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Enlarged General Council - Ariccia 2008

WELCOME ADDRESS (J.P. Hoch)

•  “I praise you Father, Lord of heaven and earth…” (Lk.10:21)

For this EGC I have not made any “Superior General's Report” describing the present state of the Congregation. It will be in the sharing and reflections of this meeting that its current situation will become evident. As happens in all circumscription council meetings, whether limited or enlarged, we will consider above all the challenges, the difficulties and the problems, seeking with the help of the Spirit, to find solutions. This kind of approach risks giving the impression that things are not going well in our Congregation or in our circumscriptions and could make us feel discouraged. To avoid this, I have decided to share with you some reasons why I am thankful to the Lord for the Congregation and my confreres. I do this in the spirit in which Jesus proclaimed that beautiful prayer of praise after the seventy two came back from their mission and gave him an account of what they had accomplished. “At that moment, he rejoiced in the Spirit and said: ‘I praise you Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for hiding these things from the learned and the clever and revealing them to mere children'”.

I give thanks to the Father first of all for the courage and endurance of Spiritans. If someone were to ask me what in my opinion was the most difficult Spiritan mission, I would have difficulty in replying. Having in mind so many visits made and having read and studied so many reports, I can really say that all Spiritan missions are difficult and it is impossible to classify them. The difficulties differ from one place to another, but they are nevertheless still present. Sometimes it is the economic or political context which makes missionary work difficult, with much poverty and insecurity. Sometimes it is the socio-religious context which is unhelpful, with great indifference in some places, direct or hidden opposition in others. Then again, it can be the situation of the circumscription itself which makes mission difficult: little or no common vision, tension between confreres… In general though, Spiritans show great courage, patience and endurance. They stay on the spot, put up with what cannot be changed, do their best, and often do more than their best. It is this continued presence which brings us the friendship and esteem of those among whom we live. When we celebrated the 25 th Anniversary of Spiritan presence in Croatia last October, so many people mentioned to me their gratitude and admiration for the Spiritans who did not flee the country at the time of the patriotic war. Certainly times have changed and mobility of personnel is greater and more necessary today than previously, when it was not rare for a confrere to spend his whole life in his District of first appointment or in his own Province where he may have been kept for a particular service. However, the length of stay, despite all the difficulties, remains as important today as in former times. In their requests for confreres on first appointment, circumscription superiors always emphasise two qualities: that the young confreres agree to learn and learn well the language or languages needed and that they foresee a lengthy stay…

Sometimes this stay can lead to making the supreme sacrifice. Before and after the deaths of the “Kongolo Martyrs (1 st January 1962), numerous confreres died violent deaths simply because they did not abandon a difficult and dangerous situation. I sincerely hope that each circumscription remembers and celebrates the memory of these confreres. In restoring the General House we intend to take advantage of the renovations to give the house a more visibly Spiritan and missionary character. In particular we plan to put together something visible by which to remember the confreres who have thus given their lives for and because of the mission.

The second reason why I am thankful to God in thinking of my Spiritan brothers and sisters, is the marvellous spirit of initiative and creativity which they reflect. I can say that each generation of Spiritans is a generation of founders, because new needs for evangelisation arise all the time to which a creative response must be made (SRL 2). Think of all that exists today in the circumscriptions which you represent and which did not exist at all ten, twenty or thirty years ago. In a few moments, during the sharing of experiences, some examples of these will be given. I want to add here two others chosen from many others: recently the Portuguese Province celebrated the twenty fifth anniversary of the movement “Youth Without Frontiers”, founded by our confrere Firmino Cachada. Last year when I was in Nigeria for the Provincial Chapter, I asked Fr. Onyeneke how many religious congregations present in Nigeria had been founded by Spiritans. I think he counted up to fifteen. So many similar examples can be found in the field of mission, communications, spirituality, formation… Among the most creative Spiritans we must not forget those we refer to as ‘Spiritan Associates'. We will also speak of these later on. I believe that such a spirit of enterprise and creativity is not possible and can only be understood if the Congregation keeps its decentralised character. Recently, two bishops, independently of each other, one from South Africa and the other in Ethiopia, told me how they admired the Spiritans for their capacity to take initiatives without first of all getting all the necessary permissions, or having the means available or the contracts signed. They see, judge and act straightforwardly. It is true that sometimes these initiatives are at first very personal ones and they meet with scepticism or hostility from the local Church or the circumscription. But soon enough, the evangelical nature of the initiative is recognised and the work thus begun receives support. In mentioning decentralisation, I am far from praising it or the administrative confusion that can be found here and there. Good administration is necessary for the spirit of initiative to endure.

The third reason for being thankful to God and especially to the Holy Spirit, is for the spirit of availability of confreres. The General Council is the first “beneficiary” of this availability. When, for example, we ask a confrere if he is prepared to accept such and such a responsibility helpful to the whole Congregation, generally, both the confrere and his major Superior are very open to the request.

When each October we deal with first appointments, we start by identifying those circumscriptions which have the greatest personnel needs. We consider the choices made by the young confreres and their Superiors. If none of these choices corresponds to the needs expressed, we try to identify the confrere who has the necessary skills. We then get in contact with the young confrere and his Superior to see if it would be possible to appoint him to the circumscription in question. In this too, we find most of the time, a lot of openness and generosity. I want also to quote the case of “experienced” confreres, who are very much sought after in the Congregation. Some of these, after a long missionary experience and perhaps after sabbatical or further studies, inform the General Council that with the agreement of their immediate Superiors, they are ready to go where the needs are particularly pressing. This has given the General Council a chance to give very valuable help to many circumscriptions, especially in the field of initial formation. Here, I want also to recognise those confreres who have accepted responsibilities in dioceses as bishops, vicars apostolic, prefects apostolic or apostolic administrators. There are four of these since the beginning of our present mandate. These, just like their predecessors, have accepted difficult tasks. Clearly it is not “easy” dioceses which Spiritans are involved in – if indeed there are such dioceses. I firmly believe that it is through this Spiritan availability that we express most unambiguously our belonging to the Church and our communion with the Holy Father.

To round up, I want to mention as well the humility and modesty of Spiritans as another reason for giving thanks. We do not seem to have the habit of describing our works (parishes, missions, schools, chaplaincies…) as “Spiritan”. We work very simply in the place where we have been sent. We do not put “C.S.Sp.” after our names as a matter of course – it does not seem to be one of our main concerns. For example, when passing through The Gambia a year ago I visited a confrere in his parish. He had just completed the construction of a large and beautiful new church which I greatly admired. After the visit I said to the confrere “There is something missing from your church”. He looked at me in surprise, very worried; whatever could he have forgotten that the Superior General had noticed? I said to him “There is no plaque at the entrance to the church stating that it was you, Fr. so and so C.S.Sp. who, in a certain year, constructed it”. He was very relieved! On my next visit I will see if the plaque has been erected or not … I know well that in this area as well times have changed and that we need to do a bit more publicity for our Congregation. But let us keep this spirit of modesty and humility, this “Spiritan simplicity” which helps us to be near to those with whom we live and work.

Yes, together with all of you, I give thanks every day for the big Spiritan family. To echo the prayer of Jesus, we are neither “learned” nor “clever”, we are the “mere children”. But it has pleased the Father to reveal to us the mystery of his Son and confide to us the mission of announcing him to the world. May our time together at this EGC help us to stay faithful to that mission!