News

12/4/2024

12/4/2024

CGP – Highlights of the day n.3 - Wednesday, December 4, 2024

Act locally, think globally: our vicariates in the horizon of Synodality!

Tuesday evening was a time of conviviality, a joyful way to say “goodbye” to our provincial treasurers: the right time for Bingo and Caipirinha!

On Wednesday, the CGP (PGC) was working in the strict sense on CGP(PGC): it was studious time with two major subjects which were addressed: Synodality, on the one hand, and our three Vicariates on the other.

We were very fortunate to welcome to our assembly Sr. Nathalie Becquart (Congregation of Xavières), one of the two under-secretaries of the Synod of Bishops. This vocabulary should not mislead us, the Synod is led by a general secretary (n°1) -currently Cardinal Mario GRECH- and his two main collaborators (n°2 of the Synod) who are therefore the two under-secretaries (Sr. Nathalie Becquart and Mgr Luis MARÍN DE SAN MARTÍN). In fact, the CGP(GPC) had already the joy of welcoming Sr Nathalie, in December 2022, at the time of the publication of the preparatory document for the continental stage, and two years later she comes to share with us the three great fruits of the Synod on synodality that are:

- The final document received as an expression of the ordinary magisterium - and which must be received as such – this says something important about the way to exercise authority... the Synodality, a CALL FROM GOD FOR TODAY, is THE way to live the Mission in today's world... ...

- The Synodality is a constitutive dimension of the Church which is situated in the dynamics of the reception of the Second Vatican Council, it is a path FOR EACH ONE OF US... The synodal methodology of dialogue in the Spirit must be able to be integrated into our congregational bodies! It allows everyone to be listened to, particularly in intercultural contexts.

- The synod also marked A NEW STEP FOR ECUMENISM, particularly regarding to a new way of exercising the pope's ministry...

Sr Nathalie after talking about these three points went with us through the major themes addressed by the final document, particularly emphasising the challenges that concern the consecrated life. This allowed us to have a period of work, in groups, on possible synodal conversions for our congregation, in areas of governance, formation, the relationship with other actors in the Church or lay-religious collaboration. This work is only just at the beginning, and we should aim at the concrete implementation of the synod as far as we are concerned and at the regular evaluation to be expected as the progress is made...

The other two times of work of the day were devoted to our three vicariates (West Africa; Asia-Oceania; Kinshasa). We listened to our vicars presenting their realities with their strengths, their challenges, the projects envisaged, the support desired … They were particularly encouraged to move forward on the formalisation of concrete auto-financing projects so that the congregation could support them in their progress towards greater autonomy.