work.

Some reflections on the personnel of the Region
The appeal to the General Direction to send to the Region new and effective personnel, capable of propping up the personnel already in the Region, who are getting older, has been repeated many times during the visitation to the communities. This seems to be the easiest way to solve many problems. But we had to reiterate over and over that an increase of the personnel in the Region is impossible. Nevertheless, in obedience to the directives of the General Chapter (XGC, 94-95), the General Council in the past six years has done its best to keep the same number of personnel and to begin a process of personnel rotation, which would bring a new vitality to the Region.
Here are some data which can illustrate the present situation of the personnel presently working in the NAR, without taking into consideration the confreres who have passed through the house of Washington for studies. From 1998 to 2004:
- 17 missionaries have been sent to the Region;
- l9 missionaries have left the Region;
- Of these 19, three have gone to Alpignano for retirement, and two have died.
We see that in the past six years the Region has increased its membership by three missionaries able to work. It is not a great increase, but it shows clearly the difficulties of personnel which the Institute is experiencing at this moment, and of the efforts made to keep alive the Regions whose primary purpose is MVA.
We cannot underestimate the inability of a few members to devote themselves to an active and full time work, due to their age or sicknesses. On one hand we must recognize their commitment to remaining as much as possible useful to the Region, on the other hand they should not feel that they are a burden, but that they enjoy full co-responsibility to the journey of the Region with their prayers and sufferings. The help given to them, and the closeness in their sickness, remains a beautiful witness of brotherhood which will certainly produce its fruits.

The structures and the financial situation of the Region
The last visitation, aware of the financial situations through which the Region was going, offered the following directions:
“In order to attain the objective of economical recovery, it is necessary to continue in the reduction of the expenses of managing our structures. In this particular moment it is specifically the House in Somerset which weighs most heavily on the Region’s negative balance. It is imperative that in the shortest possible time, definitely before the next Regional Conference, an alternative solution to the structures of Somerset be found. In addition to solutions discussed for the House of Somerset, solutions were brought up and discussed for other residences too (along the lines of what has been done in California), which would materially reduce the expenses of managing the houses. In this regard, the consensus in the Region was unanimous” (BU 81, p. 61).
The Regional Government has begun a study on the house of Somerset, done by professionals in the field, which has surfaced the following aspects: the upkeep and management of the structure remains very expensive; the selling of the compound would mean a loss of revenues, because it is difficult to use it for other purposes than the ones for which it was built; the value of the land is increasing.
Using the findings of this study, the Regional Council has thought opportune not to implement this directive of the canonical visitation, but rather to reduce further the expenses of the operating costs. This interim period may even suggest better solutions for the whole context of the regional re-organization, and have as a result a greater income for a possible sale of the land.
The visitation is pleased with the constant efforts of the Region do diminish the expenses for the running of the structures. It invites all to reduce them, so that each community may become self-sufficient, and send to the mission all the offerings received for that purpose through the mission appeals.


Toward refounding the Region

It seems that the term “refoundation” has been used by some North American theologians of religious life, to mean the widespread and felt need to review in a radical way the way of being religious in the Church and in society. Without any doubt we all feel the need to go back to the fundamental elements of our consecrated life and charism, so as to be able to build on it something valid, meaningful and lasting, for our own sake and for the good of the Church. Patch-up work, and touched up solutions do not seem to satisfy any longer. We have tried them often, but it seems that we remain constantly at the starting line. Here are some fundamental questions which have frequently emerged during the canonical visitation:
- What does it mean to be Consolata Missionaries in North America, and what does North America expect of us missionaries?
- Where to start from to become again meaningful and sharp in our work?
- What are the major requirements of our being ad gentes in this Continent?
- Why does the canonical visitation not help us to face and to tackle some fundamental questions of our living and working, instead of trying to answer our usual problems?
Moved by the many suggestions we have received during the personal and communal dialogues, we would like now to resume again the image of “refounding”, in order to propose a few elements useful for the growth of each missionary and of the communities, and capable of speeding up and making more meaningful the missionary activities of the Region. In this enumeration, we will limit ourselves to those elements which have emerged more frequently in the dialogues and in the reports of the Regional Council and of the communities, without pretending to be exhaustive.

