(Part one)
TRAINING AND RENEWAL OF MISSIONARIES

We live in a time of epochal change in all areas of life: technical, cultural, social, religious, familial and political. Our Congregation too has undergone change and needs to organize its future with fidelity to the past and a hopeful attitude towards what is coming into existence. Our ability to face the challenges of history positively and carry out shared projects depends on training and renewal. We need strong roots and spiritual vitality; a firm foundation and a life in Christ to carry out our mission and recognize those “new things” the Spirit brings into existence in our midst in this new millennium. Following the guidelines laid out by the XIth General Chapter we base our planning on the three principles of consecrated missionary life: formation, communion and the mission.

I. OUR FORMATION

Each missionary is responsible for his own formation which will enable him to respond to the challenges of mission and to the multicultural composition of our missionary family. To meet this responsibility, the Institute is committed to offer to all its members the best possible instruments and means of formation at the local, regional, continental and general levels.” (XI General Chapter 92).

1. SPIRITUALITY
Redemptoris Missio reminds us: “A missionary is really such only if he commits himself to the way of holiness” (RM 90). Our Founder calls on us to be not just missionaries but “saints to a superlative degree.”
For this reason it is important to advance in personal and community prayer, to listen to the word of God and to understand one’s personal and community environment in the light of the Paschal Mystery. We must foster an attitude of permanent conversion.
“The Chapter renews with profound conviction the option for holiness of life of each missionary and of the communities. This holiness manifests itself in the awareness that we are consecrated ad gentes, ad vitam, ad extra and ad paupers for the sake of mission, with unity between spiritual life and apostolic action. This shapes the missionary into a holistic and authentic dispenser of the mysteries of salvation.” (53)

Working Proposals

For Regions
- enter into dialogue with individual confrères and communities on personal and community life plans;
- following our tradition promote: Eucharistic adoration; lectio divina; spiritual direction, fraternal pardon and encouragement; revision of life; all necessary instruments of a spirituality of communion; the celebration of anniversaries and other festive events (Cf. 55.5);
- promote the establishment of communities or spirituality centers where our confrères can go for periods of prayer and reflection (Cf. 55.3);
- plan meetings of local superiors for mutual support in serving their communities and sharing their own experience of God (Cf. 55.4).

For the Congregation
- continue promotion and study of the Founder’s spirituality in collaboration with the Consolata Sisters through seminars and meetings (Cf. 64.3);
- study and publish through the Office of Postulation works on Allamano’s life and thought (Cf. 106);
- keep alive in our Congregation – through appropriate projects – the life and work of Canon Giacomo Camisassa;
- ask our missionary publications to print an annual insert on Blessed Allamano (106) – this could be done in February;
- make available to our confrères material on exemplary missionaries and study the possibility of initiating new Beatification Processes (Cf. 106);
- support projects that study the charism and spirit of our Founder; promote assimilation of this spirit through appropriate projects and publications (Cf. 7.1).
In line with Chapter guidelines the two-year period (October 7, 2006 – June 20, 2008) should be devoted to reflection on and in-depth study of “holiness of life” with proposals and study aids prepared by the General Government and other Region projects (Cf. 55.1).

2. ONGOING FORMATION
“We, as human beings, are continually undergoing a process of development; our Christian life is also growing; mission is in constant renewal, and there is a need to acquire the ability of coping with the ever changing social trends of the day. All this demands that missionaries be constantly and seriously committed to ongoing formation.” (Const. 90).

Working Proposals

For the Regions
- Organize a continent-wide meeting on the subject of Inculturation of Charism (Cf. 58.2);
- “Favor the ongoing formation of missionaries in their regions with regular meetings, spiritual exercises, and appropriate aids especially on themes and documents of the Institute and the Church” (94.1);
- Train confrères from each continent in the areas of history, inculturation of charism and the spirituality of the Congregation (Cf. 58.2);
- Train in the spirituality of poverty using the book Poveri per arrichire gli altri (Cf. 97.4);
- Promote and train present administrators and prepare new ones (Cf. 97.7).

