MIL OSI Translation. Region: Italy –
Source: The Holy See in Italian
Tuesday, October 1, 2024
Photo Teresa Tseng Kuang Yi
by Gianni ValenteUlaanbaatar (Agenzia Fides) – «There is a specificity of the first announcement of the Gospel. And when we reflect on the mission of the Church, I would like to speak out in favor of this specificity”, which “should not be evaporated in an overly generic discussion on the mission”. October begins, the month that the Church dedicates, in addition to the Rosary, also to the mission. And Cardinal Giorgio Marengo, Consolata missionary, Apostolic Prefect of Ulaanbaatar, takes advantage of the opportunity to share in a conversation with Agenzia Fides bright ideas full of apostolic passion for missionary work. This year too, as often happens , “Missionary October” is intertwined with the work in Rome of the Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, in which Cardinal Marengo also takes part. And that meeting is also called to deal with the missionary horizon of every authentic ecclesial work, as is clear from the title (“For a synodal Church: communion, participation and mission”). Cardinal Marengo, perhaps this cannot be insisted upon enough on the missionary nature of the Church and on the call of all the baptized to the mission? CARDINAL GIORGIO MARENGO: The rediscovery of the call to all be missionaries, inscribed in baptism, was in many ways providential. But now the specificity of the missionary vocation called “ad gentes” seems to have been somewhat lost sight of. It is as if, in the era of globalization and the apparent reduction of geographical distances, there was no longer any place for this horizon of missionary work. . which involves leaving and inserting oneself into human contexts different from one’s own. Instead, I believe, precisely in our time it is appropriate to recognize that there is a specificity of the first announcement of the Gospel, of the Gospel announced to those who don’t really know what it is. It is important that this specificity is not diluted, not evaporated in an overly generic discussion on the mission. In this time, precisely perceiving and always taking into account this specificity seems vital to me for all the work of the Church in the world, and for its journey in history. Because this specificity of the first announcement for you must not be removed and is crucial in the dynamism missionary of the Church?MARENGO: If belonging to the Church means walking together with Jesus and behind Jesus, the mission can be described and formulated as “making the encounter with Christ possible”. This encounter can always take place in ways unknown to us. But normally the impact with a human reality remains necessary. A human reality that facilitates and makes the encounter with Christ possible. Because this experience is always transmitted through attraction and contact. And this dynamism manifests itself and is clearly perceived especially where the real possibilities of coming into contact in some way with the person of Christ are objectively few. For example, in places where the Church does not exist or is in a nascent state of Church, as in the case of Mongolia. You belong to a missionary institute. And in recent decades there has been a clear numerical decline in the members of these Institutes. MARENGO: Perhaps there will no longer be a need for large numbers as there once was, and we should not be shocked that missionary Institutes are decreasing in number. But even with less impact, the perennial need to announce the Gospel which gave rise to the birth of those Institutes remains alive. The specificity of the “Missio ad gentes” you referred to evokes what were the “mission territories”, areas which now are defined as the “South of the world” or global South”. Is this identification still valid? MARENGO: Rather than slipping into the insidious terrain of socio-political formulas and definitions, those which for example refer to the “north” and “south” of the world, it is better to stick to purely ecclesial criteria. This specificity has to do with real exposure to the announcement of the Gospel. It is a question of seeing whether in different social contexts there is the possibility of real exposure to the Gospel, because in that given context the Gospel is in some way actually announced, or whether this does not happen. Always taking into account all the particular situations and their diversities. What diversities? MARENGO: It’s one thing to live in places where the Church is established with all the charisms and ministries, and it’s another to have a Church with only one native priest, like it happens here in Mongolia. It’s one thing to find yourself in societies that are extremely critical of Christianity, due to the weight of history. And a con is interacting with societies that are not in themselves against and hypercritical towards the Church, because their stories have never intertwined. In different contexts and situations, the mission of the first announcement is the one that in any case makes one experience the novelty of Christian faith. Both when this happens in contexts that have not historically dealt with it, and when it is rediscovered as a novelty in places where