In the light of my personal experience acquired during these past five years as head of the PMS, I would like to once again take up and reflect on what I already commented on during the General Assembly of the PMS in May 2013. We have not yet exhausted our reflection and our discussion on the PMS as “Societies that belong both to the Pope and to the Bishops, the relationship between the universal Mission of the Church and the PP.OO.MM., their position and collaboration with other missionary forces, the civil legislation regarding charitable organizations, the prospects and work plans. As you know, the transfer of the collections to the International Secretariats is posing many problems due to the laws with which certain States regulate charitable organizations. The issue must also be examined with the help of experts. While observing the laws of the States, we cannot lose the “philosophy” which is the foundation of the PP.OO.MM., that is, its nature as a universal solidarity fund. It is therefore necessary to reflect on the meaning and
33 implications of the “autonomy of the PP.OO.MM.” in the face of an ecclesial theological framework that decades ago assumed other paradigms. I am referring both to the type of autonomy with regard to the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, as well as the autonomy of the Pontifical Mission Societies in relation to organisms such as the Episcopal Conferences. It is not enough to simply declare general principles of communion and cooperation. Given that this implies a certain praxis and, in this case, a financial aspect, it is necessary to study the new situation that has emerged in order to specify precise guidelines.”
It is not simply a matter of reflection and dialogue in these moments of Assembly and fraternal encounters, on the thorny issue of the monetary decline of the offerings laboriously collected by you and transmitted to the International Secretariats of the Propagation of the Faith, of Missionary Childhood, of Saint Peter the Apostle, and, on certain exceptional, positive occasions, of the Pontifical Missionary Union. It’s a matter of candidly and openly confronting each other on the future of institutions that cannot simply be dragged along by the obsolete repetition of what has always been done, by the unprofessional ways of collecting, administering, and distributing the funds raised. Some of our National Directorates have shown serious professionality and competence in these areas. Working together helps us grow and advance in order to better offer our service. It is therefore a matter of audacity and creativity in discerning and reconsidering the structures, styles, and methods of the PMS as such, of the central administration of the PMS, and of the Domus Missionalis Foundation. We will be bold and daringly creative if we let ourselves be transformed and purified together – never alone – in communion with Christ and in the Church.
The theme on which we want to reflect and discuss during our General Assembly 2017,
“Rediscovering the mission at the heart of the Christian faith,” also implies that every true pastoral conversion and missionary discernment must include our institutions and our manner of working together and collaborating for the good of the mission of the Church. We cannot think that the rediscovery of the mission at the heart of our adherence to Christ is a merely intimate and individual matter. Obviously, if our personal conformity to Christ is missing, the mission will not be found; it can never be at the heart of a faith that we hardly practice and that we do not allow to transform us and make us true disciples of Christ. Nonetheless, the mission becomes the heart and the form of our faith and of our way of being Church and of operating as PMS only if we are not afraid of reforming even the institutions. This requires that our bold creativity be accompanied by a clear willingness to put an end to what is no longer useful and to abolish and abandon that which, though guaranteeing historically acquired rights and privileges, has become an obstacle to the evangelical and evangelizing mission of the Church. The invitation made by Saint John Paul II during the inauguration of his pontificate continues to echo in us: “Do not be afraid. Open wide your hearts to
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Christ”, so that the mission may be lived as the true heart of the Christian faith and dedication in showing charity towards all.
In addition to a serious and alarming decrease in the collections for and ecclesial interest in the PMS, during these past few years, we have noticed a certain disconnect between the National Directorates and the International Secretariats; between the particular methods that certain National Directorates use for the management and distribution of the collections and the universal commitment of the management and distribution of the solidarity fund. We should not be afraid to admit that the allotment of the Universal Solidarity Fund requires a renewed approach that goes far beyond what the bishops demand and the mere monetary availability of the above-mentioned fund.
Renewing credibility would require new ways of evaluating the applications and the needs expressed, especially technical assessments regarding the construction of churches and buildings, social and sanitary projects, and the formation and pastoral methods for evangelization. The work carried out by professionally competent lay staff in the central headquarters and/or on site and the requirement for adequate financial reports of the funded projects would help and encourage the credibility and the trust between the National Directorates, the International Secretariats, and the People of God in their freedom to contribute, donate, and distribute funds.
It would be helpful to continue to reassess the methods used both on a national and international level for the allotment of the ordinary subsidies, of the project funds, and of the financial assistance for building construction and for charitable projects of social development.
Greater unity and a spirit of collaboration are needed in order to the adequate criteria, professionally based and supported by technical and scientific knowledge, to prevail. It is up to us to think of concrete ways in which this may be done, despite geographical distances and cultural, linguistic, and economical differences. With regard to the more technical and financial aspects, we should take advantage of competent local institutions, without allowing them to take over, thus forgetting the ecclesial nature of our work.