For the Congregation
Prolonged periods of ongoing formation
In association with the General Secretariat for the Missions and Regional Superiors the General Government will organize ongoing formation courses (Cf. 94.4) for:
- Young missionaries: in association with the Consolata Sisters a lengthy course for missionaries ordained or brothers professed ten years should be organized on each continent .
- Older missionaries: Two longer courses for missionaries ordained or perpetually professed about twenty-five years should be sponsored (2007 and 2009).
- Elderly missionaries (Over 65): two month-long meetings (in 2008 and 2010) in Rome should be organized. This does not exclude the possibility of other meetings on a continent or Region level.

Other ongoing formation projects:
- Publishing, with the assistance of the History Office, the most significant doctoral theses on the history of the Congregation.
- Publishing and publicizing , through the History Office, significant works in other languages on the history of the Congregation, our Founder and our charism.
- Calling on the Regions to send in to the General Government historical material on our confrères and our missions.

In line with Chapter guidelines the two-year period (October 7, 2008 – June 20, 2010) should be devoted to reflection on and in-depth study of “interculturalism” with proposals and study aids prepared by the General Government and other Region projects (Cf. 58.1; 97.1).

3. BASIC FORMATION
Conscious of the importance of basic formation for the life and work of the Congregation we will devote special attention to this area and will seek out the most appropriate methods for promoting our young people’s growth in quality, serenity, depth, missionary élan and family spirit.
All our missionaries should feel responsible for formation and should assist young people in their efforts to achieve human, Christian and missionary growth.

Working Proposals

With Formation Personnel
- Organize a meeting on each continent with Region Superiors (2007) and a general level meeting (2008);
- In collaboration with the Consolata Sisters research and devise formation courses that involve our charism and spirituality (Cf. 64.4);
- Continue the studies launched in previous years on formation and publish them;
- Publish and circulate the Ratio Formationis among formation personnel, vocation promoters and Region Superiors;
- Program, prepare and train new formation personnel (Cf. 91.4);
- Foster discernment in the choice of formation personnel in Regions where there are propaedeutic and philosophy centers (Cf. 91.4).

In the seminaries
- Visit and guide our formation centers;
- The curriculum of studies should include: interculturalism, justice, peace, environmental concerns, interreligious dialogue, the phenomenology and theology of religions (Cf. 79.3);
- Continue – to the extent possible – the practice of interculturalism in our seminaries;
- Assist Regions to establish a formation team in each seminary: one individual should not bear sole responsibility for formation (Cf. 91.5);
- Study and launch a common practice with regard to the licentiate in all our theology centers (Cf. 91.2);
- Initiate a year of service to the Congregation for all those finishing basic theology in 2006 (Cf. 91.1);
- Offer our students practical and spiritual guidance in the area of community finances (Cf. 97.8);
- Make sure all our students (beginning in the pre-novitiate) learn Italian as a sign of love and belonging to our family;
- Help our students achieve a basic proficiency in English during their years of basic formation.

In the Regions / continents
- Foster greater collaboration between formation personnel and vocation recruiters during the phase of vocation direction and discernment (Cf. 73.7);
- Study and promote other possible forms of training in the Regions (Cf. 91.6b,c);
- Continue to devise and offer worthwhile assistance and support to young missionaries just beginning their missionary work (Cf. 89; 92.3);
- In the light of available resources (direction, discernment, community life) rethink how many seminaries there should be;
- Determine whether or not continental formation councils are a good idea.

4. SPECIALIZATION AND CULTURE
This section concerns missionaries who have completed basic formation, worked as missionaries and are now asked to pursue special studies that will benefit the Congregation. It also concerns the Congregation’s study centers and cultural resources.

Working Proposals
- Provide direction and support to missionaries pursuing specialized studies that benefit the Congregation (basic formation, teaching, mission and vocation promotion, communications …);
- Maintain close and regular relationships with missionaries who have pursued specialized studies and make better use of them for the benefit of the Congregation;
- Foster relations between the General Government and the IMC Philosophy Institute in Nairobi;
- Support and update the Congregation’s libraries and museums;
- Ensure preservation of the Congregation’s art works (Cf. 111);
- Make good use of those confrères who have pursued special studies in the field of comparative religion;
- Establish a committee for cultural resources which will draw up a plan for collecting, preserving and making use of our cultural heritage for mission and vocation promotion (Cf. 111).