To focus on the Lord

To revitalize the presence of the Institute in this Region, we should, without any doubt, focus our spirit and also the structures of our organization on a more solid theological dimension. In other words, we must focus more decisively on the Lord, and keep the drive towards holiness very high, as our Founder wished of all of us. Only on these premises may we hope to give birth to the radicality of life of which we often speak: contemplation must accompany all our decisions at the community and regional levels; the Eucharist must become always for all of us the unquestionable starting point of our days; Mary Consolata the model and inspirer of our missionary service. From this focusing on the Lord, we will be able to take clear and decisive choices for the Region, which will assure a better future for the Region

Ad quid venisti?
“Why have we entered the Institute?” This was the question our Blessed Allamano was often addressing to the first missionaries. He did not wish that they would forget or even dim the real and fundamental purpose of their membership in the Institute, while they were getting ready to become Consolata Missionaries. We, too, can ask ourselves: what are we doing as Consolata Missionaries in these two huge countries of North America? Are we following the purpose for which we were sent to this Region, and do we use all our energy to achieve the aims proposed to us with courage and determination by the past regional conferences?
If we wish to offer an efficacious help to the Institute, we must willingly surrender ourselves to a constant process of discernment. Only this search will allow us to perceive if we are attentive to the prompting of the Spirit who makes himself present to us through the signs of the time, and if we are walking in syntony with the Institute which speaks to us especially through the decisions of the General Chapters. Discernment is above all hearing attentively the others and the reality around us. It becomes dialogue with the brethren and proposal which is directed to the real good of the community and the Region. The discernment, if well practiced, gives rise to the realization of the project of community living, enacted by the Regional Government, and dutifully accepted by each member, as the expression of God’s will for the whole community. In certain cases, the discernment may ask of us to have the courage to adhere to decisions, or assume projects which may be opposite to our personal opinion.
We have decided to mention this important means of community life, because periodically the Region did come to a situation of stalemate faced with decisions which did not please one group or the other. The discernment has its own laws which must be followed scrupulously in order to avoid the possibility of becoming a boomerang against the community itself. There are two steps which cannot be taken lightly, or neglected altogether. The community discusses, debates, discerns and proposes its findings. But it is the competence of the authority to decide, within the legislation of the Institute. When these two levels of competence are not respected, or when we do not give to the vow of obedience the fundamental importance which is inherent to its own nature, all forms of discernment are emptied of those elements which make of it an indispensable activity of the community, and of apostolic planning.

Ongoing formation
Allow us to recall simply some elements which are of interest for our ongoing formation, and which during the visitation have frequently emerged in our dialogues.
- Let us take very seriously the Plan of Communal Living from the moment of its drawing up by the community. This project does not only care about the organization of the activities, but it tries to define the identity and mission of the community, taking into account all the elements which are part of it: prayer life, deepening of the charism and spirituality, periodic review of community life, deepening of aspects of our ministry. While we are asked to concentrate on community, we also should not forget the demands of its components, assigning to each appropriate targets.
- We have been notified of a quasi disappearance of the monthly day of recollection. If it is not possible to organize it by the community itself, let each one make all efforts possible to do it alone, or also with the diocesan priests, or with other religious communities. The monthly day of recollection reminds all of us of the need we have for longer times for recollection to encounter ourselves and God through them. We should not penalize our missionary life by depriving ourselves of the necessary food!
- Besides taking part in the activities of ongoing formation promoted periodically by the Region, the missionaries are also invited to take advantage of the many opportunities offered by the Dioceses, or those sponsored by the religious. Our mission requires great attention to the many demands of our complex society. These demands should not find us inattentive or unprepared. We should not let a year go by without reading at least a few books of theology, or other fields of our competence.
- Only a strong spirituality can boost a true renewal of our consecrated life and our missionary concern. We know well the elements which flow from our charism, and which were fully highlighted by our last General Chapters. We recall only that a spirituality which attempts to be of help to the many challenges of today’s world, should nurture itself daily with the Word of God, organize itself around the Paschal Mystery which we daily celebrate, penetrate into the life often difficult of the people with whom we work, entering into a dialogue which is able to accept the hopes and the wounds of today’s humanity.

To focus on the essential

If we wish to draw energy necessary to implement the refounding of the missionary project, we have to go a step further, i. e. we must concentrate all our energy on a few things and only the important ones. It is indeed imperative to unite all the members around projects which are the fruit of the communal discernment, which, in turn, is a guarantee of continuity for the future. To think of projects based on isolated individuals means, today more than ever, to sow on a land which will never produce fruits.
Allow us now to spend some time on a few aspects which are of great concern to your Region as well to the Institute as a whole.

