Divine Word Missionaries

SVD Mission 2000

Province
Reports
for
the XV
General
Chapter

Contents

Presentation
Four Zones
AFRAM
ASPAC
EUROPA
PANAM
Statistics
Index

en Español

SVD Publications
Generalate
Rome
1999

PRESENTATION

n his Apostolic Letter Tertio Millennio Adveniente, Pope John Paul II says that the Great Jubilee 2000 is aimed "at an increased sensitivity to all that the Spirit is saying to the Church and to the Churches (Apoc. 2,7), as well as to individuals through charisms which are for the service of the whole community." (TMA, 23) It is significant that The Society of the Divine Word expresses the theme of the coming General Chapter in similar words: "Listening to the Spirit: Our Missionary Response Today."

The reliance on the Holy Spirit as the principal agent of mission, ought to be an idea close to the heart of every member of the Society. This is all the more urgent since the year 2000 marks an important anniversary in our history. We will be celebrating the 125th year of the history of our Society and our missionary service to the Church.

As we publish this book which mirrors the action of the Spirit in our missionary activities of the past 125 years, we hear once again the questions so often put to us: Where are SVD's to be found? What are they doing? What do they emphasize in their apostolic work? What kind of spirituality inspires their work?

In this book one will find the answers to these questions as they were written by the Provincial Superiors of the Society. Each of them was requested to describe briefly the missionary activities of his Province within the context of the country and of the local church in which the Society is living. In its entirety, their answers are like open windows through which we can catch a glimpse of "the ends of the earth" (Acts 1,8) which has always been the inspiration of all our steps as missionaries.

For whom is this book written? We are publishing this book first and foremost for the members of the coming Chapter 2000. But it is also meant for all the members of the Society and for the spiritual family of Bl. Arnold Janssen, particularly for its younger generation. The book is also for our friends, co-workers and benefactors, both men and women, without whose help we would never have accomplished what we have in the past, and without whom we will not be able to continue to do so in the future.

The coming together of these three events: the Great Jubilee, the anniversary of our Society and the coming General Chapter, reminds me of an incident in the life of our Founder. In 1900, the Society celebrated its 25th anniversary. A few weeks later, Fr. Arnold received the ecclesiastical approval of our Congregation from the Holy See. On this occasion, he invited the whole Society "to thank the Lord for all the graces it has received for the past 25 years and for the present approval of our Society by the Church. Through this event we have been grafted more closely to the tree and to the rock which is the Catholic Church. We hope to be able to share with greater abundance from the torrent of graces which the Holy Spirit sends out from the Heart of Jesus, that heart which is beating within the Catholic Church..."

I would like to make these words and this conviction of our Founder my own as we cross the threshold of the year 2000, and as we enter with renewed confidence into a future which is still unknown to us.

Henry Barlage, SVD
Superior General
8 September 1999