II. IN COMMUNION
Through its cultural diversity our Congregation lives out unity in diversity and becomes a prophetic sign of human and fraternal community. The communion we live out among ourselves and the whole of human kind – especially that part of humanity that suffers – is a school for life. It prompts us to live out more completely our vocation as Consolata Missionaries.
We intend to move forward on the path of communion, to become a sign in building the kingdom by welcoming and respecting everyone we encounter on our journey who is somehow “other”.

In our communities
“Today we sense the necessity to go beyond internationality and inculturation, and to face the challenges of interculturality. This requires, first of all, the acknowledgement and acceptance of cultural pluralism, and the constant effort to understand the “other”. In this way, one enters into a dynamic of “receiving” and “giving”, in a reciprocal relationship which enables growth through dialogue, mutual trust and the discovery and recognition of our differences.” (56)

Working Proposals
- Be a sign of communion and create a climate of confidence; help each other on our journey; respect other people and cultures; forsake criticism and prejudice – they only cause division and hinder our growth in communion;
- Be quick to appreciate and respond appropriately to the events that mark the life of each member of our community (birthdays, anniversaries, family occasions …);
- Create a climate that makes “interculturality” (cultural diversity) a living expression of our missionary charism.

With the Consolata Sisters
“Aware of the common charismatic heritage which binds us together in our consecration to God for mission …” (Cf. 62) we want to be the family our Blessed Founder desired.

Working Proposals
- Promote increased sensitivity towards the Consolata Sisters (Cf. 64.1);
- Take advantage of common spiritual and celebratory occasions to explore our shared charismatic roots and to experience the joy of our common missionary consecration;
- Promote and support efforts to carry out common projects in different Regions that will significantly benefit the missions (Cf. 64.9);
- Consult each other and share our efforts in the area of new foundations (Cf. 64.6).

With Consolata Lay Missionaries
Each baptized person is called to holiness of life, evangelization and the construction of God’s kingdom. Consolata Lay Missionaries respond to the call of Christ and make the “mission a real choice of life”. They wish to participate in more direct way in the charism and spirituality of the Consolata Missionaries, with some sort of involvement at home or abroad in AMV, or in other activities of our mission ad gentes (Cf. 65; 15).

Working Proposals
- Keep our communities informed about Consolata Lay Missionaries and thus help eliminate prejudice and encourage our confrères to respect these lay volunteers and be willing to work with them in the Congregation’s various activities (Cf. 67.7);
- Encourage various Regions to establish Consolata Lay Missionary communities (Cf. 67.4);
- Evaluate – with the assistance of the Secretary General for the Missions and the lay missionaries – the bylaws already published; point out those sections that are unclear or controversial (Cf. 67.1); this way we can produce bylaws or some other juridical document acceptable to everyone;
- Discuss with the Consolata Sisters and the Lay Missionaries the experiments currently underway in our two congregations to see if we can devise a common procedure (Cf. 67.2).

With the local Church and other ecclesial situations
“Today’s mission relies very much on new agents, who are also called to work in communion and collaboration. The problems which loom on the horizon of mission affect the whole world, and they require global solutions, which can only be brought about with the active and integral participation of all. To live mission in communion and collaboration with all will allow us to overcome individualism and protagonism, fruit of a past concept of the role of the missionary institutes. This collaborative approach will help us feel that we are not the owners of mission, but servants of the Church and its mission.” (69)

Working Proposals
- Encourage our confrères to change their mentality and become willing to work with all the living forces in the Church;
- To plan permanent formation projects that will promote this spirit of collaboration (Cf. 70.1);
- Take advantage of competent lay assistance in our meetings and projects (Cf. 82.3);
- Be aware of the new challenges and situations that arise in civil society;
- Seek out and promote dialogue and collaboration with the local Church, with religious congregations, groups and other organizations active in those areas where we work;
- Engage in projects and activities that involve us in collaboration with everyone working for human welfare;
- Appreciate and involve our benefactors in the life and work of the Congregation.


III. IN THE MISSION
“You must be missionaries with your heads, your mouths and your hearts” (Conf. III,16). Blessed Joseph Allamano reminds us that we exist solely for the missions – this is the purpose of our Congregation. Every missionary must be faithful to this mandate; he must live this ideal in history, “in a communion of purpose” with his community and in collaboration with all those men of good will who work for the Kingdom of God.

