XAVERIAN MISSIONARIES 3 XAVERIAN MISSIONARIES Xaverian Spirituality Meeting Tavernerio 2006 ACTS STAMPATO: 25 JANUARY 2007 Viale Vaticano, 40 – 00165 ROMA INDEX 5 INDEX Message to the Xaverians .............................................pag. 7 INTRODUCTION ....................................................» 9 Introduction.....................................................» 11 CLARIFYING THE TERMINOLOGY.......................................» 15 Charism and life in the Spirit (L. Guccini)................................» 17 Group work: emphases and challenges ................................» 34 Spirituality: a psychological perspective (A. Cencini) ......................» 35 Group work: novelties and challenges .................................» 52 ST. FRANCIS XAVIER AND CONFORTI....................................» 53 Reflections on St. Francis Xavier (I. Echarte) .............................» 55 Group work: relevance and topicality of St. Francis Xavier ..................» 63 Echoes of an ongoing journey (J. A. Flores O) ............................» 65 G.M. Conforti: a man consecrated to the mission (G. Camera) ...............» 77 What would G.M. Conforti say to the Xaverians today? (R.C. Marques da Silva ) . » 83 Historical outline of Conforti’s spirituality (A. Manfredi)....................» 87 Group work: relevance and topicality of G.M. Conforti ....................» 112 A PAGE FROM XAVERIAN HISTORY......................................» 113 The period of the first successor: 1932-1944 (A. Luca) ......................» 115 FROM THE FOUNDER’S CONSTITUTIONS TO THE 1983 CONSTITUTIONS.......» 125 Cum Christo in Deo (A. Ceresoli) .....................................» 127 The 1983 Constitutions (G. Ferrari) ....................................» 139 Principles for revision (L. Zucchinelli – R. Puopolo) ........................» 147 Spirituality in the RFX (J. Olvera Servin).................................» 149 Spirituality in the RMX (R. Benzoni) ...................................» 157 Spirituality in the letters of the General Directions: 1981-2006 (L. Menegazzo) . » 161 Group work: fidelity and novelties ....................................» 164 STUDIES AND IN-DEPTH ANALYSES .....................................» 165 Ministerial dimension of Xaverian identity (F. Sottocornola).................» 167 Speaking of God today – New categories (T. Tosolini)......................» 177 Speaking of God today – Challenges to the mission and the Church (F. Marini)...» 185 CONCLUSION AND FINAL MESSAGE ....................................» 193 Closing group work: developments, challenges and proposals ..............» 195 Final message ....................................................» 201 6 Message to the Xaverians A large group of Xaverians from all our Circumscriptions gathered in Tavernerio (Como) for the Sec- ond International Meeting on Xaverian Spirituality (1-15 August 2006). The Meeting took place in the V Centenary year of St. Francis Xavier’s birth and the 75th anniversary of the Founder’s death. This book contains the Acts of the Meeting. We decided to publish the contributions almost in their entirety in order to share with everyone the rich material prepared for the Meeting and, as far as possi- ble, the debates that took place during it. Unfortunately, the book will probably be unable to transmit the participants’ experience. During the Meeting, the figures of Francis Xavier and Blessed Guido Conforti acquired a new importance and beauty; we gained a more intense perception of the Congregation as our family and the importance of the topics we discussed. The Meeting was characterized by its fraternal atmosphere and the great commitment of everyone involved: our fraternity overcame the barriers of our different ages, nation- alities and experiences. Above all, however, we felt that the Holy Spirit was working with us, helping us to experience and embrace the beauty of everything that was being said. Some limits that emerged at the Meeting leave us with an open task for the future. In a particular way, I believe we found it more difficult than we expected to reappraise the topic and apply the reflections to the various contexts laid before us by the Congregations’ increasing internationality. This remains a challenge for the present and the future, together with the certainty that what unites us is more power- ful than what may divide us, and that we have a rich common heritage which must not be squan- dered. The figure of Fr. Franco Teodori comes to my mind as we prepare to publish this book: with his me- ticulous work he contributed more than anyone to making our Founder known and, therefore, to the successful outcome of the Meeting. I dedicate this work to him. Fr. Rino Benzoni Superior General Rome,7 October 