From October 21 to 23, a meeting of the General Secretariat for Evangelization took place at the General House in Rome. This Secretariat is led by Fr. Nicolas Ayouba, General Consultor for the Conference of Africa and Madagascar. It serves as a body of assistance and collaboration with the General Government on matters related to the Congregation’s evangelizing mission.
The Secretariat includes the following commissions: Redemptorist Youth and Vocations Ministry (PJVR), Justice, Peace, and Integrity of Creation (JPIC), Africa and Madagascar, and Shared Mission. During the meeting, these commissions presented their reports for the mid-sexennial meetings, and the Apostolic Plans of the five Conferences were reviewed and studied to identify common patterns, trends, and challenges in the Redemptorist mission today.
Fr. Vimal Tirimanna, a member of this Secretariat and also a member of one of the theological commissions for the Synod on Synodality, which meets this weekend at the Vatican, gave a presentation at the start of the gathering. He reflected on some of the current challenges and trends in the Redemptorist mission, particularly in relation to the synodal process within the Church.
Fr. Rogério Gomes, Superior General, also participated in the meeting via Zoom, offering words of encouragement and guidance for the work of the Secretariat in the second half of the sexennium.
Fittingly, during this year dedicated to the Redemptorist Mission, the Church’s Magisterium offers us the Apostolic Exhortation Dilexi Te, which invites us to strengthen the unity—already present in our Constitutions—between our missionary ministry and our preferential option for the poor. In this way, the Redemptorist mission is understood as the response of a God who comes to meet us—poor among the poor—and makes us participants in His redeeming work. Thus, the option for the poor, rather than being a merely social, political, or moral gesture, becomes a faith-based option that leads us to encounter Christ the Redeemer in the poor.
This call echoes the invitation of Communicanda 2 on Mission—to “cross over to the other side,” that is, to a missionary conversion that makes us signs of Christ’s presence and hope for the world, especially for the poor.
As missionary disciples and collaborators in the redeeming work of Jesus Christ, both professed members and lay associates feel continually challenged to revitalize their apostolic life, particularly in this time of rapid and dramatic change. In this context, the General Secretariat for Evangelization seeks to be an instrument of support to the General Government and a means of discernment in the evangelizing work of the Congregation.
Fr. Cristian Bueno, CSsR.
Executive Secretary of the General Secretariat for Evangelization
