From Fides ServiceJune 4, 2011
The Pontifical Mission Societies (PMS) of Brazil, in
collaboration with the Missionary Cultural Center (MCC), organized the first
week of training for missionary priests and vicars to be held at the
headquarters of the National Directorate of PMS, in Brasilia, from June 6 to 10.
According to information sent to Fides by the National Directorate of the PMS,
the initiative lies in the decisions of the V General Conference of Latin
America Episcopate, expressed in the document of Aparecida, which calls for "a
missionary awakening in the whole Church in Latin America and the Caribbean",
including parishes, defined as "living cells of the Church and privileged places
in which most of the faithful are a concrete experience of Christ and the
community ... The V General Conference of the Episcopate is an opportunity for
all our parishes to become missionaries".
Responding to this appeal, the National Director of the PMS, Fr. Camilo Pauletti,
and the Executive Secretary of MCC, father Estêvão Raschietti, have promoted
this Week with the intention of offering to the parish priests and vicars, the
opportunity for an "in-depth reflection and exchange of experiences concerning
missionary parishes".
From May 23 to 27, on the initiative of the Pontifical Mission Societies (PMS)
of Brazil in cooperation with the Missionary Cultural Center (MCC), the first
Week of missionary training for seminar teachers was held, attended by 32
teachers from various regions of Brazil. The first National Missionary Congress
of the seminarians, held in Brasilia in July 2010, had specifically requested
the teachers to also introduce the missionary theme.
During the days of study and sharing, four priests explained the Pontifical
Mission Societies and their work dynamic; the founder of the Jesuit missionary
of the poor Institute, Father Gervase Queiroga, spoke about the training in
seminars in sight of the mission, the Executive Secretary of MCC, father Estêvão
Bone, spoke about "The missionary dimension in the current context of priestly
formation".