Rome, June 20, 2001

My dearest brothers in the Region of Spain,

Last April 30, one year exactly after the VIII Regional Conference, we concluded the canonical visitation of your region. In one respect this visitation differed from others: it was the first visitation conducted by the Vice-Superior General in accord with the decisions of the Tenth General Chapter (XCG). Father Antonio Bellagamba was accompanied by the Councilor for Europe, Father J.A. Benedetti.

During the visitation we encountered a daily and lively mix of resurrection and death, hope and doubt, highs and lows. This was the theme of the Liturgy that marked the beginning of the visitation on Tuesday within the Octave of Easter. The victory of life over death, certainty over doubt and the future over the past found its clearest expression in the words of the liturgy, “He is risen! The one you crucified is alive …; look at my wounds and believe …” Easter is a constant reminder to us, the disciples and ministers of the Risen Lord that: if we are true to our vocation, faithful to the charism and spirituality of our Founder and if we accept the sacrifices caused by fewer vocations, apparent failure and the remoteness of the mission, we will be more genuine Missionaries of the Consolata and we will see the fruits of our work.

 In this letter will discuss the most important items brought up at the VIII Regional Conference (Actas): our identity, our missio ad gentes, initial formation, permanent formation and the organization of the Region. Under each of these headings we will describe briefly what we saw the situation to be, we will make observations and offer suggestions for the future of the region.

I. OUR IDENTITY

 We saw for ourselves how closely you identify with the Institute, its charism and the goals of our presence and work in Spain. As is the case in many other regions, you are making an effort to keep the memory of our Founder alive and to spread his spirituality. Our Lady, the Consolata, is not just a picture on the wall but an image in your hearts. We very much felt that you were members of our missionary family.

Spiritual Life

 All the communities provide a minimum amount of common prayer in their schedules. We would urge you to meet at least twice a day for prayer; try and make these encounters meaningful – approach them with a spirit of individual and community creativity.

 Both the Constitutions and the General Chapters have asked our missionaries to celebrate a regular pattern of daily, weekly and monthly prayer. In spite of the countless commitments that militate against regular community prayer we would remind the missionary that his obligation to set aside sufficient time for spiritual concerns is absolutely vital. If prayer is neglected for reasons that are neither specific nor plausible, religious life will suffer at its very roots. Perseverance in one’s vocation and dedication to missionary work will be endangered and deprived of their life-giving strength – the spirit of the Institute. Your activities can become stumbling blocks since they serve no purpose. We do not expect a rhythm of prayer that is exceptional or goes beyond the Constitutions, but one cannot neglect what the Constitutions prescribe.

Consecrated and Community Life

 Community superiors should be a discreet presence; they should confine themselves to guaranteeing a minimum of organization and coordination in community work. This presence should not be so subtle and restrained that the community lacks genuine leadership. Leadership involves direction of individuals, offers of help and support, encouragement in living out our charism and spirituality and practicing community discernment lest there be too frequent recourse to the Regional Superior.

 During the visitation we came across disagreements that could undermine the serenity and common purpose of the group. We support and repeat the hope expressed so succinctly at your Regional Conference that everyone share the commitment and “la capacidad de reconstruir las relaciones rotas (the ability to rebuild relationships that have been broken)” (Actas, p. 12). We urge you to continue on the path of understanding and family spirit; be always and everywhere a beacon of fraternity and love. This is something especially needed in a nation torn apart by homicidal factions. Finally we ask that your judgments of past and present events be guided by a faith inspired vision of reality and our fraternal life. Our charism, spirituality and historical heritage ought to unite us. What particular aspects of our life or mission we emphasize should be left to the discernment of the community.

II. OUR MISSIO AD GENTES

1. Mission and Vocation Promotion (MVP)

 Before going into detail on the this subject – Missionary and Vocation Promotion (MVP) – we would like to mention certain projects that deserve special attention and further development.

 First of all there are the FaCoMi groups (Familias Colaboradoras Misioneras). We came into contact with these groups in Saragozza, Elche and Madrid. They are benefactors who love and support the missions through their prayers, sacrifices and practical solidarity. We would ask you to provide them

with a continual flow of information and occasions to share our prayer and our life. The Visitors invite all to cultivate this vital section of our mission and vocation promotion, recruiting new families and friends and involving them in your immigrant work.

 In the past you operated a shop (Ujamaa) in the center of Madrid. The shop had two purposes: to make known the art and culture of those countries in which we work and to provide a source of income. After a long period of discernment the Region decided to close the shop and concentrate on traveling mission exhibits. All the communities pitched in and worked together with the Regional director to set up these exhibits. Early results are promising. The Visitors believe that this is a valid and interesting project and would encourage you to continue this activity. Seek out the cooperation of youth groups, lay missionaries and the members of FaCoMi.