How many loaves of bread do you have?
We recall once more the scene of the Risen Lord on the shore of the lake. The question addressed to the disciples “how many loaves of bread do you have?” allows Jesus to underline that in the eastern logic it is not any more the crowd, or the quantity, or the effectiveness which counts. But what counts is faith in Him, risen and alive in the community and in each of us, which can operate what humanly speaking is impossible.
If we make a count of ourselves, we the Consolatas in North America are very few. Few, and often older people. Each project which has as its primary objective missionary and vocational animation in these two countries, seems to be destined for failure. Moreover, we are initiating a new plan of evangelization ad gentes, and also this seems to be a task above our limited forces.
And so we must renew our faith in Him who can offer guarantee of success to those who work and sow in his name. These are not words of consolation without any foundation. They are, on the contrary, that inner force which allows us to begin anew our journey with confidence, knowing that every activity of ours can be blessed by the Lord with a hundred fold return. He and His Spirit who do the rest, and we, may be able to count with great wonder the 153 big fishes.
Following this consideration, we would like to recall the fact that in the Paschal economy, poverty is what makes us rich, weakness makes us strong, the smallness makes quantity. Then the criteria which will guide us in our work will be different: the genuineness and transparency in each of our action; the good done well; each project fulfilled in fraternity and mutual understanding; the recognition that what is “ours” more than what is “mine”, builds up the Kingdom.

Family Spirit
More than once, especially in our personal dialogues with you, you have shown us how wide is spread in the north American society the concept of individualism, of personal freedom, of a protagonist spirit which questions all authority and the ideal of community life. But we know that with us this cannot be: we have professed publicly the worth of community living and of the vows, we feel that we are the heirs of the spirit of our Founder who believed that in the èsprit de corp and in loyalty to the community are based the strength and efficacy of our missionary project. In a society which professes other values, we must be the leaven of the gospel ideals which find in the command of mutual love and in the communion which makes us “one in mind and soul”, the nucleus of our Christian belief.
It will therefore be our constant preoccupation to value to the utmost the means which favor this “èsprit de corp”. It is imperative, for instance, that each community meet daily at least twice for prayer. The Lectio Divina is practiced once a week in one community: couldn’t its example be followed also by other communities? Community meetings should not have as their only goal to program the community activities. There should be space to discuss and review the “family affaires”, the themes of the Institute, the deepening of topics on spirituality. It is opportune to make better use of the regional news, using some of the many communication means which are at our disposal.
Family spirit reminds us of another important aspect which is the “ésprit de corp” at the regional level: all united around the same project which aims at the common good, which helps a community to cooperate with another, a sector with the other, and all coordinated and united by the Regional Government, sign and bond of communion.

Reorganizing and reducing our commitments
Speaking of “concentration of activities”, we cannot avoid insisting once more on the necessity of reorganizing and reducing our commitments. This is a topic which has been debated for many years in the Institute, and still it causes uneasiness and stirs up deep emotions. And yet we cannot leave it aside, because, by doing so, we may endanger our life and mission. This is the aim that we wish the entire Regional community would assume with determination for the common good: to focus on the most important commitments with interest and good will.
With the new opening ad gentes in Toronto, and without a previous closing of a community, The Region is presently composed of eight communities. Of these communities, three are not able to have the minimum of three members as was proposed by the Regional Conference of 2000. We look with favor at a gradual process, with much dialogue and discernment, until you reach the reduction of commitments proposed.

The merger of the French and English sectors
The merger of the USA Region and the Delegation of Canada, which took place in l992, is already a fait accompli and an established experience. Before the merger, the two groups were experiencing various difficulties. Their merger in the Region of North America was thought to provide a new vitality and freshness of life, fruit of the sharing of diverse experiences of life and diversified methods of work.
Several evaluations on the accomplished merger have been undertaken in the past years, and they always revealed pros and cons, elements in favor and problematic aspects, with the final exhortation to continue the journey together with commitment and good will. The visitation has surfaced once more the existence of tensions between the French and English sectors, rather than between the communities of Canada and those of the US.
The report prepared by the Regional Council for the canonical visitation, has again looked at the situation with clarity, asking pertinent questions regarding the goodness of the past choice, the opportunity to continue it or not. It also asked the opinion of the confreres regarding the future of the two sectors, with the purpose of bringing to an end an uneasiness which, in the long run, could be damaging to the tranquility of the Region.
After having heard those members more directly involved in the issue, we wish to express now our opinion, with the hope that it may contribute in a positive way to the regional debate and achieve a consensus which will benefit all.
- Despite some inevitable difficulties, the journey made so far has been positive for all, and we think the it is no longer thinkable of dividing the Region into two independent sectors as it was before the merger.
- The French sector, given its reduced number of members, needs to live and work in a wider setting which only the unified Region can provide.
- The English sector can learn a lot from the diversified journey of the French one, and its organization of work.
- It is imperative that the members of both sectors accept their unique diversity and complementarity of the two experiences. At the same time it is necessary that each give much more room to the sense of Region and Institute, which should prevail over the stubborn defense of each one’s sector.
- We feel that it is necessary to intensify the exchange of personnel, and resolve with good will the differences of language.
- It is unthinkable to create a special autonomy for one of the Sectors. In religious life there cannot be an “autonomy” but only a delegated authority given to a community or a group, for specific reasons and a limited period of time. In fact a Region can have only one Major Superior with his council. Any delegated or vicar authority will always operate under the ultimate responsibility of the Major Superior and his Council, and ends with the termination of office of the latter.