it has shaped previous generations, but has now somehow evaporated from the common horizon. What are the elementary and specific traits of mission of the first announcement? MARENGO: God our Father did not send a message, but became flesh by sending his only Son. God lowered himself to embrace the human condition. And by analogy, even the mission, since then, is called to submit to the laws of time and space, having Jesus as its model. If the message of Christ were a mere message, a teaching of life, there would have been no need to ask men and women to go to the ends of the world, as Jesus himself does in the Gospel. Jesus became part of a people and a defined culture. Thirty years of hidden life, three years of explicit activity and three days of passion, which lead to the resurrection. All those who follow him are called to let themselves be shaped by the Holy Spirit to live the same mystery. This is the mission. Submitting to the laws of space and time by following Jesus frees us to abstractions and embraces all the effort and patience of missionary work, which may appear “useless” and “fruitless”….MARENGO: Let’s think about the time spent on learn difficult and distant languages, to immerse yourself deeply and respectfully in the cultures of the people you live with. Everything presupposes understanding, friendly closeness to grow a relationship of trust. Much of the missionary effort is aimed precisely at identifying with the context and creating these conditions of mutual trust, in order to then share our treasure with others, what we hold most dear. This “patience” of the long times of the mission is not out of line with respect to the fast dynamics of the present time? MARENGO: Perhaps someone today might think that it is more effective to invest in communication to obtain measurable impacts on public opinion. But the Gospel is not communicated as an idea or as one of the options on a menu. This is marketing. Sometimes we have a tendency to make theories about the mission, or to organize strategies with social or humanitarian actions that we present as useful things for what we call “announcement”. Up to the illusion of a Church that is built “by project”. How do you perceive the current urgencies of the missionary work of the Church from your point of view in Ulaanbaatar? MARENGO: I am amazed by the growing interest of writers, journalists and scholars of the Church in the our small Church in Mongolia, in which they see a mission experience similar to that of the Acts of the Apostles. The Apostles bore witness to the Lord Jesus in conditions of absolute minority compared to the social and cultural contexts in which they moved. Their work had connotations of marginality and novelty. The experience of first contact with the Gospel on the part of people and social realities who had never encountered it until then occurs again in Mongolia. Those who are interested in our Church sometimes tell me that from associating with our poor and small experience, advantages and inspiration can also come for the situations experienced in post-Christian societies, where even a vague common reference to Christianity can no longer be given taken for granted, as it was in the past. Also in a recent conference at the Institut Catholique in Paris, you referred to the “register of discretion” which must always characterize missionary work. What are you referring to? MARENGO: What makes the encounter with Christ possible is always his Holy Spirit, and not our methodologies or precautions. But perhaps his work will find fewer obstacles if those who want to serve the Gospel become close to their brothers and sisters for who they are, announcing the resurrection of Christ with discretion. The Lazarist Father Giuseppe Gabet in 1840, after his first trip to Outer Mongolia, wrote to Propaganda Fide: «The first appearance of Europeans among the Mongols and Tibetans is a very delicate undertaking, and the success of preaching among these peoples will depend on long from the degree of discretion demonstrated”. You participated in the Plenary of the Dicastery for Evangelization (Section for the first evangelization and the new particular Churches) dedicated to the Pontifical Urbaniana University. How do you see the present and future of that University?MARENGO: During the mass in the Singapore Stadium, Pope Francis recalled a letter from Saint Francis Xavier to his first Jesuit companions, in which the great missionary spoke of his desire to go to all university of his time to “shout here and there like a madman” and shake up the intellectuals who engaged in endless discussions, to push them to become missionaries to serve the charity of Christ. In this time perhaps we also need a theological study of the mission, we need academic paths that help to recognize and re-propose the perennial urgency of announcing the Gospel, especially in situations of first evangelization. Who knows, perhaps through this very path the Pontifical University, with all its history, might be able to renew and realize the dream of Saint Francis Xavier today. (Agenzia Fides 1/10/2024)Share:
EDITOR’S NOTE: This article is a translation. Apologies should the grammar and/or sentence structure not be perfect.