 We met the Missionary Sisters of the Consolata with pleasure. Only a few months ago they moved into their new headquarters but they are already involved with the local people and apostolate as well as our mission and vocation promotion. They work well with our missionaries – especially with the Pinos Baja community. They are imaginative and open to new ideas – especially in the area of the mission apostolate. It would be good if our collaboration could go beyond what is already taking place. We would hope that proximity to our Madrid communities would allow them to join in our family celebrations; together we can share and grow in fraternity and our common charism.

a) Youth and Vocation Work

 Like so many other secular nations in western Europe, Spain has suffered a dramatic decrease in vocations. It would appear however that certain institutes and dioceses have turned the corner and vocations are beginning to increase.

 The Visitors suggest that the Region study the situation honestly to determine if we deserve new vocations. Do the young people who approach us see the joyful example of a fulfilled vocation? Does our life prompt young people to follow Allamano? Do we invite them to consecrate their lives to the missions?

 We all know that there are many reasons for dwindling vocations and that these reasons are frequently beyond our understanding. If we ask ourselves these basic questions we are taking the first steps towards a serious and authentic commitment to recruiting vocations. 

 In spite of their decreasing numbers, young people are your greatest joy and your best hope for the future. We have met these young people in all your communities and we had the occasion to pray and share with them – especially during the “Youth Easters.” 

 The Regional Conference affirmed the need to renew your youth apostolate and requested that a plan of Pastoral Juvenil Vocacional (Youth Vocation Apostolate) be prepared as soon as possible. This new plan should reflect the needs of our times and display certain characteristics (Actas p. 18). With regard to this project:

- We strongly encourage those responsible to comply with the Conference’s wishes and complete this work as soon as possible so that common guidelines for youth work will be available to every community in the Region.

- We recommend that everybody receive young people into our communities with open hearts and minds; pay attention to their spiritual needs, desires and aspirations. Young people can sense immediately if their presence is welcome or merely tolerated.

- We urge everyone to take an interest in young people – this is the most appropriate and practical way of discovering and nourishing vocations. For this purpose each community should appoint at least one missionary who is competent, sensitive and available for vocation direction – this is the heart of youth work.

b) Servicio Conjunto de Animación Misionera (SCAM)

 (Joint Service of Mission Promotion)

 Compared with the not too distant past, the Spanish Church is more receptive to mission and vocation promotion. The progress of SCAM in recent years is the clearest indication of this development. The national directors of the Pontifical Missionary Works and the diocesan mission centers are opening their doors to our mission promotion throughout the country; the Episcopal Conference will soon publish a document on Spanish cooperation with the missions that will give added impetus to this development.

 These are positive contributions to mission and vocation promotion. Our promotion should not be confined to anecdotes about mission life but should involve serious reflection on the mission in the modern world and the need for missionaries to formulate a missionary apostolate that corresponds to the Church and world we actually live in.

 We ask the Regional Office of Mission and Vocation Promotion to provide opportunities for those working in this field to bring themselves up to date. They should be encouraged to take part in programs offered by the dioceses or other Mission agencies. In this way they can keep themselves informed of new developments; their presentation of the missionary vocation will be both lively and incisive.

c) Consolata Lay Missionaries

 Lay missionaries are the most original form of your youth apostolate. Forming youth groups and preparing lay people for work in the missions is an outstanding and typical characteristic of the Spanish Region. These lay groups can be found wherever the Institute exists – they are a blessing for both the missions and the Institute. The Visitors not only approve but encourage all the missionaries of the Region to become involved in this movement.

 The lay missionaries came to meet us, talk about their experiences and express joy in their life choice for the missions. Your Region demonstrated the ability to launch this work with young people and do it with planning and commitment. The whole Institute is in your debt!

 Now you must continue the journey you have begun by sharing with these lay people our most precious possessions: our charism, our spirituality and our mission. You must endeavor to carry out the guidelines proposed by the Tenth General Chapter in collaboration with these lay missionaries and the General Secretariat of the Missions.

 A document is being prepared by those in charge of lay people in Europe along with the Secretariat for the Missions; this document will call the attention of all our missionaries to this movement and suggest that the whole Institute sponsor a lay missionary project. We urge everyone to study this document carefully and take up the work that it recommends.

 We urge the Regional Council and local Superiors to involve these lay people more fully in the life of the Region and the local community. They must gradually become a part of our life, sharing our work and our spirituality. They will doubtless be a great source of talent and potential for our mission and our vocation apostolate.

d) Media of Social Communication

 The media are indispensable for our mission and vocation work and the General Chapter has encouraged their use. The Visitors noted with pleasure that the review Antena Misionera has made great progress and enjoys general esteem. The active assistance and generous collaboration of lay missionaries in editing the review has improved the publication. The financial assistance that reaches our missions through this review is not negligible. Learn to appreciate your lay colleagues even more and do what you can to make the review more attractive and more effective in telling the mission story. Everyone should cooperate with this venture by writing and distributing the magazine. Use it in your mission and vocation work, in your preaching, in your mission talks and in the formation of lay people. It is a means of promotion of which you have a right to be proud.