Moreover, the collaboration of certain wealthier National Directorates with others that are less well-off is a praiseworthy sign of solidarity and mutual interest. However, it is important to remind those who are involved in these relations of help and support between National Directorates to ensure that neocolonial dependencies are not created in the name of the mission, but rather a genuine spirit of subsidiarity and fraternal solidarity. We are being asked to exhibit greater transparency and collaboration in the constitution and management of the funds on both the international and national levels, so as to avoid forms of unconscious dependencies between National Directorates, local Churches, and International Secretariats. At the center and in the peripheries of our work of animation, collection, and distribution, we must grow in greater
35 symphony and cooperation brought about by an increasingly renewed conversion that overcomes the inadequate and officious forms of anti-evangelical self-centeredness. Given the importance of the concrete and particular dimension of each project for missionary animation and fundraising, we need to help one another to better understand how to work together.
The mediation of the International Secretariats in collaboration with the National Directorates safeguards the evangelical anonymity of those who help, promoting the universal dimension of the missionary contribution of the faithful who offer their prayers, sacrifices, and money for the mission and the missionaries. Our faithful offer everything for the entire Universal Church and for all the local Churches. If Catholic universality is served by the pontifical dimension of the PMS, which in a complementary way is expressed both by the International Secretariats and by the National Directorates, their transparent, honest, and committed collaboration will express the episcopal dimension of the local churches in serving both men and women, Christians and non-Christians, with the operative proclamation of the Gospel and the local edification of the Church.
As we read in Redemptoris Missio: “Because they are under the auspices of the Pope and of the College of Bishops, these Societies, also within the boundaries of the particular churches, rightly have «the first place. . . since they are the means by which Catholics from their very infancy are imbued with a genuinely universal and missionary spirit; they are also the means which ensure an effective collection of resources for the good of all the missions, in accordance with the needs of each one»” (RM 84).
The International Secretariats are called to a greater capacity and audacity in attending to the local realities, to the needs expressed by the local churches and the National Directorates, which are called to go far beyond a faceless and soulless fundraising. Every authentic fundraising effort respects the human dignity of our brothers and sisters who, in their necessity, christianly provoke our solidarity and aid. Avoiding any kind of sentimental and emotional exploitation of the sufferings, needs, and disasters of others, helps the National Directors, the President of the PMS, and the Secretaries General, bear witness to the charity that is born from the Church, avoiding every egocentric need to stand out and make oneself visibly indispensable for giving aid to others.
The fraternal visits of the Secretaries General, the continental meetings organized every two years, the General and Special Assemblies, the monthly executive committees, the numerous regional forms of collaboration, and the sharing and discussion in the various linguistic groups, help us obtain a greater communion and unity. A single name, a single “common brand”, must express the unity, which, far from being a temptation of uniformity, helps everyone, both large and small Directorates, countries, and Churches, to develop new relationships and to share activities and materials for missionary animation in our dioceses, parishes, schools, and pastoral structures. We
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need to increase the generous and free exchange of information on the activities, initiatives, programs, and materials used by the National Directorates throughout the world. We should consider ways to promote this exchange that can create effective communion within the PMS.
Thanks to the intense activity of missionary animation, prayer, visiting the sick, and the offering of their sufferings, all activities carried out during the most important times of missionary appeal, such as World Mission Sunday, we are committed not only to fundraising. All of the local Churches, thanks to the animation carried out by us, should be imbued with the spirit of the mission that offers the correct context in order for the economic assistance, destined for all the Churches, for all Christians and all those in need, may maintain the evangelical anonymity and the effectiveness of a disinterested gift.
I would like to conclude by saying that it is necessary to further reflect on, analyze, and pray about these challenges. It is not about resolving everything immediately. It is not about making violent breakthroughs. On the contrary, the situation requires a change of mentality and of the methods used in the apostolic work of the Pontifical Mission Societies. The more we put the main focus of our interest, of our passion, on the true needs of the mission, the greater will be our conversion, the end of our self-centeredness, and the renewal of the ecclesial, fraternal, and evangelical service that has a saving power. The more we are oriented towards the Risen Lord and his Paschal Mission, the less will be the national and international concerns of a closed, provincial, and self-referential management of the Mission Societies, which, precisely because they are Pontifical, are called to be universal, open to the entire world, and always going forth towards all.
Thank you for your attention. I wish you all a fruitful week of fraternal work and constructive reflection. May the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Risen Lord and Queen of the Mission, as well as our Patron Saints Francis Xavier, Therese of the Child Jesus, and blessed Paolo Manna, assist and accompany us during this General Assembly.
37 PMS GENERAL ASSEMBLY
Rome, May 30, 2017
ON FUNDRAISING FOR THE MISSION OF THE CHURCH