To open toward the mission

The necessary creativity to begin an effective and sound refounding of the Region, has to be found not in the closing of ourselves on us, but only by breaking through with courage towards mission. The missionary project which we are proud of, has this objective: the good of the Church and the evangelization of the peoples. For this very reason the Founder has given origin to our Institute. In fidelity to his charismatic intuitions, it is our duty now to search for those missionary situations which are more in keeping with modern society and for the challenges which it offers us. Only the courage of leaving the usual and familiar areas of work for the new frontiers, will ensure new life and a future for the Institute and the Region.
The Region has welcomed the challenge of the last General Chapter, and has looked for a new ad gentes, without diminishing its traditional priority of mission and vocation animation. This last choice should not infringe upon the traditional commitments of the Region, but become leaven which generates in all the missionaries new attitudes and strengthens the missionary perspective which, in the future, could open other missionary paths.
Let us reflect now on old and new aspects of our missionary service in North America.

Ad gentes in North America
This theme has been without doubt one of those most reflected upon in our visitation. Even though the General Government was not part of the process of discernment, nevertheless we feel that following the spirit of the General Chapter, and pondering what is happening in the Region, we can now propose some reflections on the topic:
- The choice of St. Andrew should not be considered a parish commitment, rather the beginning for our Institute of a special attention to the issue of evangelization, and of a specific missionary work in this Region. The attention of those who work in this project ought to be not on the multiple demands of a city parish, with many ethnic groups and cultures, but rather to qualify our service of first evangelization.
- The new project foresees a very close twinning with missionary animation and vocation promotion of the Region. A missionary of the parish team has the specific duty to keep alive and make effective the AMV both in the parish and in the Diocese. The work of this parish should show clearly how strong will be the impact of missionary animation in the Diocese, and how effective the call, above all to the youth, for a vocational choice similar to ours.

Mission and vocation animation
The visit was able to ascertain that besides the traditional forms of missionary animation in the two sectors of the Region, a new interest in a much clearer vocational proposal has been renewed and practiced. The difficulties in approaching the youth are still present; the lack of vocations in the churches of North America is a stark reality; the aftermath which the well known pedophilic cases have left in the Catholic Church of North America, are a deterrent for many young people who may be thinking of a call to the priesthood and consecrated life. But we must believe that the Good Shepherd continuously calls workers to take care of the flock and to announce the message of salvation to all peoples.
Therefore, not only the vocational animators but all the missionaries should be available and able to contact young people and propose to them the vocational call. We are aware that the age of the missionaries may be a help which facilitates the first contact, but in itself is not an indispensable prerequisite. We know older confreres who with their enthusiasm and rich missionary experience, are very effective in their work of vocation animation. In the Region there are missionaries who have a specific duty to coordinate the vocational work, and to prepare and offer initiatives for its promotion. We encourage them to fulfill this precious service with commitment, being faithful to the words of St. Paul: “Insist in the opportune times and inopportune” as well.
Our centers of mission animation continue to produce in the Region initiatives which span from the preaching of mission appeals, to the visit of the schools, the publication of two mission magazines and other printed materials, to conclude with the updating of web sites. We hope that each center will produce a sizable and attractive project to be implemented with the participation of the laity and using the existing structures to their utmost.
And finally we wish to express our gratitude to all the confreres who are engaged in this ministry, and in particular to those who, despite their advanced age, still continue to offer their time and energy to keep alive the missionary spirit in the local church of North America.