 We would also invite you to work with the General Secretariat of the Missions in setting up and maintaining an IMC website. This is something that could interest young people and lay people. 

 In conclusion we urge you to develop those attitudes that are fundamentally important for mission and vocation work: insist on team work on the local level. Offer generous assistance and share responsibility for the work in which others are engaged. Even the individual who is most responsible for mission and vocation promotion must be totally involved in the Regional plan and willing to collaborate any time his help is sought. At the same time we ask you to avoid unwarranted interference – something that is always harmful to fraternity and the efficacy of our work.

2. Justice and Peace (J&P)

 The Chapter counted commitment to peace and justice as one of the five areas of our missio ad gentes. Although it is valid for the entire Institute it assumes a particular importance for Regions in the Northern Hemisphere. The future of the world is being played out in North America and Europe where political and economic decisions are made that cause poverty and degradation for the peoples of the South among whom we work. The Regional Conference discussed this question extensively (cf. Actas, p. 28) and proposed some effective guidelines. The Region then appointed a missionary to coordinate this sector through a Justice and Peace commission.

 We urge everyone to embrace this area of missionary commitment seriously and put its proposals into practice. For this purpose:

- We ask you to activate your Justice and Peace commission: appoint missionaries, so that it can begin work immediately. It must raise the consciousness of our missionaries and collaborate with all those projects that promote justice and peace.

- We urge you to consider immigration into Spain as a preferential area of activity.

3. Immigrants

 The General Chapter asked the Regions of Europe and North America to find a missio ad gentes within their own countries (Tenth General Chapter, 44). This internal missio should be incorporated into the mission and vocation promotion program – always seeking to avoid duplication of, or bothersome interference in other projects. The Spanish Region was the first to heed this call and begin its work among immigrants (Actas, pp. 25-26).

 Two years of experience have demonstrated the validity of this choice. The Elche community was particularly dedicated to this work and must assume leadership for other communities in the Region. Elche’s early experiences and plans for the future can be found in a booklet entitled Caminando con nuestros hermanos immigrantes (Walking with Our Immigrant Brothers). The other houses of the Region have also begun projects of this kind.

 The Visitors took note of the seriousness of this project – especially in the Elche community – and would like to propose criteria for working in this sector.

- In Elche, mission and vocation promotion on the one hand, and work among the immigrants on the other, should complement and support each other – the one should not exclude the other: work among immigrants highlights mission and vocation promotion and the mission inspires work among immigrants.

- The Elche community must assume leadership for the other communities in the Region; all communities should engage in this apostolate without detriment to or contrast with existing mission and vocation promotion.

- The Chapter shed light on this work of ours: let us show a preferential option for non-Christians; our style of work should be one of presence, involvement and spiritual direction that respects the religious dimension of every person.

- When possible our work should be integrated into diocesan programs and ready to work with other concerned agencies, ecclesiastical or otherwise.

III. FORMATION

1. Basic Formation

 Since there are no Spaniards in formation the early stages of basic formation do not exist in the Region. There is, however, the community of Pinos Baja in Madrid where there are students who have not yet made perpetual profession nor received any Orders. We found an atmosphere of serenity, cooperation and genuine family spirit in this community. The relationship with the formation director was intense and sincere. Studies are taken seriously and there is a lively commitment to the apostolate.

 In our closing meeting we asked all the missionaries to reflect seriously on the future of this house, which six years ago the General Council had designated as a center for higher studies.

 There was an extensive exchange of ideas and everyone present expressed the belief that the community of Pinos Baja was important and significant in the context of the Region. It is a sign of life and hope and must continue to be involved in Regional projects, especially mission and vocation promotion and work among the immigrants.

 It is a task for the General Council, within the limits of the possible, to send students and missionaries to this community. The universities of Madrid offer splendid opportunities for training missionaries. This would respect the original finality of the community – higher studies. It should not become a center for receiving IMC candidates in the early stages of formation (preparatory studies and philosophy).

2. Permanent (ongoing) Formation

 In the wake of these Chapter proposals, the recent Regional Conference emphasized the need for a substantial program of permanent formation, and for a variety of projects to help missionaries grow as persons, religious and missionaries. All communities should hold regular meetings to study and discuss formation. Periods of ongoing formation are always part of regional assemblies. In the recent past ad hoc meetings have been organized for younger missionaries, now the Region has appointed a missionary to take charge of these activities. 

 The Visitors urge you to continue along this path and underline the importance studying the Institute’s documents and taking part in the often varied and significant activities of the diocese.

