The international congress from Maximum illud to Evangelii Gaudium, on the urgency of the missionary transformation of the church, was held at the Pontifical Urbaniana University (Rome) from 27-29 November, 2019 Speakers came from around the world to reflect and share experiences on different contexts and ways of being a missionary today. Jean Blaise Mwanda participated in this congress.
One of the important topics discussed during this meeting was "Synodality in Mission", a theme developed by Professor Mi Jung Agnes Kim, of South Korean descent who teaches at the Sèvres Centre in Paris. She spends her life between Paris and Seoul. Professor Kim sees three important phases in the paradigm of the evolution of mission: Maximum Illud written by Pope Benedict XV, the Second Vatican Council and the Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium of Pope Francis. Every era has tried to meet the demands and challenges of mission.
1. In Maximum Illud, for Pope Benedict XV, mission was above all the erection of the local church in the places where Western missionaries went to evangelize the new mission lands (Latin America, Africa and Asia). It was the period of colonisation and Eurocentrism of the church.
2. The Second Vatican Council emphasized the ad-gentes mission. The focus here was on the local church as the subject of the mission. The particular churches are autonomous and must be in communion with the universal church. It was the time of the independence movements of the new mission lands as well as efforts made towards inculturation.
3. In Evangelii Gaudium, Pope Francis emphasises mission in synodality. It means walking together towards the horizon of unity. We walk together in a dialogical relationship. In this sense, mission is a dialogal movement. It's a way of witnessing and not having a monopoly. It entails a dialogue with other religions, cultures, traditions, ethnic groups understood as new mission spaces. The dialogue must be done in a climate of recognition, of respect of the role and the specific vocation of each Christian entity. In effect it is to live fraternal reciprocity in community as a witness. But what sometimes blocks the missionary impulse of Christians is clericalism. This remains a great challenge to the dynamics of mission today: walking together. This is the era of plurality and diversity.
There remain many other unanswered questions about the challenges and expectations of church transformation: the place of women in the church, laity, youth and family.
Theology today understands mission as a call to be witnesses and not teachers, and to be catalysts of the word of God. May this word find its way into the hearts of peoples.
12/01/2019