Divine Word Missionaries

SVD Mission 2000

Province
Reports
for
the XV
General
Chapter

Contents

Presentation
Four Zones
AFRAM
ASPAC
EUROPA
ESP
GBR
GE-
GEN
GES
HUN
IRE
ITA
NEB
OES
POL
POR
ROM
SLO
SWI
URL
PANAM
Statistics
Index

en Español

SVD Publications
Generalate
Rome
1999

PORTUGAL PROVINCE

1. General Situation of the Country

Portugal's location on the westernmost tip of Europe has influenced the development of world history and the world's conscience. Europe was not yet a political reality at the time when Portugal was involved in armed conflict with Spain. The struggle with the Arabs and the maritime expansion of Portugal, which brought her people to America, Africa and Asia, awakened her consciousness as a nation. The Portuguese colonial empire established a Portuguese presence on each of the continents, and Lisbon became a commercial center of the first magnitude in the 16th and the 17th century. Our present national boundaries have been fixed for the past 800 years.

With this background one can understand Portugal's support of missionary activity. The way Portugal's colonies were established and the location of her advance commercial posts led the Church to take up the work of evangelization among the newly discovered peoples and to come to the aid of the colonizers. According to the mind set of the time, evangelization was a necessary consequence of colonization. With the cross in one hand and the sword in the other, the faith was spread throughout the empire.

When the SVD arrived in Tortosendo in 1949, right after World War II and just before Vatican II, Portugal still showed vestiges of its once great empire and of the missionary mentality that went with it. It was no easy task for our pioneers to break into this cultural milieu. Other mission societies, which had come earlier and which were closer to the mentality of the people, had gone through the process of inculturation much more quickly and effectively.

Portugal lost its last colonies in the wake of the coup d'etat of 1974 - war in the colonies of Angola, Mozambique and Guinea Bissau was the pretext for the Revolution of the Captains which took place in April of that year. At that time many Portuguese began to question the relevance of "missions." Due to developments in theology and pastoral work during the past twenty-five years, we are now in a better position to give some response to this problem.

The post-revolutionary period was a difficult time for Portugal. The country's progress was slower than the rest of Europe. Under the dictatorship of Salazar, Europe was considered to be a threat because of the winds of change that came from there. In the 1980's, as democracy grew, Portugal requested admission as a member of the European Union. Portugal is now one of the smaller members in this huge political, social and economic structure. The country's integration into Europe has been generally judged as a positive development, in spite of criticism from those still longing for a lost empire.

From what has been said, one can see why Portugal is unique in Europe. For centuries we have been in contact with other people. More than 200 million people speak Portuguese, although there are only 10 million Portuguese living in a country with an area of almost 90,000 sq. km. Our relationship with other countries has been, for the most part, peaceful and tolerant.

2. Situation of the Church

Up to the opening of Vatican Council II, the Church in Portugal had been suffering from the same limitations which plagued the Church everywhere: fear of modernity, and in Portugal's case, the inability to play a prophetic role within a regime which was favorable to her and her missionary activity. It was very much a hierarchical church, and a powerful one, but which had known difficult moments in her history, on account of the strong anti-clerical sentiments that have sometimes course through Portuguese society.

The Church is still characterized by the power it wields in society, especially in the north of the country. However, Portuguese society is slowly changing. Our integration into Europe and the opening of our frontiers have led to the rapid assimilation of new ways of life. For a great number of Portuguese, economic success has become the one great ideal in life. The Church has still not been able to confront this new reality.

The Church, instead of proclaiming the Resurrection and its missionary ideal, continues to promote an archaic, sacramental-pastoral approach which is more adapted to the needs of those who still go to church. Statements coming from Church leaders show signs of resignation and a lack of creativity. In almost all the dioceses of the country, the average age of pastoral workers is seventy. From time immemorial we have depended on a church run by clerics and ordained ministers; consequently, the response of the laity to our call for help is very slow. The majority of Catholics in Portugal are known for their ignorance of the Bible and of the sources of the Christian faith. The faith is practiced more for cultural reasons and is only lightly rooted in personal commitment. This situation opens the way to the entry of many sectarian movements.

As the process of secularization advanced rapidly during the last few years, it was the institution of the family which suffered the most. Portugal is one of many countries which has not registered a growth in population. The youth are putting the moral values of the past into question. Here and there, one notices the growth of violence in the country, as well as the rise of an exaggerated nationalism. In the midst of all this, the church appears to be the defender of a sound way of life. Whenever conflicts arise, whether from current ways of thinking or from government ideology (which are often not in line with Gospel values), the voice of the Church still manages to be heard. In reality, there is no confrontation between politicians and the Church.

In summary, the principal challenge facing the Church in Portugal is to develop an appropriate way to present the Good News to the great majority of Portuguese people. Many of them are indifferent to the message of salvation which we proclaim... others are disillusioned by a Christianity of traditions and processions which is too inward-looking and seems incapable of presenting an alternative and better way of living.