IV. ORGANIZATION OF THE REGION

1. The Regional Council

 The Regional Council gets along well together and meets regularly; it enjoys freedom of debate on all the subjects presented to it. Our confrères respect and appreciate this work of service – they especially appreciate the fact that the Regional Superior is close to individuals and communities. Internal communications in the Region are regular and sufficient. 

 The Visitors would encourage the Council to keep in close touch with the grassroots and see that internal communications are lively and effective. For their part missionaries should accept Council decisions with serenity: both the Constitutions and the practice of the Institute entrust this responsibility to the Regional Council.

2. Personnel Stability

 The previous canonical visitation noted that frequent transfers in the past helped rejuvenate the Region. On the other there were complaints that such frequent changes in personnel created a lack of stability and continuity in our work. The last Regional Conference requested that all missionaries sent to Spain remain for at least four to six years.

 The General Council continued to send young people for mission and vocation promotion but noted that these missionaries made an effort to remain in the Region beyond the time of their assignment. We still have not achieved the desired stability, there is always the temptation to take off for the missions. 

 This desire to go to the missions is a positive thing. All the same we would urge you to look upon the work you do in Spain as a missio ad gentes and be willing to dedicate sufficient time to it. This will be of enormous benefit to the very work you are doing.

3. Regional Officials

The Region possesses almost all the regional offices prescribed by the Constitutions or recommended by the General Chapters. Each office has someone in charge and a corresponding committee.

We would recommend that officeholders show commitment and initiative in carrying out the proposals of the Regional Conference and in offering support to their confrères. We would also recommend that the finance committee be open to competent and conscientious lay people who can make effective and professional contributions. 

4. Regional Administration

 For some years now the Region has enjoyed a good financial base: it is accurate, precise, wise and grounded. At present the communities of the Region are self-supporting with one exception. This community must pay rent while it is awaiting completion of its new residence. The significant progress that has taken place leads one to hope that soon the Region can soon become a source of support for other poorer Regions of the Institute.

5. The Regional House

 This is a meeting place for all the confrères in the Region, for missionaries on vacation and for friends and relatives. It is also the center of various regional offices and activities. Within the limitations the building imposes, the superior and the community are enthusiastic in offering fraternal hospitality.

6. Medical Insurance

 In an effort to find a long-term solution, this subject was discussed at length during the visitation. During our final assembly we decided that all Spanish missionaries and all foreigners who live in the Region should change their insurance from Colectivo Misionero to Colectivo General. This involves a slight increase in premiums but assures better coverage for all the missionaries of the Region and those who live abroad. This would obviate unpleasant emergency situations.

7. Assistance to Spanish Elderly and Sick

 This was also a subject of lengthy discussion during the visitation – especially within the Regional Council. We all agreed that our aged and sick members – there are not many – should not be isolated. They should have the opportunity to share the life and activities of the Region and live with their confrères.

 The visitation confirmed the importance of finding an adequate solution to this problem. We must respond to the needs and wishes expressed by our members. This subject will be discussed again in the near future; possible solutions will be communicated to the General Council.

CONCLUSION

 In conclusion we would like to extend our thanks to: all the members of the Region for their careful preparation and lively participation; the Regional Council for bringing us into the very heart of their Region’s activities and for the service they perform for their Region; and finally local Superiors and communities for their fraternal welcome. Special thanks go to Father Alvaro Palacios Arregui, the Regional Superior, who made himself completely available to us, accompanied us throughout the visitation and was generous in his advice and assistance.

 We would like to call to mind those principal themes which came up in our common prayer and reflection: to love Christ with ever more intensity and passion; to ask for the gift of the Holy Spirit for personal and community discernment and for the success of your mission; to cultivate charity, love and unity amongst yourselves – above all; to make qualitative and quantitative improvements in personal and community prayer; to make mission and vocation promotion in all forms, the work to which you dedicate yourselves generously and without reserve.

 We conclude this letter on June 20^th, the feast of our Mother, Foundress and Patroness. With you and through you we offer her all the marvelous work done in the past and continuing in the present: youth groups, lay missionaries, choice of immigrants as your missio ad gentes, renewed commitment to peace and justice, mission and vocation promotion that responds to the needs of the local Church and the young. We offer her your life as consecrated persons and as missionaries; this life will be the beautiful gift you offer God each day in the Eucharistic sacrifice. We hope that with her, you will continue the journey you have begun, a journey of faith, of radical consecration and of creative, incisive work.

 Spain is a land of saints and missionaries.  May it witness in you genuine followers of the Lord. May it see reflected in you that spirit which inspired the saints and missionaries and made them witnesses of the Gospel to the very ends of the earth.

 We entrust all of you to the intercession of our Father Founder, and wish you well.

    Fr. Antonio Bellagamba, IMC

    Vice-Superior General

    Fr. Jean André Benedetù

Continental Councilor