2006 Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary INTRODUCTION 11 INTRODUCTION General Direction 1.Weall know that a demanding challenge awaits us and this challenge depends above all on two fac- tors: - The topic is a vast one and this forced us to make some choices; others will certainly be made by the speakers.Wehope our decisions prove to be the right ones. - Above all,however,the topic is very vague.Today,“Spirituality”is an all-inclusive term,almost syn- onymous with “identity”.Spirituality pervades every aspect of life and not only our way of praying or relating to God. 2. At the same time, the topic needs to be clearly defined: - it was suggested by the XIV General Chapter - the COSUMA confirmed it; - the conference has given rise to voices of approval and,above all … of expectation; - the topic was welcomed by the majority of those who sent us their observations; during our visits we saw a clear desire to reflect on this fundamental aspect of our life. The confreres are very aware that topics such as spirituality and identity are fundamental for our family and,more generally,for the very survival of the consecrated and missionary life; - we also believe that the renewed interest in the figure of St. Francis Xavier and the contributions to the 500th anniversary of his birth all point in this direction. 3. We are aware of the difficulties as we accept the challenge, but we are also aware that in our midst stands Another Actor who guides the destinies of the Church and our Family. This Actor brings things to maturity in ways that are “different” from our own criteria, in ways that are sometimes im- perceptible and, at the same time, evident for those who have eyes to see. Little by little, without our being aware of it, this Actor can lead us to adopt positions that only a short time before we would never even have imagined; He can also transform into a success what from a human point of view seems just another failure and, on the contrary, leave in a barren state what everyone considered to be a great success. 4. The importance of the Conference, above and beyond whatever emerges from it, consists in the fact that it was proposed and how it shall develop. We do not know what will come out of it: the success of a conference such as this depends on many factors. Above all, we are convinced that such conferences succeed provided they are held at the proper time, their topic is “ripe” and when a previous process, with its positive and negative results, leads us to un- derstand the indispensable nature of something that, even a few years previously, we would never even have considered to be useful. It seems that the time has come for us to focus sharply on Spiritual- ity as the decisive dimension of every Christian life, especially of the consecrated life and, even more, of the missionary life. In the minds of those who reflect, the paths traveled by the consecrated life and the mission in recent decades or centuries, despite their magnificent achievements, seem to have dried up and are no longer able to offer a reason to the new generations for making a total life-commitment to the Gospel. We have been realizing for some time now that frenetic activity no longer produces fruit; that the mission is in danger of being excessively conditioned by elements that are alien to it ... that once these have been shed, the consecrated-missionary runs the risks of ending up naked and vulnerable (for they gave him visibility and filled his days) and that our action becomes sterile for our- selves and others without direct and constant contact with the source. 12 General Direction In saying this we do not wish to judge the missionaries of the past in any way: many of them gave themselves totally and some even shed their blood. However, the consecrated life and the mission are dynamic by their very nature, they are always open to new challenges: in every age, total dedication to God and the brothers for the proclamation of the Gospel calls upon us to renew our zeal and dedica- tion in view of a renewed fidelity in accordance with the times. It is therefore a wonderful thing that our Congregation is setting out once again in the quest for that “something more” that the Spirit is asking of us today. 5. Let us therefore enter with an open heart into these days, ready to listen to others and to the Spirit; ready to receive and to give. It will turn out as God wants it. The right attitude is one of optimism and realism. Perhaps our only task today is to sow ... others shall reap the fruits of our efforts. 6. Our confidence is based on the fact that even to speak of these topics is itself a process of growth. Many of you have asked us not to be concerned about documents and we are indeed perfectly aware that no document can change