CANONICAL VISITATION TO THE CIRCUMSCRIPTIONS

Rome, October 1, 2006

My dear brothers,

It is now one year since the Eleventh General Chapter. Continental Assemblies and Regional Conferences have been celebrated and the General Directorate following its Six-Year Program has had occasion to acquire first-hand understanding of what our Congregation is doing and planning to do in all its various activities. In conformity with Constitutional norms and Eleventh General Chapter directives we will begin Canonical Visitations to the circumscriptions in this second year of our service.

1. Canonical Visitation in our Documents

On the subject of the canonical visitation our Constitutions have this to say:

1. “At least once during his term of office, the Superior General will personally make a Canonical Visitation of all the provinces; in particular cases, he will do so through a delegate. Canonical Visitations afford a suitable time for meetings, for reviewing and studying problems, for reflection and renewal. At the end of the Visitation, the Superior General makes a report to his Council, and then issues directives which are binding for the province concerned” (Const. 121).

2. “The program of a canonical visitation should be drawn up in agreement with the Government of the provinces to be visited and made known to all communities of that province. Appropriate importance should be given to meetings with the Circumscription Directorate and Offices” (Const. 121.1).

3. “During his six-year term the Superior General will make himself available – even in those circumscriptions/provinces he has not visited – and provide all our confrères with the opportunity to meet with him personally. (Const. 117.3).

4. “Each missionary is asked to have confidence in the Superior General and in line with the tradition of our Congregation, and make periodic reports on his situation, work and eventual problems” (Const. 117.4).

The Eleventh General Chapter (no. 48) further affirms:

1. During their six-year term the Superior General or Vice-Superior General should conduct a Canonical Visitation. The Visitation is an occasion for encounter, review, examination of problems, reflection and renewal. It should conclude with concrete directives that are binding for the province concerned“ (Cf. XGC no. 79).

2. Canonical Visitation will follow these steps: previous preparation by local communities, regional officials and the Regional Council; individual consultation with all the missionaries as well as encounters for community discernment; closing meeting” (XIGC 48.1).

According to the General Directorate’s Six-Year Program, the Vice-Superior General:

“Shall carry out Canonical Visitations according to the directives of the last two General Chapters” (Bulletin, 113).

During this six-year period the Superior and Vice-Superior General will alternate in carrying out Visitations to the circumscriptions. Ordinarily they will be assisted by the Continental Councilor.

The General Directorate would like to offer carious practical suggestions on planning and carrying out Canonical Visitations.

1. Continental meetings of Circumscription Superiors can decide how Canonical Visitations should be conducted. During these meetings it can be further determined when and how the Superior General will be present in the circumscriptions he is not visiting.

2. Personal dialogue with confrères and community meetings should be considered priorities. These encounters should be concerned with:

- the missionary’s personal situation, his personal life plan and his commitment to permanent formation;

- the community’s life plan and apostolic program;

- how the decisions of the XI General Chapter, the directives of the Continental Assembly and the decrees of the most recent Regional Conference were carried out and what impact they had on the individual missionary as well as the local and regional community.

3. Each circumscription will prepare the reports requested by the General Directorate. Outlines to be followed will be sent at the time of preparation for the visitation.

2. The Canonical Visitation is an occasion of grace: a chance to tell the mission’s story

The Visitation is an encounter between the General Directorate and the circumscriptions and is an occasion of grace. The mutual exchange that results can enrich all of us. Recounting one’s own experience of life and missionary work is a fundamental element for evaluating progress and for discovering new ways to work on both an individual and a community level.

a. Sequela Christi: the experience and recounting of life with the Master (Cf. Luke 9-10)

Sequela (discipleship) defines the progress of man in his ceaseless quest for God. Reflection on the spirituality of discipleship involves re-thinking the very basis of our consecration and mission in the Church and for the world. It involves returning to the roots of our vocation and revitalizing them so that we can respond anew to the Lord of history. Vocation requires a decision composed of confidence and abandonment. We must break the bonds of anything that could compromise our progress: all attachment to social and human structure or security. We must overcome our fear of persecution and persevere in the face of problems and setbacks.

Following Christ is our free response to his freely given invitation. Discipleship has ecclesial dimensions. Christ does not call individuals to live in isolation: he calls them collectively to come together and create a community of his followers. Through the community that Christ continues his presence. Discipleship requires communion with Him and with others.

Following Jesus involves us in God’s plan: we are committed to making Christ’s presence felt in the history of mankind. Jesus’ call to follow him is a call to the missions, to witnessing and proclaiming the Good News.

When we examine – as an individual and a community – the authenticity of our consecration to the missions our central criterion must always be: “the ultimate norm and supreme rule is to follow Christ as the Gospel teaches us” (PC 2).

b. The Founder asks his missionaries to recount the story of the missions

In the General Directorate Program we speak of the old but ever new values of our family, of the call to new individual and community creativity, of the courage to redimension and improve our life and service of the mission.

The Canonical Visitation is an appropriate time to help us reach this goal. The Founder’s correspondence with his missionaries provides many precious suggestions.

His letters show how he helped his sons and daughters and urged them to improve their efforts. He saw himself as the father, the founder and the mentor in all and for all; he felt a strong need to leave nothing untried in his efforts to guide their training and spiritual progress.

This love and fatherly interest in his missionaries is apparent in his repeated request that they tell him all about the missions: what their life is like, what they have accomplished, what problems they encounter, what they dream of doing. In one of his many letters he writes: “I thank the Lord for the success of your meeting in Moranga. I hope that much good will come from your decisions and the way you conducted your discussions; I congratulate you on the practical wisdom of your conclusions (…). I approve all your decisions without exception and would like to see them carried out in their entirety” (ALLAMANO, Lettere ai Missionari e alle Missionarie della Consolata, no. 52).

Through his missionaries’ letters he was aware of the Congregation’s work in so many places. His knowledge was not something superficial – it involved all aspects of a missionary’s life.

He was concerned and interested in their spiritual life and holiness, their vocation and health, their material conditions and the missions. The missions were certainly his primary concern as a mentor. In this he was helped by his sons already working in the field. This is why he so insisted that his sons and daughters send him information about their personal, community and religious life – describing all their problems both external and internal. In his letters he calls this a “duty”; he himself included it in the directory and wanted everyone to obey this injunction – writing at least once every three months.

He wanted his sons to describe their work in praise of the Lord and the good done by the Congregation’s missionaries. This information would edify all who read it and would help advance the Congregation’s mission. Finally the information could help us improve our missionary methods, eliminate weak points and provide more effective guidelines for the future.

He urged Father Barlassina “write more often – at length and in detail – about what you are doing, what you are thinking and what you are planning: we will answer and advise. We have one common purpose: to do good, the greatest possible good and all for the glory of God” (ibidem, no. 206).

Conclusion

We sincerely hope that the Canonical Visitation will be an occasion for sharing our lives, our activities and our progress in the missions so that we can praise God together for the good accomplished through his grace and the generosity of our missionaries. We will launch new projects that will improve what needs improvement.

To recount one’s life and missionary work will help make the Canonical Visitation an occasion of grace. We hope that the General Directorate’s presence in a circumscription will be an occasion for all missionaries to pause, give an account of themselves, reflect on the past, analyze the present and plan for the future in the spirit of communion and the missions.

We greet you fraternally in the name of Our Lady, the Consolata and Father Allamano.

Fr Aquiléo Fiorntini, IMC

Fr Stefano Camerlengo, IMC

Fr Francisco López Vásquez, IMC

Fr António Fernandes, IMC

Fr Matthew Ouma Opiyo, IMC