3. SVD Missionary Service

3.1. Beginnings in Portugal

The foundation of the SVD in Portugal is a historical curiosity which has not yet received sufficient attention. The first SVD's to arrive in Portugal came from the old Portuguese colony of Brazil. Later, they were joined by others coming from other countries in Europe, making the Society in Portugal truly international. In the meantime the "case for Portugal" had not been fully understood. The SVD came to Portugal in search of vocations for the missions. Today we know that it was the loss of the Society's houses in Eastern Europe after World War II which led our superiors to launch the SVD on the Iberian peninsula.

We were well received by the local Church. However we committed several tactical mistakes. Without first insuring an effective access to the people, we started to build huge buildings in a country which was obviously poor! The SVD projected an image of itself as a great multinational concern. We are still suffering from this mistake. Another wrong step involved our first Portuguese SVD's. Almost all of them stayed and worked in Portugal.

For years we were occupied with the administration of our houses and with the hundreds of students in our schools. We had no chance to ask ourselves how we were bing received by the local church. Although our relationship with the parish priests were not very friendly, neither were there reasons for conflict. Towards the end of the 80's we tried to find answers to these basic questions: What is our mission in this place? What kind of contact do we have with the local church? What will our relationship be to the rest of Europe?

3.2. Current Situation

Because of our present condition and inspired by ideas coming from the last General Chapter, we can say that we are trying to avoid a rupture with our past while moving forward along new paths.

We are not planning to close any of our houses. We are trying to develop a multifaceted approach to the needs of a renewed vocation apostolate and more in accord with the wishes of the local church. We own facilities which can accommodate groups, where we can give retreats, organize meetings and hold study-weeks. With our help several young men in Guimarães and Tortosendo are trying to discern if they have a missionary vocation. A few confreres have made themselves available for mission animation work in the parishes.

Following the example of other institutions in Portugal two confreres have been assigned to work with SEF (Seminario en Familia) At the moment, a small group of young people are trying to find their way in the SEF with our help.

As a response to the call of the last General chapter, a part of our building in Guimarães has been reserved for the CAVIM (Centro Academico Vimarense). A confrere has been freed for this work among university students.

In search for new ways of doing mission, we have decided to go to Baixo Alentejo/Almodovar to take charge of 8 parishes in an extensive and difficult pastoral zone, where one has to begin from scratch. Two confreres are working there now, but a third, who is willing to take up this tedious and exacting job, is urgently needed.

The Province is engaged in team work in the field of mission animation, which is being carried out by several ad gentes missionary institutes. Each year, 4 to 5 weeks of team work are organized. Overall there are twelve institutes involved in this project.

Two confreres are making their contribution to the church as professors in the theological faculties of the Catholic University of Lisbon and Porto, and in the Faculty of Philosophy in Braga.

Our cooperation with the Spanish Province is exemplary in many ways. We have assumed shared responsibility for the Romania Project together with the provinces of Italy, Spain and Austria.

We have a growing awareness that Europe is an area where SVD's can provide needed missionary service. Likewise we have acquired a greater appreciation for the vocation to the Brotherhood. Personnel planning is one of our preoccupations. Our internationality is considered to be a great blessing. The Province has become more financially stable due to the wise administration of our limited resources.

4. Priorities and Prospects

Since the Portuguese belong to Europe, their heart is in Europe. The Atlantic has been the place where our history took place. Today we have to look at Europe and at ourselves with new eyes. We are facing new challenges for which we find ourselves poorly prepared. Among these are: consumerism, secularization, the culture of division, achieving success at any price.

Our relationship with the laity still leaves much to be desired. Some attempts at coming closer to them are: formation courses for our co-workers, celebrations involving the parents of our SVD missionaries, various types of retreats, contacts with the AAVD (an association of former SVD students). Still, much has to be done.

Some sectors in the Province show very little dynamism. Individualism and experimentation exist. Often there is a lack of professionalism, and we have not given the needed training to confreres holding important positions.

Because of the long history of Portuguese missionary work, our Christian communities are fields ripe for mission animation. Another place where we could make our presence felt is in the public schools. We teach religion and morals there for an hour a week, and the teachers welcome us warmly. But for this we need confreres who are devoted to this work full time.

Our presence in Almodovar and our work among university students in Guimarães have helped to improve our image as missionaries in Portugal. We need to break out of the narrow world of "our own houses."

The area of justice and peace has acquired a growing importance in the Province during these past years. Because of our work in this area, we have gained the respect of public opinion, the media and the Church.

The province has not yet been able to engage itself in the biblical apostolate since it does not have someone trained for it.

The low level of spirituality we encounter in the Province is one of our major challenges. Some confreres find it difficult to live their commitment to the Kingdom completely. This is reflected in our work among the youth. We have to remain spiritually more awake, much more anchored in God's Word, and more sensitive to the challenges of a society undergoing profound changes in the face of secularization. This demands from us a new form of creativity and a greater enthusiasm for God's Kingdom.