“The missionary dimension of our charismatic identity in the Church and in today’s world”
As we approach the 500th anniversary of our Order, among the many preparatory events is the convening of PCO IX, whose central theme is mission. The decision to revisit this theme, given that PCO III in 1978 addressed the same subject, stems from the awareness that the world, culture, and the Church’s process of evangelization have changed significantly. The Order, too, is no longer the same; one needs only to consider the number of friars and their geographical distribution.
In preparation for PCO IX, a preparatory commission was established. The intention was to form a relatively small commission, but one that would, in its preliminary work, consider all the areas where we are present, first through the General Councilors and then by consulting the friars of all the conferences. The commission’s first task was to find a way to hear from all the friars. Three short texts were drafted on mission, collaboration, and the Fraternities of St. Lawrence, each accompanied by a questionnaire to be completed and sent to the commission.
The commission, in close collaboration with the offices of mission, formation, communications, and statistics, conducted an initial analysis of all the material received and prepared a summary that brought together all the information and ideas submitted. Based on this summary, the Commission then drafted an Instrumentum laboris.
The Instrumentum laboris is a document that brings together the views of the friars on the topics to be addressed at PCO IX. It is a concise text that seeks to remain as faithful as possible to the material the friars received from the commission, while also offering insights that can aid in ongoing reflection in preparation for PCO IX. These are not proposals—which will be the task of the PCO itself—but rather a synthesis of what the friars think about the central theme of the meeting, raising certain questions, challenges, and hopes, presented even with conflicting or uncomfortable opinions, but which will help us reflect more deeply and prepare ourselves more adequately for this great event of our Order.
Through the Instrumentum laboris, we are sharing with the entire Order the sentiments of the friars as expressed in their responses to the questionnaires we sent out. However, we do not want this material to remain merely a document for information. It is a working tool intended to continue involving all the friars in preparation for PCO IX. For this reason, we ask the circumscriptions to organize at least one local chapter in every fraternity to reflect on this material. And if there are any new contributions deemed important for the PCO, the circumscription may forward them to the conference delegates who will participate in the event.
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