AMV (Mission / Vocation Promotion)
“Each Consolata missionary nurtures in his heart a special love and passion for the evangelization of peoples, which moves him to do AMV. He also takes inspiration and motivation from the example of Blessed Joseph Allamano who opened his local Church to global horizons and to the necessities of mission ad gentes, for which he recruited vocations, enkindled enthusiasm and raised funds for the evangelization of peoples.” (71)

Working Proposals
- Work with the local Church planning and carrying out AMV projects (Cf. 73.2);
- Organize AMV meetings at least twice every six years with the Consolata Sisters (Cf. 73.3);
- Promote different AMV projects and involve all our communities in them (Cf. 72.4);
- Encourage our brothers to take part in AMV programs (Cf. 61.2);
- Make Regions sensitive to the need to provide continuity of personnel in AMV work (Cf. 73.7);
- Promote missionary cooperation in times of world emergency, trouble or difficulty (Cf. 73.6);
- Make good use of the abilities and contributions of lay people in the area of AMV;
- Assign and train more personnel for AMV work (Cf. 73.7);
- Provide trained personnel for the work of vocation discernment.

In the area of justice, peace and environmental concerns (JPIC)
“In our missionary service we hear the cry of creation and of many people who are submitted to violence, corruption, oppression, war and injustice. This cry reaches us and calls us to a commitment to justice, peace and integrity of creation, as a constitutive part of the preaching of the Gospel and of our charism.” (29)

Working Proposals
- Increase awareness in our communities through reviews, websites, JPE committees; involve our communities in problematic mission situations (Cf. 76.10);
- Promote JPE activities on every continent and encourage Regions to become more actively involved in these concerns (Cf. 76.1);
- Together with the Consolata Sisters organize at least two continental meetings on JPE every six years;
- Choose new mission commitments and pursue restructuring our service with special attention to those situations or populations where JPE values are most threatened (Cf. 76.5).

Communications
“The Institute, right from the time of the Founder, has been aware of the importance of the means of communication for en effective proclamation of the Gospel, for Christian and missionary formation and for AMV. The very fast evolution of these means of communication (printed, TV, radio and internet) are bringing about profound changes which require our attention, formation and appropriate organization.” (33)

Working Proposals
- During 2007 in collaboration with the Consolata Sisters organize an international meeting of the main members of the Congregation involved in communications (Cf. 85.1);
- Work with the MISNA Missionary Agency and make sure there is a correspondent in each Region (Cf. 85.11);
- Entrust responsibility for our website to the General Secretariat for the Missions and coordinate all IMC publications and websites (Cf. 85.10);

Interreligious dialogue
“Interreligious dialogue “is part of the evangelizing mission of the Church” (RM 55), and presently it plays a unique role in the mission ad gentes, by being a “new face, a new activity and a new method”of the same mission.” (28)

Working Proposals
- Propose, promote and support the composition of a clear plan for Interreligious dialogue in the various Regions (Cf. 79.1);
- “begin or strengthen existing groups of Interreligious Dialogue in those places where there is a consistent phenomenon of migration” (79.2);
- Respect (within the Congregation and at various stages of formation) those confrères who are specialists in the study of religions (Cf. 79.6);

Economy of Communion
Faced with world-wide challenges and the increasing poverty of certain populations we must foster an attitude of sharing and greater solidarity – an economy of communion and equal distribution. This is a prophetic sign of the way we act as missionaries in the administration of our possessions. “An ‘economy of communion’ can be developed in the Institute provided that its members are clear on the option of holiness, fraternity, unity of intent, sensitivity for the poor and the challenges of justice.” (95).

Working Proposals
- See that the resources of the Congregation are at the service of the missions, the poor and the most needy (Cf. 42.1);
- Organize our finances so that they are at the service and use of persons by preferring investments in cultural, mental, physical and spiritual welfare rather than material structures;
- Remind missionaries that we only administer and do not own of our resources – we do everything in the name of the missions;
- Encourage and make good use of the common fund on all levels - Region and community (Cf. 97.3);
- “The regions should not accumulate money which is given for the work of our missions and the poor. Its total assets should be equal to a two year expenditure of the region, except in special cases and in accordance with the General Government.” (43.4)