On the side of the poor and in favor of peace
One of the outcomes of missionary animation is to stir up in as many people as possible a worry and anxiety confronted with the situations of injustice and poverty which affect entire populations, especially those with whom our missionaries are working. The Region has a confrere in charge of Justice and Peace whose aim is to keep alive in the others this interest, by disseminating information of projects started by the church, or by organizations which promote solidarity. He has also the task to interact with other confreres who are in charge of the same ministry both at the continental level, or at the level of Institute. This contact is very important to come to know and coordinate the situations which are in need of urgent answers.
We encourage all the Confreres to live in solidarity with the poor and those who suffer, by accepting willingly every chance to conscientize people about these issues and act in favor of them. We cannot forget the serious tensions which impact today’s world, and in which North America plays a role of paramount importance. The interest for peace and justice becomes more and more an imperative for us all. It seems to us that a missionary who does not have the empathy for the poor, who does not participate on the side of those who are oppressed, who is not engaged in the work for peace, who does not accept and impose on himself a style of life in keeping with these principles, is not the type of missionary dreamed about by our Blessed Allamano. He has constantly insisted, even though with other concepts and expressions, that the Consolata Missionary should be in solidarity with each person, especially those with greater needs.
One of the traditional means of solidarity with the poor of the Region is its commitment to the gathering of funds to assist our missions. This work is done primarily in the summer months by the preaching of mission appeals. While we wish to express in the name of the General Government our sincere thanks for this sign of fraternal solidarity with our missionary churches, we also ask the Region to ascertain if this means of missionary animation is in need of some change so that it may become a more effective means for the missionary animation of the church in US and Canada.
Other forms which promote solidarity of the people for the poor are utilized with good outcome. Let us call your attention on the necessity to follow almost scrupulously the laws of both countries regarding the NGOs.

Lay missionaries
During our visitation purposely we have inquired with all the communities about the possibility of offering to the laity who desire to be side by side in mission, the necessary care. We have come to know that the Region has a very rich tradition of experience in this field, and can count on many lay people to continue it. We feel that it is necessary for the Region to resume with greater emphasis and commitment a clear and well coordinated plan to help the laity reach their missionary goals. The XGC requires this of all of us, and many lay people who in one way or another intend to cooperate with us in mission, are pleading with us for assistance.
We wish to offer here some proposals born out of our dialogues:
- The project of the Lay Consolata Missionaries is an ideal point of arrival, which does not exclude our interest for other forms of lay collaboration in mission. The study of the new Statutes by the communities and the Region, could keep alive the concern for all the forms of the laity in mission, even if only a few lay people will be able to commit themselves to this project.
- It is commendable to foment the cooperation of the laity to the programs of the Region, and offer them not only the possibility of collaboration, but also an adequate formation, especially in the spirituality of the Institute and the knowledge of the charism of Blessed Allamano.
- Some short but meaningful experiences of our missions, may stir up in the young people some search for a missionary vocation, and in the adults a lively interest for the missions.
- The web sites and our magazines should make known the various possibilities of missionary cooperation which the Institute offers to the laity.

Conclusion

We conclude this report on the canonical visitation to the NAR, expressing our gratitude for the month-long experience of living together, for the gift received from each of you through the dialogues, for the help granted to us by the Regional Council. We have once more experienced, like in the episode of the disciples of Emmaus, that when faced with many challenges and problems, the hearts of all the confreres do not stop being ablaze with love because, walking with the Lord, our zeal grows for the missionary cause. We have felt that the regional community is not tied down to its past, but open to the future “where the Holy Spirit is directing us to do with us great things” (Consecrated Life 110). The seeds of this future are present in your desire for discernment, in your commitment to enrich constantly your life, in the search for new and more effective ways of mission in North America.
We do not intend to miss this opportunity to offer thanks to the NAR: for its solidarity with the needs of the missions, for receiving our young missionaries who intended to pursue higher studies, and, above all, for the fraternal closeness shared with some confreres in need of special medical treatments.
In the last day of the visit, we have gone to pray at the tomb of St. Katherine Drexel, who has incarnated in herself the best ideals of the peoples of your two countries, and has been able to pour out her missionary zeal in support of the poorest and marginalized of that land. May she intercede for the Region, especially during this year in which the Institute has chosen her as our patron saint.
Fraternally and affectionately we greet you in our Mother Consolata.

Fr. Piero Trabucco, IMC
(Superior General)


Fr. Aquileo Fiorentini, IMC
(Continental Councilor)